General Information for Romania

Area:
238,391 sq km (92,043 sq miles).

Population:
22,456,000(2000).

Capital:
Bucharest. Population: 2,027,512 (2000).

Geography:
Romania is bordered to the north and east by Moldova and Ukraine, the southeast by the Black Sea, the south by Bulgaria, the southwest by Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) and in the west by Hungary. The country is divided into four geographical areas.

Government:
Democratic Republic since 1991. Head of State: President Ion Iliescu since 2000. Head of Government: Prime Minister Adrian Nastase since 2000.

Language:
Romanian is the official language. Some Hungarian and German are spoken in border areas, while mainly French and some English are spoken by those connected with the tourist industry.

Religion:
83% Romanian Orthodox, with Roman Catholic, Reformed/Lutheran, Unitarian, Muslim and Jewish minorities.

Electricity:
220 volts AC, 50Hz. Plugs are of the 2-pin type.

Telephone:
IDD is available. Country code: 40. Outgoing international code: 00. Public telephones are widely available and can be used for direct international calls. Hotels often impose a high service charge for long-distance calls, but usually do not charge for local calls.

Fax:
Facilities are available at most large hotels.

Mobile telephone:
GSM 900/1800 networks. Network operators include Cosmorom, Mobif (website: www.connex.ro) and Mobil Rom (website: www.mobil-rom.com).

Internet/E-mail:
Kappa and PC-Net are two of the largest of the 250 ISPs. The former has open-air terminals at Bulevardul Regina Elisabeta 26, while the latter is at Strada Calderon 1-5. Sweet Internet Café, Strada Maria Rosetti 7-9, has 24-hour access, as do a couple others of Bucharest's dozen or so cybercafés.

Telegram:
Facilities at post offices and a night telegram service (2000-0700) are available in Bucharest. Telegrams are an inexpensive and efficient form of international communication from Romania.

Post:
Airmail to Western Europe takes one week. Post offices are open daily, including Saturday mornings.

Press:
English newspapers and publications include Nine O'Clock, Romanian Business Journal and Romanian Economic Daily. There are a great number of daily and weekly newspapers published in Romanian, Hungarian and German.