Romania (Capital city:  Bucharest) is bordered to the north and east by Moldova and Ukraine, the southeast by the Black Sea, the south by Bulgaria, the southwest by Serbia and in the west by Hungary. The country is divided into four geographical areas. Transylvania (a belt of Alpine massifs and forests) and Moldavia compose the northern half of the country, which is divided down the middle by the north–south strip of the Carpathian Mountains. South of the east–west line of the Carpathians lies the flat Danube plain of Walachia with the capital Bucharest, its border with Bulgaria being defined by the course of the Danube. Romania’s coastline is along the Black Sea, incorporating the port of Constanta and the Danube Delta. The region between the Black Sea and the Danube (after it veers North), is also known as Dobrudja (Dobrogea).

Language

Romanian is the official language originating in Dacian and Latin. Recent linguistic research tends to put Dacian at the origins of ancient Latin and Romanian language may be seen as the main proof for this idea. Some Hungarian is spoken in the Northwest, while mainly French and some English are spoken by those connected with the tourist industry.

Religion

86.8% Romanian Orthodox, 5.6% Catholic, 3.7% Reformed, Lutheran and Unitarian, 2.8% Evangelical Protestant (or neo-Protestant as they are called in Romania), 0.3% Muslim and 0.03% Jewish. The spread of the various non-Orthodox denominations around the country is uneven, with the strongest presence in the West of the country (Banat, Crisana, Transylvania) but also in Northern Moldavia and in the large cities.

Time Zone 

GMT + 2 (GMT + 3 from last Sunday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in September).

Electricity

220 volts AC, 50Hz. Plugs are of the two-pin type.

Communications

Telephone: IDD is available. Country code: 40. International direct dialing prefix: 00. National direct dialing prefix:0. 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.

Mobile telephones

GSMuc 900/1800 networks. Network operators include Cosmote (website: www.cosmote.com), Orange (website: www.orange.ro), Vodafone (website: www.vodafone.ro) and Zapp Mobile (website: www.zappmobile.ro), RDS mobile (Digi mobile)- smaller prices for national and international calls.

Internet

RDS, Kappa and PC-Net are three of the largest of the 250 ISPs. RDS has developed broadband serviced in most major cities. Kappa has open-air terminals at Strada Paulescu Nicolae 9, Bucharest, while PC-Net is at Strada Calderon Jean Louis 1-5, Bucharest. Sweet Internet Cafe , Strada Maria Rosetti 7-9, Bucharest (tel: (21) 212 4111) has 24-hour access, as do a couple others of Bucharest's dozen or so Internet cafes.

You can find free wireless hotspots in some of the major cities:Bucharest, Timisoara etc

Post

Airmail to Western Europe takes 1 week. Post offices are open daily, including Saturday mornings.

DHL is also available in most of big cities.