|
|
| Romania
PROFILE OFFICIAL NAME: Geography People Government Economy GEOGRAPHY Romania's location gives it a continental climate, particularly in the Old
Kingdom (east of the Carpathians and south of the Transylvanian Alps) and to a
lesser extent in Transylvania, where the climate is more moderate. A long and at
times severe winter (December-March), a hot summer (April-July), and a prolonged
autumn (August-November) are the principal seasons, with a rapid transition from
spring to summer. In Bucharest, the daily minimum temperature in January
averages -7oC (20oF), and the daily maximum temperature in
July averages 29oC (85oF).
PEOPLE Primarily a rural, agricultural population, the medieval Wallachians and
Moldavians maintained their language and culture despite centuries of rule by
foreign princes. Once independent, the population of the unified Romanian state
took their modern name to emphasize their connection with the ancient Romans.
Hungarians and Gypsies are the principal minorities, with a declining German
population and smaller numbers of Serbs, Croats, Ukrainians, Greeks, Turks,
Armenians, Great Russians, and others. Minority populations are greatest in
Transylvania and the Banat, areas in the north and west, which belonged to the
Austro-Hungarian Empire until World War I. Even before union with Romania,
ethnic Romanians comprised the overall majority in Transylvania. However, ethnic
Hungarians and Germans were the dominant urban population until relatively
recently, and still are the majority in a few districts.
Before World War II, minorities represented more than 28% of the total
population. During the war that percentage was halved, largely by the loss of
the border areas of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina (to the former Soviet Union
-- now Moldova and Ukraine) and southern Dobrudja (to Bulgaria), as well as by
the postwar flight or deportation of ethnic Germans.
Though Romanian troops participated in the destruction of the Jewish
communities of Bessarabia and Bukovina, most Jews from Romania properly survived
the Holocaust. Mass emigration, mostly to Israel, has reduced the surviving
Jewish community from over 300,000 to less than 15,000. In recent years, more
than two-thirds of the ethnic Germans in Romania have emigrated to Germany.
Religious affiliation tends to follow ethnic lines, with most ethnic
Romanians identifying with the Romanian Orthodox Church. The Greek Catholic or
Uniate church, reunified with the Orthodox Church by fiat in 1948, was restored
after the 1989 revolution. The 1992 census indicates that 1% of the population
is Greek Catholic, as opposed to about 10% prior to 1948. Roman Catholics,
largely ethnic Hungarians and Germans, constitute about 5% of the population;
Calvinists, Baptists, Pentecostals, and Lutherans make up another 5%. There are
smaller numbers of Unitarians, Muslims, and other religions.
Romania's rich cultural traditions have been nourished by many sources, some
of which predate the Roman occupation. The traditional folk arts, including
dance, wood carving, ceramics, weaving and embroidery of costumes and household
decorations, and fascinating folk music, still flourish in many parts of the
country. Despite strong Austrian, German, and especially French influence, many
of Romania's great artists, such as the painter Nicolae Grigorescu, the poet
Mihai Eminescu, the composer George Enescu, and the sculptor Constantin
Brancusi, drew their inspiration from Romanian folk traditions.
The country's many Orthodox monasteries, as well as the Transylvanian
Catholic and Evangelical Churches, some of which date back to the 13th century,
are repositories of artistic treasures. The famous painted monasteries of
Bukovina make an important contribution to European architecture.
Poetry and the theater play an important role in contemporary Romanian life.
Classic Romanian plays, such as those of Ion Luca Caragiale, as well as works by
modern or avant-garde Romanian and international playwrights, find sophisticated
and enthusiastic audiences in the many theaters of the capital and of the
smaller cities.
HISTORY The new state, squeezed between the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, and Russian
empires, with Slav neighbors on three sides, looked to the West, particularly
France, for its cultural, educational, and administrative models. Romania was an
ally of the Entente and the U.S. in World War I, and was granted substantial
territories with Romanian populations, notably Transylvania, Bessarabia, and
Bukovina, after the war.
