User:Serhio/Moldova

The Republic of Moldova (conventional long form, conventional short form: Moldova, local official long form: Republica Moldova) is a landlocked country in eastern Europe, located between Romania to the west and Ukraine to the east. Historically the territory was a part of the Principality of Moldavia; in 1812 a part of Moldova was split by Russia, a situation which lasted until 1918 when it became part of Romania. Annexed by the Soviet Union, during 1940-1941, 1945-1991 it was known as as the Moldavian SSR. Moldova declared its independence on 27 August 1991.

History
Main article: History of Moldova Moldova's territory was inhabited in ancient times by Dacians. Situated on a strategic route between Asia and Europe, Moldova has suffered from several invasions, including those of the Kievan Rus' and the Mongols.

During the Middle Ages the territory of Republic of Moldova (including most of present-day Moldova but also including districts to the north and south, known as Northern Bukovina and Budjak) formed the eastern part of the principality of Moldavia (which, like the present-day republic, was known in Romanian as "Moldova"). The principality became tributary to the Ottoman Empire during 16th century. Following the Treaty of Bucharest in 1812, it was annexed by Russia together with Budjak (Southern Bessarabia). At first, the Russians used the name "Gubernya of Moldova and Bessarabia", but later called it simply Bessarabia. The western part of Moldavia remained an autonomous principality and united with Walachia to form Romania in 1859.



At the end of World War I, Bessarabia proclaimed independence from Russia in 1918, and united with the Kingdom of Romania the same year. The Soviet Union invaded Bessarabia in June 1940 in an agreement with Germany expressed in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and though forced out again in 1941, Soviet troops re-occupied and annexed the area in August 1944. Soviet rule brought a harsh de-nationalization policy. The southern and northern parts (which had some Slavic and Turkic minorities) were transferred to Ukraine. At the same time, Transnistria (where, at that time, ethnic Romanians outnumbered Slavs) was joined to the remainder to form the "Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic", identical in territory to present-day Moldova. Under Stalin, ethnic Russians were brought into the new country, especially into urbanized areas, while large numbers of ethnic Romanians were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan. The overall result was the destruction of Romanian elites and middle-classes, and their replacement with Soviet (mostly Slavic) elements.

Along with the other peripheral Soviet republics, Moldova started to move towards independence from 1991 onwards; in August 1991, Moldova declared its independence and in December of that year became a member of the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States along with most of the former Soviet republics. At the end of that year, an ex-communist reformer, Mircea Snegur, won an election for the presidency. Four months later, the country achieved formal recognition as an independent state at the United Nations.

The part of Moldova east of the Dniestr River, Transnistria&mdash;which is more heavily industrialized and is populated by a larger proportion of ethnic Russians and Ukrainians&mdash; claimed independence in 1991, fearing Moldovan unification with Romania. Russian and Ukrainian forces intervened on the Transnistrian side, and remain there. The OSCE is involved in negotiations between the Transnistrian leaders and Chisinau.

A March 1994 referendum saw an overwhelming majority of voters favoring continued independence. In the 2001 elections a pro-Russian Communist party won majority of seats in the Parliament and appointed a Communist president, Vladimir Voronin. After few years in power relationships between Moldova and Russia deteriorated over the Transnistrian conflict. In the following election, held in 2005, the Communist party made 180 degree turn and was re-elected on a pro-Western platform, with Voronin re-elected to a second term as a president. During the 2005 parliamentary elections the Russian Federation tried to influence the election process by intensively favourable coverage of pro-Russian candidates in the Russian mass media and by organizing meetings and agitation campaigns using the Russian CIS-EMO organization (so-called “Elections Monitoring Organization”), which is not recognized internationally as an independent election observer. This organization was proven to have poor records from the previous Kyrgyzstan election. As a response to the security threat, Moldovan authorities denied entry to the Republic of Moldova for the members of the CIS-EMO organization. Some who nonetheless made their way into the Republic were found distributing leaflets and actively participating in the election campaign, despite not having a valid Moldovan passport or any proof of Moldovan citizenship or any permission from the election authority. These members were consequently deported from the country. This action angered the Russian side. As a consequence, Russian-Moldovan ties greatly weakened, and the nation is split between building ties with the West or with Russia.

