Romania is located in Southeastern Europe, bordering Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Black Sea, Ukraine and Moldova Republic.

To be Romanian, means to be Romance/Latin (the word comes from the Latin "Romanus") and the Romanians are the only Romance people in Central and Eastern Europe.
As a nation, they emerged when the native Dacians were conquered by the Romans at the same time with the other Romance people, in the first millennium AD. Yet early in their existence, they were separated from the rest of the family and left to form an island of Latinity among Slavic people to the south, east and north and a Finno-Ugric people (the Hungarians) to the west. That is why certain historians considered the fact that Latinity was preserved here as "an enigma and a historical miracle."

Romania's regions have always been rich in colorful folk traditions, handed down from generation to generation, with almost every village cultivating its own set of time-honored customs. Nowadays, as new lifestyles spread, some ancient practices are dead but many flourish.

The wealth of colors and shades from the raw green of the forests to the azure of the sky, the crystalline atmosphere of the Carpathians and the summer sunshine of the fertile plains mirror in the spontaneity of the people. Maybe that is why they managed to combine so well the functional with the aesthetic, the outcome being visible in all their artifacts, in their architecture, sculpture in wood and stone, painting on wood or glass, furniture, earthenware, tools, costumes, metalworking, and so on.

Due to Romania's geographical position, the traditional folk art presents certain influences coming from its contact with the Western and Slav world, remarcably manifested in the decoration. However, the Romanian folk art did not homogenize completely, fascinanting differences being distinguished depending on the historical regions of the country. Evidence is the fact that even at present there are vast ethnographic zones in Romania, such as the famous "Maramures" and "Tara Oasului" in northern Transylvania, the area of Almaj in Banat, and Mehedinti in Oltenia.

The interior of the traditional peasant house is a true art museum, although most of the objects are used for practical purposes.
The oak or beech wood furniture, decorated with carvings, is found in all regions and represents the oldest stratum.
Collectors would die today for a folk art item (for example a hope chest painted in Transilvania). This piece of furniture is related to many wedding customs but in the 18th century it was frequently used as an armoire.
The painted furniture in Transilvanian homes displays a Central-European influence having been brought here by Saxons or Hungarians. Painted floral motifs are the salient feature of these objects. Then come the exceptionally decorative textiles, which literally line the interior of Romanian peasant houses: home-woven and embroidered tablecloths, decorative towels, bedspreads or wall hangings.
Well known in the world are the woolen rugs, with a great variety of patterns and colors, which until the 19th century were obtained from plants:
Prevailing in Moldavia are geometrical motifs against a blue background.
The Maramures region is known for its rugs featuring anthropomorphic elements on a subtly colored brown-yellow background.
Oltenia boasts its floral motifs on rugs.
In the Hungarian or German homes of Transilvania the textiles are somewhat more sober. Hungarian rugs are dominated by brown and blue while the decorative towels are white-red-blue. The ethnic Germans show a marked preference for embroideries and lace.

The Romanians have never been indifferent to beautiful clothes. Good taste, respect for tradition, and the sacred and profane symbolism led, also in this field, to remarkable values. In a lot of Romanian villages, only there where tradition is still strong, all solemn moments or feasts were occasions for unique fashion parades. The cloth of folk costumes, whether wool, cotton, linen or hemp, is home-woven. The luminous, never gaudy colors, the combinations of white, black, blue and red, the discrete decorative motifs, supplemented in past centuries with golden or silver thread and exquisite embroideries, made young women look like Byzantine princesses.
Once endowed with a ritual function, customs still are a specific way of communicating in the village world. Moreover, they help consolidate the relations within the community. The major customs are related to calendar events or the rites of passage. The former belong to the whole community, combining Christian significances with elements of old agrarian rituals. Though revolving around Christmas, the winter holidays, for instance, also include customs recalling the celebration of winter solstice. This is a moment of magic brightness, when people rejoice at the fruit of the year drawing to an end and express confidence in the New Year. The Easter celebrations generated a true art of decorating eggs. Traditionally dyed red, Easter eggs are decorated in certain areas in an altogether special way, with motifs symbolizing renewal and immortality.

Red-letter days are, as anywhere else, an occasion for copious feasts, in token of shared joy. Reigning supreme in this respect is the Moldavian cuisine, considered the most refined, especially when it comes to desserts (tasty pies called "poale -n brau" or huge traditional Christmas and Easter cakes called "cozonac") but also to meat rolls in sauerkraut leaves, accompanied by polenta, or in vine leaves (both kinds are called "sarmalute"). Meat or vegetable soup seasoned with "bors" (a sour liquid made from bran and water), the "pilaf" of Turkish origin, as also baked eggplant salad, the small broiled sausages called "mititei", and the Oriental "moussaka" are the tastiest dishes of the southern region of Muntenia. Actually the people of both Moldavia and Muntenia are the country's great epicures, whereas the natives of Banat and Transylvania are more of the gourmet kind, often using fruit to enhance the flavor of meat. The famous Romanian plum brandy ("tuica" ), which to the astonishment of Westerners, is an appetizer, the red and white wines the peasants make themselves add to the dainties of the Romanian cuisine.