Most of Romania's pre-World War II governments maintained the forms, but not
the substance, of a liberal constitutional monarchy. The quasi-mystical fascist
Iron Guard movement, exploiting nationalism, fear of communism, and resentment
of alleged foreign and Jewish domination of the economy, was a key factor in the
creation of a dictatorship in 1938. In 1940-41, the authoritarian General
Antonescu took control. Romania entered World War II on the side of the Axis
Powers in June 1941, invading the Soviet Union to recover Bessarabia and
Bukovina, which had been annexed in 1940.
In August 1944, a coup led by King Michael, with support from opposition
politicians and the army, deposed the Antonescu dictatorship and put Romania's
battered armies on the side of the Allies. Romania incurred additional heavy
casualties fighting the Germans in Transylvania, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia.
The peace treaty, signed at Paris on February 10, 1947, confirmed the Soviet
annexation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, but restored the part of
northern Transylvania granted to Hungary in 1940 by Hitler. The treaty required
massive war reparations by Romania to the Soviet Union, whose occupying forces
left in 1958.
The Soviets pressed for inclusion of Romania's heretofore negligible
Communist Party in the post-war government, while non-communist political
leaders were steadily eliminated from political life. King Michael abdicated
under pressure in December 1947, when the Romanian People's Republic was
declared, and went into exile.
In the early 1960s, Romania's communist government began to assert some
independence from the Soviet Union. Nicolae Ceausescu became head of the
Communist Party in 1965 and head of state in 1967. Ceausescu's denunciation of
the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and a brief relaxation in internal
repression helped give him a positive image both at home and in the West.
Seduced by Ceausescu's "independent" foreign policy, Western leaders
were slow to turn against a regime that, by the late 1970s, had become
increasingly harsh, arbitrary, and capricious. Rapid economic growth fueled by
foreign credits gradually gave way to wrenching austerity and severe political
repression.
After the collapse of communism in the rest of Eastern Europe in the late
summer and fall of 1989, a mid-December protest in Timisoara against the forced
relocation of a Hungarian minister grew into a country-wide protest against the
Ceausescu regime, sweeping the dictator from power. Ceausescu and his wife were
executed on December 25, 1989, after a cursory military trial. About 1,500
people were killed in confused street fighting. An impromptu governing
coalition, the National Salvation Front (FSN), installed itself and proclaimed
the restoration of democracy and freedom. The Communist Party was outlawed, and
Ceausescu's most unpopular measures, such as bans on abortion and contraception,
were repealed.
Ion Iliescu, a former Communist Party official demoted by Ceausescu in the
1970s, emerged as the leader of the NSF. Presidential and parliamentary
elections were held on May 20, 1990. Running against representatives of the
pre-war National Peasants' Party and National Liberal Party, Iliescu won 85% of
the vote. The NSF captured two-thirds of the seats in Parliament, named a
university professor, Petre Roman, as Prime Minister, and began cautious free
market reforms.
The new government made a crucial early misstep. Unhappy at the continued
political and economic influence of members of the Ceausescu-era elite,
anti-communist protesters camped in University Square in April 1990. When miners
from the Jiu Valley descended on Bucharest two months later and brutally
dispersed the remaining "hooligans," President Iliescu expressed
public thanks, thus convincing many that the government had sponsored the
miners' actions. The miners also attacked the headquarters and houses of
opposition leaders. The Roman government fell in late September 1991, when the
miners returned to Bucharest to demand higher salaries and better living
conditions. A technocrat, Theodor Stolojan, was appointed to head an interim
government until new elections could be held.
Parliament drafted a new democratic constitution, approved by popular
referendum in December 1991. The FSN split into two groups, led by Ion Iliescu
(FDSN) and Petre Roman (FSN) in March 1992; Roman's party subsequently adopted
the name Democratic Party (PD). National elections in September 1992 returned
President Iliescu by a clear majority, and gave his party, the FDSN, a
plurality. With parliamentary support from the nationalist PUNR and PRM parties,
and the ex-communist PSM party, a technocratic government was formed in November
1992 under Prime Minister Nicolae Vacaroiu, an economist. The FDSN became the
Party of Social Democracy of Romania (PDSR) in July 1993. The Vacaroiu
government ruled in coalition with three smaller parties, all of which abandoned
the coalition by the time of the November 1996 elections. Emil Constantinescu of
the Democratic Convention (CDR) electoral coalition defeated President Iliescu
in the second round of voting by 9% and replaced him as chief of state. The PDSR
won the largest number of seats in Parliament, but the constituent parties of
the CDR joined the Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, and the
Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) to form a centrist coalition
government, holding 60% of the seats in Parliament. Victor Ciorbea was named
Prime Minister. Ciorba remained in office until March 1998, when he was replaced
by Radu Vasile (PNTCD).