In 1992, Moldova was involved in a short-term war against Russian armed forces and Ukrainian Kazak units. Units of Kazaks (Ukrainian mercenaries) fought, supported by and alongside the Russian 14th Army. The Transnistrian war began with an attack of Russian mercenaries on the Moldovan town of Dubosari, situated on the eastern bank of the River Dniestr, but not loyal to the separatist regime. Since 1992, Russia has maintained a military occupation of the eastern regions of the Republic of Moldova. The separatist Transnistrian regime established in the occupied territory is undemocratic, and no rotation in political power has taken place in this area since 1992. The de facto Transnistrian government has enforced Russification, the denationalization of ethnic Ukrainians, and discrimination against Moldovans. In the summer of 2004, Transnistrian authorities forcibly closed six Moldovan schools from Tiraspol, Tighina/Bender, and Ribnita that used the Romanian language in the Latin alphabet. 3,400 enrolled children were affected by this measure. Several teachers and parents who opposed the closures were arrested.

Stefan cel Mare
Stefan cel Mare ("Stephen the Great"), cousin of Vlad III Dracula, was the most important Prince of Moldavia. He was born around 1436, at Borzesti, Bacau County, (now in Romania), and died at Suceava, Romania 2 July 1504. He ruled 47 years, from 14 April 1457 until his death. He is considered a national hero in Republic of Moldova and Romania, and is thus a symbolic link between them.

Dimitrie Cantemir
The Prince Dimitrie Cantemir is one of the most important figures of Western culture of the 18th century. Cantemir wrote the first geographical, ethnographical and economic description of the country, Descriptio Moldaviae (Berlin 1714). He is considered a national hero in Republic of Moldova (on both sides of the Dniestr river) and Romania.

Politics
Main article: Politics of Moldova

The unicameral Moldovan parliament, or Parlament, has 101 seats, and its members are elected by popular vote every 4 years. The parliament then elects a president, who functions as the head of state. The president appoints a prime minister as head of government who in turn assembles a cabinet, both subject to parliamentary approval.

2005 Parliamentary Elections:

 * Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) (45.98% votes, 56 mandates)
 * Electoral Bloc “Moldova Democrata” (BMD)                 (28.53% votes, 34 mandates)
 * Christian Democratic Peoples Party (CDPP)                (9.07% votes, 11 mandates)

2001 Parliamentary Elections:

 * Communist Party (CP)(50.07% votes, 71 mandates)
 * Electoral Bloc "Braghis Alliance" (BEAB)                 (13.36% votes, 19 mandates)
 * Christian Democratic People's Party (CDPP)               (8.24% votes, 11 mandates)

Administrative divisions
Main article: Administrative divisions of Moldova

Moldova is divided into 32 districts (raion, pl. raioane), 3 municipalities (Chisinau, Balti and Tighina), two semi-autonomous regions (Gagauzia and the breakaway region of Transnistria, whose status is still disputed). The districts are:

As no other nation recognizes Transnistria, it is de jure a part of Moldova, although in reality it is not controlled by the Moldovan government.

Geography
Main article: Geography of Moldova

Moldova's rich soil and temperate continental climate have made the country one of the most productive agricultural regions and a major supplier of agricultural products in the region.

The western border of Moldova is formed by the Prut river, which joins the Danube before flowing into the Black Sea. In the north-east, the Dniester is the main river, flowing through the country from north to south.

The country is landlocked, even though it is very close to the Black Sea. While the northern part of the country is hilly, elevations never exceed 430 m (the highest point being the Dealul Balanesti).

Moldova has a temperate continental climate, with warm summers, but mild winters.

The country's main cities are the capital Chisinau, in the centre of the country, Tiraspol (in Transnistria), Balti and Bender.

See List of cities in Moldova

Economy
Main article: Economy of Moldova

Moldova enjoys a favorable climate and good farmland but has no major mineral deposits. As a result, the economy depends heavily on agriculture, featuring fruits, vegetables, wine, and tobacco.

Moldova must import all of its supplies of petroleum, coal, and natural gas, largely from Russia. Energy shortages contributed to sharp production declines after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

As part of an ambitious economic liberalization effort, Moldova introduced a convertible currency, freed all prices, stopped issuing preferential credits to state enterprises, backed steady land privatization, removed export controls, and freed interest rates. The government entered into agreements with the World Bank and the IMF to promote growth. Recent trends indicate that the communist government intends to reverse some of these policies, and recollectivise land while placing more restrictions on private business.

