Moldova - Country Information

Moldova info

Chisinau

Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east and south. It independent state in 1991, as part of the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

In Antiquity and Middle Ages Moldova territory was inhabited by ancient Greek tribes, later in different period was under the Roman, then Byzantine Empires. The Principality of Moldavia was established in 1359 and in 1538, the principality became a tributary to the Ottoman Empire, who ceded the eastern half of the territory of the Principality of Moldavia to the Russian Empire accordance with the Treaty of Bucharest of 1812. Turkey held the rest of Moldavia but it was passed to Romania in 1918. Russia did not recognize the cession of this territory.

Russia's newly ceded territory was transformed into the Bessarabia Governorate and undergone Russification and colonization; and by the end of the 19th century the Moldavian population decreased. After Russian Revolution of 1917, a Moldavian Democratic Republic was proclaimed. In June 1940, Bessarabia was occupied by Soviet forces as a consequence of a secret protocol attached to the 1939 Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact. On August 2, 1940, the Soviet government created the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (Moldavian SSR), with its capital at Chisinau, by joining most of Bessarabia with a portion of the Moldavian ASSR. During World War II, Romania joined Germany in the attack on the Soviet Union and reconquered Bessarabia. But Soviet troops retook the territory in 1944 and reestablished the Moldavian SSR.

With the restoration of Soviet power in the Moldavian SSR, Joseph Stalin's government policy was to russify the population of the Moldavian SSR and destroy any remaining ties it had with Romania. Deportations of locals to the northern Urals, to Siberia, and northern Kazakhstan occurred regularly in 1940–1941, 1944–1953. Other forms of Soviet persecution of the population included political arrests and execution. In 1946, as a result of a severe drought and excessive delivery quota obligations and requisitions imposed by the Soviet government, the southwestern part of the USSR suffered from a major famine. The conditions imposed during the reestablishment of Soviet rule became the basis of deep resentment toward Soviet authorities. In the 1980s, political conditions created by the glasnost and perestroika, a Democratic Movement of Moldova was formed, which in 1989 became known as the nationalist Popular Front of Moldova. The first democratic elections to the Moldavian SSR's Supreme Soviet were held February 25, 1990. The Popular Front won a majority of the votes.

The reformist government that took over in May 1990 made many changes that did not please the minorities, including changing the republic's name in June from the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic to the Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova and declaring it sovereign the same month. Later a separate "Gagauz Republic" and Dnestr Moldavian Republic" were proclaimed. In May 1991, the country's official name was changed to the Republic of Moldova (Republica Moldova). The name of the Supreme Soviet also was changed, to the Moldovan Parliament. On August 27, 1991, Moldova declared its independence from the Soviet Union. In 1990th Moldova received recognition as an independent state at the United Nations, became a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace program and also a member of the Council of Europe. Moldova's new constitution was adopted on 28 July 1994, replacing the old Soviet constitution of 1979. From 1992 to 2001, the young country suffered a serious economic crisis. In 1993, a national currency, the Moldovan leu, was introduced to replace the temporary cupon. The economy of Moldova began to change in 2001; and until 2008 the country has seen a steady annual growth of between 5% and 10%. The internal problem of the country were confronted with two breakaway regions, the predominantly Turkish Gagauz region in the southern part of the country, and the largely Russian Transdniestria region east of the Dniester River.

Trans-Dniester separatists (primarily ethnic Russians and Ukrainians) fought for independence from Moldova in 1992; about 1,500 died in the conflict. In the south, Gagauz, which is composed mostly of Turkic Christians, has also attempted secession. Russian troops were stationed there to settle the conflict. Protest still go on today in Moldova, and the problems in Transdniestr remain unsolved.

Modern Moldova is divided into thirty-two districts, three municipalities and two autonomous regions (Gagauzia and Transnistria). The final status of Transnistria is disputed, as the central government does not control that territory. The cities of Comrat and Tiraspol, the administrative seats of the two autonomous territories also have municipality status.

The national language of the Republic of Moldova is Moldovan, and its writing is based on the Latin alphabet. Scholars agree that Moldovan and Romanian are the same language, with the glottonym "Moldovan" used in certain political contexts. Russian is provided with the status of a "language of interethnic communication" and in practice remains widely used on all levels of the society and the state. As of the 2004 census, the country has significant Russian (6%) and Ukrainian (8.4%) populations. 50% of ethnic Ukrainians, 27% of Gagauz, 35% of Bulgarians, and 54% of smaller ethnic groups speak Russian as first language. In total, there are 541,000 people (or 16% of the population) in Moldova who use Russian as first language, including 130,000 ethnic Moldovans. By contrast, only 47,000 members of ethnic minorities use Romanian as first language. Gagauz and Ukrainian have significant regional speaker populations and are granted official status together with Russian in Gagauzia and Transnistria respectively. Eastern Orthodox Christians, make up 93.3% of Moldova's population. (2004 census)

Moldova officially considered to be the poorest European country. Moldova must import all of its supplies of petroleum, coal, and natural gas, largely from Russia. Viticulture and winemaking are the well-established industries of the region and have been general occupation of the population for many years. of the country's wine production is made for export. Moldova is also one of most productive agricultural regions in southeastern Europein southeastern Europe.

The main means of transportation in Moldova are railroads . The sole international air gateway of Moldova is the Chişinău International Airport. Shipping on the lower Prut and Nistru rivers plays only a modest role in the country's transportation system.

Tourism focuses on the country's natural landscapes and its history. Wine tours are offered to tourists across the country

Ethnic Moldovans, 78.3% of the population, are Romanian-speakers and share the Romanian culture. The country's cultural heritage was marked by numerous churches and monasteries built by the Moldavian ruler Stephen the Great in the 15th century, by the works of the later renaissance Metropolitans Varlaam and Dosoftei, and those of scholars such as Grigore Ureche, Miron Costin, Nicolae Milescu, Dimitrie Cantemir,Ion Neculce. In the 19th century, Moldavians from the territories of the medieval Principality of Moldavia made the largest contribution to the formation of the modern Romanian culture. Among these were many Bessarabians, such as Alexandru Donici, Alexandru Hâjdeu, Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, Constantin Stamati, Constantin Stamati-Ciurea, Costache Negruzzi, Alecu Russo, Constantin Stere. Mihai Eminescu, a late Romantic poet, and Ion Creangă, a writer, are the most influential Romanian language artists, considered national writers both in Romania and Moldova. Moldova gave birth to composers Gavriil Musicescu, Ştefan Neaga and Eugen Doga whose works are recognized worldwide.

Moldovan cuisine consists mainly of traditional European foods, such as beef, pork, potatoes, cabbage, and a variety of cereals. Popular alcoholic beverages are divin (Moldovan brandy) and local wines.

More about Moldova at Wikipedia

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