GOVERNMENT The two-chamber Parliament, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies and the
Senate, is the law-making authority. Deputies and senators are elected for
4-year terms by universal suffrage.
The president is elected by popular vote for a maximum of two 4-year terms.
He is the Chief of State, charged with safeguarding the constitution, foreign
affairs, and the proper functioning of public authorities. He is supreme
commander of the armed forces and chairman of the Supreme Defense Council.
According to the constitution, he acts as mediator among the power centers
within the state, as well as between the state and society. The president
nominates the prime minister, who in turn appoints the government, which must be
confirmed by a vote of confidence from Parliament.
The Constitutional Court adjudicates the constitutionality of challenged
laws, and decides on appeals from the regular court system concerning the
unconstitutionality of laws and decrees. The court consists of nine judges,
appointed for a term of 9 years. Three judges are appointed by the Chamber of
Deputies, three by the Senate, and three by the president of Romania.
The Romanian legal system is based on the Napoleonic Code. The judiciary is
to be independent, and judges appointed by the president are not removable. The
president and other judges of the Supreme Court are appointed for a term of 6
years and may serve consecutive terms. Proceedings are public, except in special
circumstances provided for by law.
The Ministry of Justice represents "the general interests of
society" and defends the legal order as well as citizens' rights and
freedoms. The ministry is to discharge its powers through independent, impartial
public prosecutors.
For territorial and administrative purposes, Romania is divided into 40
counties and the city of Bucharest. Each county is governed by an elected county
council. Local councils and elected mayors are the public administration
authorities in villages and towns. The county council is the public
administration authority that coordinates the activities of all village and town
councils in a county.
The central government appoints a prefect for each county and Bucharest
municipality. The prefect is the representative of the government at the local
level and directs any public services of the ministries and other central
agencies at the county level. A prefect may block the action of a local
authority if he deems it unlawful or unconstitutional. The matter is then
decided by an administrative court.
Under new legislation in force since January 1999, local councils have
control over spending of their allocations from the central government budget as
well as authority to raise additional revenue locally. Central
government-appointed prefects formerly significant authority over the budget is
limited to a review of expenditures to ascertain their constitutionality.
Principal Government Officials Romania maintains an embassy in the United States at 1607 23rd St., NW,
Washington, DC 20008 (tel. 202- 232-3694, fax: 202-232-4748).
POLITICAL CONDITIONS Over 200 new political parties sprang up after 1989, gravitating around
personalities rather than programs. All major parties espoused democracy and
market reforms, but the governing National Salvation Front proposed slower, more
cautious economic reforms and a social safety net. In contrast, the opposition's
main parties, the National Liberal Party (PNL), and the National
Peasant-Christian Democrat Party (PNTCD) favored quick, sweeping reforms,
immediate privatization, and reducing the role of the ex-communist elite. There
is no law banning communist parties (the Communist Party ceased to exist).
In the 1990 general elections, the FSN and its candidate for presidency, Ion
Iliescu, have won with a large majority of the votes (66.31% and, respectively
85.07%). The strongest parties in opposition were the Democratic Alliance of
Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), with 7.23%, and the PNL, with 6.41%.
Following the FSN Prime Minister Petre Roman's brutal sacking (due to the
miners' descent on Bucharest late 1991), few months before the 1992 general
elections, the FSN broke in two. President Iliescu's followers have formed a new
party called the Democratic Front of National Salvation (FDSN), while Roman's
supporters have kept the party's original title, FSN.
The 1992 local and national elections revealed a political cleavage between
major urban centers and the countryside. Rural voters, who were grateful for the
restoration of most agricultural land to farmers but fearful of change, strongly
favored President Ion Iliescu and the FDSN, while the urban electorate favored
the CDR (a coalition made up by several parties -- among which the the PNTCD and
the PNL were the strongest -- and civic organizations) and quicker reform.