The economy returned to positive growth, of 2.1% in 2000 and 6.1% in 2001. Growth remained strong in 2002, in part because of the reforms and because of starting from a small base. Further liberalization is in doubt because of strong political forces backing government controls. The economy remains vulnerable to higher fuel prices, poor agricultural weather, and the skepticism of foreign investors.

Moldova remains the poorest country in Europe in terms of GDP per capita: 1,900 USD PPP (2005) or 590 USD nominal (2005).

Ethnic composition
(according to the 2004 census)
 * Moldovans: 76.1%
 * Ukrainians: 8.4%
 * Russians: 5.8%
 * Gagauz: 4.4%
 * Romanians: 2.1%
 * Bulgarians: 1.9%
 * Others: 1.3%

About 2004 census

 * According to a May 19 2005 article in "Moldova Azi" news agency (see ), a group of international census experts described the Moldovan census as "generally conducted in a professional manner", while remarking that that "a few topics… were potentially more problematic". Among the problematic topics:
 * The census includes at least some Moldovans who had been living abroad over one year at the time of the census.
 * The precision of numbers about nationality/ethnicity and language was questioned. Some enumerators apparently encouraged respondents to declare that they were "Moldovan" rather than "Romanian", and even within a single family there may have been confusion about these terms.
 * With respect to these matters, especially the latter, the expert group recommended that the Moldovan National Bureau of Statistics carry out an evaluation study, offered their assistance in doing so, and indicated their intention of further studying the matter themselves.



Religions
(2000)
 * Eastern Orthodox Christian 98%
 * Jewish 1.5%
 * Baptist and other 0.5%

Language
The official language is Moldovan; this is by all accounts a form of Daco-Romanian, and is essentially the same as Romanian. There is no particular linguistic break at the Prut River, which divides Moldova from Romania. In formal use, the languages are identical except for minor orthographical issues (the Moldovans write i in some contexts where Romanians would use a; this same form used to be normal in Romania). There is, however, some regional variation, as might be found within any linguistic territory, and the common speech of Chisinau or Transnistria can be distinguished from the speech of Iaşi, a Romanian city that is also part of the former Principality of Moldavia.

Opinions vary on the status of Moldovan as a language. Most linguists consider standard Moldovan to be identical to standard Romanian, an Eastern Romance language, although one Moldovan linguist disputes this. There are, however, more differences between the colloquial spoken languages of Moldova and Romania, most significantly due to the influence of Russian in Moldova which was not present in Romania. The matter of whether or not Moldovan is a separate language is a contested political issue within and beyond the Republic of Moldova.

A September 1989 law concerning languages, which still applies, asserts the linguistic identity between the Romanian language and the Moldovan language.

A significant minority speaks native Russian, and there are more Slavicisms in common speech in Moldova than in common speech in Romania. Nonetheless, Moldovans are generally aware when they are using a word of Slavic origin not found in common Romanian, and are capable of choosing whether or not to use these words in a particular context.

Title I, Article 13 of the Moldovan Constitution, names it the "national language" (limba de stat) of the country. In the unrecognized state of Transnistria, it is co-official with Ukrainian and Russian. The 1989 law on language of the Moldavian SSR, which is still effective in Moldova according to the Constitution, asserts the real existence of "linguistical Moldo-Romanian identity".

"Moldovan language" is in fact identical with Romanian language, renamed as a "language" for political reasons by the government. Although similar theories have been fielded for other languages, this proposal is now believed to have been made to serve political purposes only, and nobody has provided any evidence so-far towards the idea that Moldovan and Romanian are not from common linguistic stock.

Information Technologies and Telecommunications
In 2004, the investments volume on the telecommunications and information market in the Republic of Moldova increased by 30,1% in comparison with 2003, achieving 825, 3 million lei (65,5 million dollars by the exchange rate of the NMB). The representatives of the National Agency for Telecommunications and Information Regulation communicated that 451 million lei (35,9 million dollars) were invested in the field of fixed telephone communication.

