Romania, which has a long and rich history, was part of the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Soviet block of countries. Romania's elections of 1996 dramatically changed its government. The principal ethnic group is Romanian, with a minority of Hungarians and Roma inhabitants; together they have a number of common cultural roots. The cultures of Romania have connections to ancient Dacian, Roman, Slavonic, and Ottoman cultures.

The country has pronounced landscapes (the Transylvanian Alps and Carpathian mountain ranges, the Danube River plain, and the Black Sea coast) that are important factors in the development of the different types of vernacular architecture still found.