Iliescu easily won reelection over a field of five other candidates. The FDSN
won a plurality in both chambers of Parliament. With the CDR, the second-largest
parliamentary group, reluctant to take part in a national unity coalition, the
FDSN (now PDSR) formed a government under Prime Minister Nicolae Vacaroiu, an
economist, with parliamentary support from the PUNR, PRM, and PSM. In January
1994, the stability of the governing coalition became problematic when the PUNR
threatened to withdraw its support unless given cabinet portfolios. In August
1994, two members of the nationalist PUNR received cabinet portfolios in the
Vacaroiu government. In September, the incumbent justice minister announced that
he had become a PUNR member. PRM and PSM left the government in October and
December 1995, respectively.
The 1996 local elections realized a major shift in the political orientation
of the Romanian electorate. Opposition parties swept Bucharest and most of the
larger cities in Transylvania and Dobrogea. This trend continued in the national
elections, where the opposition dominated the cities and made steep inroads into
rural areas theretofore dominated by President Iliescu and the PDSR, which have
lost many voters in their traditional stronghold constituency outside
Transylvania. The campaign of the opposition hammered away on the twin themes of
the need to squelch corruption and to launch economic reform. The message
resonated with the electorate, which swept Constantinescu and parties allied to
him to power in free and fair elections. The coalition government formed in
December 1996 took the historic step of inviting the UDMR and its Hungarian
ethnic backers into government. Since its victory, the coalition has had three
prime ministers. Despite these leadership changes, and constant internal
frictions, the governing parties have managed to preserve their coalition.
Romania has made great progress in consolidating democratic institutions. The
press is free and outspoken. Independent radio networks have proliferated, and a
private television network now operates nationwide. The reorganized and security
services have a much reduced role in civil society, but still maintain sole
control over the secret police files of the former Communist regime.
ECONOMY In 1993, the economy reached the end of a decline in output that had begun
well before the 1989 revolution. The Romanian Government had borrowed heavily
from the West in the 1970s to build a massive state-owned industrial base.
Following the 1979 oil price shock and a debt rescheduling in 1981, Ceausescu
decreed that Romania would no longer be subject to foreign creditors. By the end
of 1989, Romania had paid off a foreign debt of about $10.5 billion through an
unprecedented effort that wreaked havoc on the economy. Vital imports were
slashed, and food and fuel strictly rationed, while the government exported
everything it could to earn hard currency. With investment slashed, Romania's
technological infrastructure rapidly fell behind that of even its Balkan
neighbors.
Since the fall of the Ceausescu regime in 1989, successive governments have
sought to build a Western-style market economy. The pace of restructuring has
been slow, but by 1994 the legal basis for a market economy was largely in
place. After the 1996 elections, the coalition government attempted to move
rapidly and eliminate consumer subsidies, float prices, liberalize exchange
rates, and put in place a tight monetary policy. The Parliament has enacted laws
permitting foreign entities incorporated in Romania to purchase land and has
identified a large number of government enterprises for rapid privatization or
restructuring. Foreign capital investment in Romania has been decreasing and is
significantly less than in some other Central European countries.
Privatization of industry was pursued with the transfer in 1992 of 30% of the
shares of some 6,000 state-owned enterprises to five private ownership funds, in
which each adult citizen received certificates of ownership. The remaining 70%
ownership of the enterprises was transferred to a state ownership fund, with a
mandate to sell off its shares at the rate of at least 10% per year. The
privatization law also called for direct sale of some 30 specially selected
enterprises and the sale of "assets" (i.e., commercially viable
component units) of larger enterprises.
Subsidies to loss-making state-owned enterprises continue to be a serious
drain on the state budget. Despite delays in privatizing certain large
companies, the State Ownership Fund has made progress. Altogether, the private
sector now accounts for an estimated 55% of GDP and employs approximately 52% of
the work force.
The return of collectivized farmland to its cultivators, one of the first
initiatives of the post-December 1989 revolution government, resulted in a
short-term decrease in agricultural production. Some four million small parcels
representing 80% of the arable surface were returned to original owners or their
heirs. Many of the recipients were elderly or city dwellers, and the slow
progress of granting formal land titles was an obstacle to leasing or selling
land to active farmers.