The investments constituted 330 million lei (26,2 million dollars) in the field of mobile telephony, 24,2 million lei (1,9 million dollars) in the field of Internet services, 19,1 million lei (1,5 million dollars) in the field of cable television services. The essential increase in the amount of 163 million lei (12,9 million dollars) has been achieved in the field of mobile telephony.

In comparison with 2003, the investments in this sector doubled practically. An insignificant increase was registered at the other market segments, but the investments volume remained the same in the field of fixed telephone communication.

The specialists of the National Agency for Telecommunications and Information Regulation mentioned that dynamic of investments done in 2003-2004 years in the development of telecommunication and information of the Republic of Moldova shows that in 2005 their volume would exceed the level of the last year. In their opinion, this increase will be determined by the investments of the national operator of the stationary telephone communications of the Joint-Stock Company “Moldtelecom” for the implementation of the technology CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), by the investments of the operators of mobile telephony “Orange” and “Moldcell” in the development of infrastructure, also by means orientated to the extension and improvement of access services to Internet by new broadband technologies.

Relations with European Union
The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with EU is the legal basis for EU relations with Moldova. With the joint adoption of the EU-Moldova Action Plan on February 22, 2005, the EU and Moldova have further reinforced their bilateral relationship, providing a new tool to help implement the PCA and bring Moldova closer to the EU. The TACIS Programme is the framework for technical assistance to support agreed objectives.

The Partnership & Cooperation Agreement came into force in July 1998 for an initial period of ten years. It establishes the institutional framework for bilateral relations, sets the principal common objectives, and calls for activities and dialogue in a number of policy areas. Moldova welcomed EU enlargement and signed on 30 April 2004 the protocol extending the PCA to the new EU member states.

During her first bilateral visit to Moldova, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner opened the new Delegation of the European Commission to Moldova on 6 October, to be headed by Cesare De Montis.

The opening of the Delegation of the European Commission is a signal of the deepening of relations between the EU and Moldova.

Culture
Main article: Culture of Moldova


 * List of Moldovans
 * Music of Moldova

Tourism in Moldova
The Republic of Moldova is a beautiful small country, situated in the Southeast part of Europe, neighboring Romania to the West and Ukraine to the East. This piece of land boasts a rich history, abundant in dramatic and agitated events.

Miscellaneous topics

 * Foreign relations of Moldova
 * Transportation in Moldova
 * Communications in Moldova
 * Internal security in Moldova
 * Military of Moldova
 * Coat of Arms of Moldova
 * Crime in Moldova
 * Principality of Moldavia
 * Moldova, an adjacent region of Romania.
 * Anti-Romanian discrimination
 * Russification
 * Coat of Arms of Moldova
 * Communications in Moldova
 * Crime in Moldova

Maps

 * Map of Moldova
 * Map of Chisinau
 * Maps of Moldova (political, ethnic, etc...) plus those of other former Soviet Republics

Profiles

 * U.S. Department of State Post Reports - Moldova
 * CIA - The World Factbook - Moldova
 * Peace Corps in Moldova
 * ECMI - Information about Minority Issues in Moldova

News portals

 * Moldova Azi: News from Moldova
 * BASA-press News Agency
 * Interlic News Agency
 * Moldova.org

Tourism

 * Official site of the Department of Tourism

Others

 * Moldova: Young Women From Rural Areas Vulnerable To Human Trafficking

International rankings

 * Bertelsmann: Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2006, ranked 75th out of 119 countries
 * Reporters without borders: Annual worldwide press freedom index (2005), ranked 74th out of 167 countries
 * The Wall Street Journal: 2005 Index of Economic Freedom, ranked 77th out of 155 countries
 * The Economist: The World in 2005 - Worldwide quality-of-life index, 2005, ranked 99th out of 111 countries
 * Transparency International: Corruption Perceptions Index 2005, ranked 88th out of 158 countries
 * United Nations Development Programme: Human Development Index 2005, ranked 116th out of 177 countries
 * World Economic Forum: Global Competitiveness Report 2005-2006 - Growth Competitiveness Index Ranking, ranked 82nd out of 117 countries
 * World Bank: Doing Business 2006, ranked 83rd out of 155
 * World Bank: Ease of Starting a Business 2006, ranked 69th out of 155
 * United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: Foreign Direct Investment Performance Index 2004, ranked 35th out of 140