About Romania

Romania is situated in Southeastern Europe (latitudes 43 37' 07" North and longitudes 20 15' 44" east) extending approximately 480 km North to South and 640 km east to West.

The country has an area of 237,750 sq. km and a population of over 23,000,000, composed of Romanians, Hungarians and small minorities of Germans, Slovaks, Turks, Russians, Bulgarians, Croats, Tartars...

The country is divided into three geographical areas. Transylvania 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 Tara Romaneasca with Romania's capital: Bucharest. The Carpathian Mountains are located in the center of the country, bordered on both sides by hills and plateaus; and finally by great plains of the outer rim. Forests cover over a quarter of the country and the fauna is one of the richest in Europe.

Climate

Romania has a temperate climate, similar to the northeastern United States, with four distinct seasons. Spring is pleasant with cool mornings and nights and warm days. Summer is quite warm, with extended sunny days. The hottest areas in summer are the lowlands in southern and eastern Romania where 100 F is often reached in July and August. Temperatures are always cooler in the mountains. Autumn is dry and cool, with fields and trees producing colorful foliage, much like New England. Winters can be cold, especially in the mountains. While not the rule, abundant snowfalls may occur throughout the country, from December to mid-March. There are significant regional differences of the climate between different regions of Romania.

Relief

Romania's relief is a complex and harmonious unity of a range of mountains, hills and plains, completed by the Danube Delta and the Black Sea Coast.

Language

The official language is Romanian, of Latin origin. Some Hungarian and German are spoken in Transylvania and in the border areas, while mainly English and some French are spoken by those connected with the tourist industry.

Romania Currency

Currency in Romania: Romanian New Leu (RON)

The Romanian leu (plural: lei; ISO 4217 code RON) is the national currency of Romania. One leu is subdivided into 100 bani (singular: ban).

The leu was established in 1880 by the National Bank of Romania.

Official website of National Bank of Romania (http://www.bnro.ro/def_en.htm) has details of notes and coins in circulation.

More about the New Leu: On July 1, 2005, Romania introduces its new redenominated currency, the new leu (code: RON), which is valued at 10,000 old lei (code: ROL). The process, which is known as redenomination, started in March 2005 when Romania started dual-currency display and all prices had to be displayed in both the old leu and the new leu. Starting from that day, the first notes and coins of the new leu became legal tender, and the new leu became the official currency of Romania.

The redenomination (or conversion from the old to the new leu) is simple — 10,000 old lei are replaced by 1 new leu. The new leu notes and coins will circulate alongside the old lei until 31 December 2006, when the dual-currency period ends and all of the old lei are expected to be withdrawn. However, old lei can be exchanged at banks indefinitely.

The new notes come into denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 new lei. The largest note of the old leu was 1,000,000 lei, or 100 new lei. The largest note of the new leu is worth 500 new lei, or approximately US$167 and €139. New leu notes will also have the same dimensions as euro notes of similar value. Additionally, they will use the same colours and design as their corresponding old leu equivalent (for example, the 100 lei note will look similar to the 1,000,000 old lei note).

For Exchange rate from RON to other major currencies please visit this site.

ATM (Bancomat)
ATM machines are available at main banks and at airports and shopping centers. Do not expect to find ATMs in remote areas or villages.

Credit cards
Major credit cards including American Express, Mastercard and Visa are accepted in large hotels, car rental companies and stores in the main cities. However, credit cards are unlikely to prove useful in small towns or away from tourist areas.

Travelers' Checks
Preferably in US dollars or Euros, Travelers' Checks can be cashed in large banks, some hotels and selected exchange offices but most of them charge considerable commissions. Do not count on cashing such checks outside Bucharest and a few other major cities. For travel around the country it is a good idea to carry cash. Small stores and restaurants might accept U.S. Dollars in small denominations ($ 1, 5, 10 and 20) but the exchange rate offered will not be the best. Street handicraft vendors prefer Romanian currency.

(http://www.romaniatourism.com/info.html)

Frontier checkpoints

http://www.spirit.ro/