Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and the Black Sea to the southeast. It has a predominantly temperate-continental climate, and an area of 238,397 km2 (92,046 sq mi), with a population of under 18.9 million inhabitants (2023). Romania is the twelfth-largest country in Europe and the sixth-most populous member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, followed by Iași, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Constanța, Craiova, Brașov, and Galați.
Owing to its distance from open sea and its position on the southeastern portion of the European continent, Romania has a climate that is temperate and continental, with four distinct seasons. The average annual temperature is 11 °C (52 °F) in the south and 8 °C (46 °F) in the north.[253] In summer, average maximum temperatures in Bucharest rise to 28 °C (82 °F), and temperatures over 35 °C (95 °F) are fairly common in the lower-lying areas of the country.[254] In winter, the average maximum temperature is below 2 °C (36 °F).
Higher education is ensured through universities, academies, and post-university studies schools. In Romania, there are more than one hundred public and private accredited higher education institutions. More than half a million students are in public institutions, of which three-quarters of them are enrolled in bachelor programmes, and about 20% at the master level.
As in many Eastern European countries, many Romanian higher education institutions are specialised in particular subjects. However, there are also larger comprehensive universities.
Romania follows the Bologna scheme, so most of its tertiary level education is made of three cycles: at first a three-year bachelor degree, followed by a two-year master degree, and a three-year doctoral degree (PhD). Nevertheless, some programmes take longer to complete, for example those in engineering fields (four-year programmes), or some combine bachelor and master degrees into an integrated six-year programme (e.g. in medicine and architecture). The academic year in Romania starts in early October.