An acute shortage of foreign exchange and a poorly developed financial sector
have also been obstacles to rapid economic transition. Outside factors such as
the collapse of trade with Soviet bloc trading partners, economic slowdown in
the industrialized West, increases in imported energy costs, and large losses
from UN sanctions against Iraq and the Former Republic of Yugoslavia,
contributed to a precipitous drop in industrial output after 1989. The fact that
the Danube River remains blocked from the Kosovo conflict denies Romania an
important transportation route for its goods and has further hampered economic
recovery.
In 1993, Romania embarked upon an adjustment program that showed some
results. GDP, which had fallen for three consecutive years, stabilized in 1993
and registered 3.4% growth in 1994, 6.9% in 1995, and 4% in 1996. Since 1997,
there has again been a decline in GDP of -6.6% in 1997, -7.3% in 1998, and
(est.) -4.5% in 1999. Monthly retail price inflation, which averaged 12.1% in
1993 (the equivalent of 256% annually), declined to 28% in 1995. However,
inflation picked up again in 1996 and 1997 due to excessive government spending
in late 1996, and price and exchange rate liberalization in early 1997.
Inflation in 1999 hovered around 50%. The government has committed itself to
reduce the inflation rate by half in 2000.
Subsidies on most basic consumer goods were lifted in May 1993, but support
for underproductive and loss-making state-owned industries continues to be a
serious drain on the budget. The government nonetheless managed to cut the
deficit, which totaled almost 4% of GDP in 1992, to only 1.7% in 1993. By 1995,
however, the budget deficit had again risen to about 4% of GDP. The consolidated
deficit, including internal arrearages, climbed to more than 10% of GDP in 1996.
Financial and technical assistance continue to flow in from the U.S.,
European Union, other industrial nations, and international financial
institutions facilitating Romania's reintegration into the world economy. The
International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (IBRD), the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) all have programs and resident representatives in Romania.
Romania has also attracted foreign direct investment, which in 1997 rose to $2.5
billion.
Romania was the largest U.S. trading partner in Eastern Europe until
Ceausescu's 1988 renunciation of Most Favored Nation (non-discriminatory)
trading status resulted in high U.S. tariffs on Romanian products. Congress
approved restoration of MFN status effective November 8, 1993, as part of a new
bilateral trade agreement. Tariffs on most Romanian products dropped to zero in
February 1994 with the inclusion of Romania in the Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP). Major Romanian exports to the U.S. include shoes and
clothing, steel, and chemicals. Romania signed an Association Agreement with the
EU in 1992 and a free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association
(EFTA) in 1993, codifying Romania's access to European markets and creating the
basic framework for further economic integration. At its Helsinki Summit in
December 1999, the European Union invited Romania to formally begin accession
negotiations.
FOREIGN RELATIONS Romania diligently enforces United Nations' sanctions against the Former
Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). Despite divisions within the Parliament and among
the people, Romania supported NATO in the Kosovo campaign and granted approval
for NATO to overfly Romanian airspace. While Romania does not belong to any
military alliance, it is a member of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC),
and was the first country to enroll in the NATO Partnership for Peace program.
In 1996, Romania signed and ratified a basic bilateral treaty with Hungary
that settled outstanding contentions and laid the foundation for closer, more
cooperative relations. In June 1997, Romania signed a bilateral treaty with
Ukraine that resolved territorial and minority issues, among others.
Romania has been actively involved in regional organizations, such as the
Southeast Europe Cooperation Initiative (SECI) and the Stability Pact for
Southeast Europe, and has been a positive force in supporting stability and
cooperation in the area.
Romania maintains good diplomatic relations with Israel and was supportive of
the Middle East peace negotiations initiated after the Gulf conflict in 1991.
Romania also is a founding member of the Black Sea Consortium for Economic
Development. It joined the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in
1972, and is a member of the World Trade Organization.
Romanian Missions in the United States Romanian Mission to the UN Romanian National Tourist Office Romanian Cultural Center DEFENSE U.S.-ROMANIAN RELATIONS Responding to Ceausescu's cautious distancing of Romania from Soviet foreign
policy, particularly continued diplomatic relations with Israel and denunciation
of the 1968 Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia, President Nixon paid an
official visit to Romania in August 1969. Despite political differences,
high-level contacts continued between U.S. and Romanian leaders throughout the
decade of the 1970s, culminating in the 1978 state visit to Washington by
President and Mrs. Ceausescu.
