The Lay of the Land

Romania -- just a bit smaller than the United Kingdom and roughly the size of the state of Oregon -- is situated in the southeastern part of central Europe, and is made up, in roughly equal measures, of lowland, hilly, and mountainous terrain. It borders Hungary and Serbia to the west, Moldova and the Ukraine to the north and east, and Bulgaria to the south, with whom it shares, along with its northern neighbor Ukraine, a slither of Black Sea coastline to the east. Forming much of the border with Bulgaria and Serbia is the River Danube as it makes its way toward the Black Sea, where it forms one of Europe's largest wetlands, the Danube Delta. Perpetually expanding, the Delta is effectively increasing Romania's surface area; in the last 40 years, it has expanded by almost 1,000 sq. km (390 sq. miles).