At the 1992 census, Romania had a population of 22,760,449. The 2001 estimated population is 22,364,022, yielding an average population density of 94 persons per sq km (244 per sq mi). The population is 58 percent urban.

Historical and archaeological evidence and linguistic survivals seem to confirm that the present territory of Romania had a fully developed society, with a high degree of economic, cultural, and even political development, long before the Roman armies crossed the Danube into what became known as the province of Dacia. Roman influence was profound and created a civilization that managed to maintain its identity during the great folk migrations that followed the collapse of the empire. The first mention of Walachs (Volokhs, Vlachs), the name given to the Romanian people by their neighbours, appears in the 9th century.