In 1972, a consular convention to facilitate protection of citizens and their
property in both countries was signed. Overseas Private Investment Corporation
(OPIC) facilities were granted, and Romania became eligible for U.S.
Export-Import Bank credits.
A trade agreement signed in April 1975 accorded Most Favored Nation (MFN)
status to Romania under section 402 of the Trade Reform Act of 1974 (the
Jackson-Vanik amendment that links MFN to a country's performance on
emigration.) This status was renewed yearly after Congressional review of a
presidential determination that Romania was making progress toward freedom of
emigration. Subsequently, the two countries signed a long-term agreement on
economic, industrial, and technical cooperation.
In the mid-1980s, criticism of Romania's deteriorating human rights record,
particularly allegations of mistreatment of religious and ethnic minorities,
spurred attempts by Congress to withdraw MFN status. In 1988, to preempt
Congressional action, Ceausescu renounced MFN treatment, calling Jackson-Vanik
and other human rights requirements unacceptable interference in Romanian
sovereignty.
After welcoming the revolution of December 1989 with a brief visit by
Secretary of State Baker in February 1990, the U.S. Government expressed concern
that opposition parties had faced discriminatory treatment in the May 1990
elections, when the National Salvation Front won a sweeping victory. The slow
progress of subsequent political and economic reform increased that concern, and
relations with Romania cooled sharply after the June 1990 intervention of the
miners in University Square. Anxious to cultivate better relations with the U.S.
and Europe, and disappointed at the poor results from its gradualist economic
reform strategy, the Stolojan government undertook some economic reforms and
conducted free and fair parliamentary and presidential elections in September
1992. Encouraged by the conduct of local elections in February 1992, Deputy
Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger paid a visit in May 1992. Congress voted
down a 1992 attempt to restore MFN status, but restored MFN in November 1993 in
recognition of Romania's progress in instituting political and economic reform.
In 1996, the U.S. Congress voted to extend permanent MFN graduation to Romania.
As Romania's policies have become unequivocally pro-Western, the United
States has moved to deepen relations. President Clinton visited Bucharest in
1997 and announced a strategic partnership between the U.S. and Romania, through
which the two countries could strengthen bilateral relations and deepen
cooperation on shared goals in economic and political development, regional
security, defense reform, and non-traditional threats (such as trans-border
crime and non-proliferation).
The United States maintains Agency for International Development (USAID) and
Peace Corps missions in Bucharest, and provides humanitarian, economic, and
technical assistance to help Romania in its transition to democracy and a market
economy.
Principal U.S. Officials The U.S. embassy in Romania is located at Strada Tudor Arghezi 7-9, Bucharest
(tel. 40-1 210-4042, fax 40-1 210-0395, consular fax 211-3360).
A U.S. embassy Branch Office was opened in Cluj-Napoca in January 1994 (tel.
40-64 19-38-15, fax 40-64-19-38-68).
TRAVEL AND BUSINESS INFORMATION Emergency information concerning Americans traveling abroad may be obtained from the Office of Overseas Citizens Services at (202) 647-5225. For after-hours emergencies, Sundays and holidays, call 202-647-4000. Passport information can be obtained by calling the National Passport Information Center's automated system ($.35 per minute) or live operators 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (EST) Monday-Friday ($1.05 per minute). The number is 1-900-225-5674 (TDD: 1-900-225-7778). Major credit card users (for a flat rate of $4.95) may call 1-888-362-8668 (TDD: 1-888-498-3648). It also is available on the internet. Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP (877-394-8747) and a web site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm give the most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations or requirements, and advice on food and drinking water safety for regions and countries. A booklet entitled Health Information for International Travel (HHS publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202) 512-1800. Information on travel conditions, visa requirements, currency and customs regulations, legal holidays, and other items of interest to travelers also may be obtained before your departure from a country's embassy and/or consulates in the U.S. (for this country, see "Principal Government Officials" listing in this publication). U.S. citizens who are long-term visitors or traveling in dangerous areas are encouraged to register at the U.S. embassy upon arrival in a country (see "Principal U.S. Embassy Officials" listing in this publication). This may help family members contact you in case of an emergency. |
|