Moldova

Capital City: Chisinau

People: Moldovan/Romanian 78.2%, Ukrainian 8.4%, Russian 5.8%, Gagauz 4.4%, Bulgarian 1.9%, other 1.3%

Religion: Eastern Orthodox 98%, Jewish 1.5%, Baptist and other 0.5%

Language: Moldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian language), Russian, Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)

Currency: Moldovan Leu

Electrical Voltage: 230 volts

How to get there:
By plane: Busiest air connections exist to Bucharest, Budapest, Istanbul, Moscow, Timisoara and Vienna. Prices are relatively high. The cheapest tickets can be bought to Bucharest, Istanbul, Kiev and Moscow. Moldova has three air companies.

By train
The cheapest way to get into the country is to take the overnight train from Bucharest which is about US$28. Since flights into Bucharest cost approx. US$200 less than those into Moldova, this is the best option if you have the time. At the border crossing the cars are lifted individually onto smaller gauge wheels to fit Moldovan tracks.

By bus: There are regular buses connecting Chişinău with Bucharest, Kiev and most major Romanian and Ukrainian cities. There are 5 to six buses per day to and from Bucharest. Due to a longer stay at the border the trip takes around 10 hours. You will also be able to travel to most European cities by bus with Moldovan bus companies. When coming by bus one should be sure to use a frontier with a (non-stop) visa issuing office.

Weather: The Republic of Moldova is located in a zone with a temperate continental climate approximately half way between the Equator and North Pole. The four seasons of the year is clearly defined, winter being warm and summer long, with a lot of sunny days.   The general movement of the atmospheric air mass is mostly from the Northwest Atlantic or Southwest. The mean temperature of the air from North to South ranges between +7.5 0C and +10 0C.   The temperature of the soil ranges between +10 0C and +12 0C. There are 2060–2360 hours of sunshine per year in Moldova; temperatures above freezing are registered 160–200 days per year; and precipitation ranges between 370 and 560 mm/year and more than 10% falls as snow, which can melt several times during winter.

Travel Documentation and Custom Duty: Citizens of US, EU, CIS countries, Canada, Norway, Switzerland, and Japan do not need a visa to enter Moldova and can stay in the country for up to 90 days within a six month period without registration. Citizens of other countries must either obtain visa in the nearest Moldovan embassy or alternatively could obtain visa on arrival in Chisinau airport and on some land border crossings provided that officially endorsed invitation letter from Moldova is obtained beforehand.

Getting Around: Bus, Cars

Tourism Website: http://www.turism.md/eng

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Banks:

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