The 'Republic of Moldova' (''Republica Moldova'') is a
landlocked country in
Eastern Europe, located between
Romania to the west and
Ukraine to the north, east and south. Historically part of the
Principality of Moldavia, it was annexed by the
Russian Empire in 1812. At the dissolution of the latter, it united with other Romanian lands in
Romania in 1918. After
being occupied by the
Soviet Union in 1940, and changing hands in 1941 and 1944 during
World War II, it was known as the
Moldavian SSR from then until 1991. Moldova declared its independence from the Soviet Union on
27 August 1991. Although Moldova has been independent from the USSR since 1991, Russian forces have remained on Moldovan territory east of the Dniester River despite signing international obligations to withdraw.
Moldova is a
parliamentary democracy with a
President as its
head of state and a
Prime Minister as its
head of government. The country is a member state of the
United Nations,
WTO,
OSCE,
GUAM,
CIS,
BSEC and other
international organizations. Moldova has officially been a
neutral country since its independence, and an early member of the
NATO Partnership for Peace. Moldova aspires to join the
European Union [1] and is implementing its first three-year Action Plan within the framework of the
European Neighbourhood Policy (
ENP) of the EU
[2].
History
Main articles: History of Moldova
Moldova's territory was inhabited in ancient times by
Dacians. Due to its strategic location on a route between
Asia and
Europe, Moldova has suffered from several invasions, including those of the
Huns, the
Kievan Rus' and the
Mongols. During the
Middle Ages the territory of Republic of Moldova, that of the
Chernivtsi oblast and
Budjak of Ukraine, as well as that of the eastern 8 of the 41 counties of Romania comprised the
Principality of
Moldavia (which, like the present-day republic, was known in Romanian as ''Moldova''). The principality became a tributary to the
Ottoman Empire during the 16th century. According to the
Treaty of Bucharest in 1812, the territory, including
Khotyn and Budjak (Southern Bessarabia), passed to the
Russian Empire. At first, the Russians used the name "
Guberniya of Moldova and Bessarabia", but later called it simply
Bessarabia. While the northeastern part of Moldavia, called
Bukovina, was similarly annexed by the
Habsburg Empire, the western part (of Moldavia) remained an autonomous principality, and in 1859, united with
Wallachia to form the
Old Kingdom of Romania. Russian Tsarist authorities brought Bessarabia colonists such as
Gagauz and
Bulgars from the Ottoman Empire,
Ukrainians from
Podolia,
Germans from the
Rhine regions, and encouraged the settlement of
Lipovans from
Russia,
Jews from
Podolia and
Galicia, as well as Russian nobles or retired military. The Tsarist policy in Bessarabia was also partly aimed at de-nationalization of the Romanian element by forbidding after 1860s
education and
mass in Romanian, the effect of which was a low literacy rate (approx. 40% for males, approx. 10% for females) rather than a denationalization. Following the
Russian Revolution of 1917, Bessarabia proclaimed independence from Russia in 1918, and united with the Kingdom of Romania the same year.
Transnistria did not join Romania and formed the
Moldavian ASSR (1924-1940).
''Ştefan cel Mare''; ''Ştefan cel Mare şi Sfânt'', "Stephen the Great and Holy" in more modern versions) was
Prince of
Moldavia between 1457 and 1504 and the most prominent repesentative of the
House of Muşat
On June 28, 1940, in accordance with the secret protocol of the
Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact with
Nazi Germany, the
Soviet Union forced Romania to evacuate its administration from Bessarabia and Northern
Bukovina and immediately
annexed these territories. The southern and northern parts (which had significant Slavic and Turkic minorities) were transferred to the
Ukrainian SSR. At the same time, Transnistria (where ethnic
Romanians were the largest ethnic group), was joined with the remaining territory to form the
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, coterminous with the present-day Moldova. Although Soviet troops were forced out in 1941 by the
invasion of Axis forces, and Romania re-established the administration, the Soviet Union re-conquered and re-annexed the area in August 1944. Soviet rule brought a harsh de-nationalization policy, and an almost complete destruction of the local intelligentsia and of the richer farmers. A large number of ethnic
Russians and
Ukrainians (commonly known as Rusophones) immigrated into the new Soviet republic, especially into urbanized areas, while large numbers of ethnic Romanians were deported to
Siberia and
Kazakhstan during the early years of Soviet rule. The Soviet government began a campaign to promote a Moldovan ethnic identity, different from that of the Romanians, based on a theory developed during the existence of the Moldovan ASSR. Official Soviet policy asserted that the
Moldovan was distinct from the
Romanian language. Moldovan was written in
Cyrillic alphabet, in contrast with Romanian, which was written in
Latin alphabet (the language had used a different variant of the Cyrillic alphabet before 1860; as do many languages, Moldovan incorporated slight changes to the
Cyrillic alphabet — which is commonly thought of as "the
Russian alphabet" — most notably, the use of the letter ''
zhe'' with a
breve (Ӂ - ӂ) to indicate the sound /dʒ/). During 1946-47, due to absence of many farmers (enrolled into the Soviet army) to work the fields, and to high quotas of agricultural products demanded by the Soviets from the farmers, Moldova suffered from the worst famine in its history, resulting in 298,500 deaths. In 1944-50, there were up to a dozen anti-communist resistance groups activating in Moldova, however KGB managed to uproot them by arrests and deportation. In 1965-1972, there was an attempt by a number of local intellectuals and students to create a movement for promotion of the Romanian culture and forcing the state to employ more Romanians in the government, but the KGB managed to crack down on it as well. In 1970s and 1980s, Moldavian SSR received substantial investment from the budget of the USSR to develop industrial and scientific facilities, as well as housing. In 1971, the
Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a decision "About the measures for further development of
Kishinev city" that secured more than one billion
rubles of investment from the USSR budget. Subsequent decisions also directed substantial funding and brought highly qualified specialists from all over the USSR to develop Moldova's industry. These investments stopped in 1991 with the
dissolution of the Soviet Union, when Moldova became independent.
Along with the other peripheral Soviet republics, Moldova started to move towards independence from 1988 onwards; in August 1989 a language law was passed, adopting the Latin alphabet for Moldovan and declaring it the state language of the MSSR
[3]. The first free elections for the local parliament were held in February and March 1990. 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, although declaring itself a neutral state, it did not join the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) military branch. At the end of that year, an ex-communist reformer,
Mircea Snegur, won an unchallenged election for the presidency. Three months later, the country achieved formal recognition as an independent state at the
United Nations. The part of Moldova east of the
Dniester River,
Transnistria, which included a larger proportion of ethnic Russians and Ukrainians— claimed independence in 1990, fearing the rise of nationalism in Moldova and the country's expected unification with
Romania at the dissolution of the USSR. This caused a brief
military conflict between Moldova and Transnistria in 1992. Russian forces intervened on the Transnistrian side, and Russian troops of the 14th Army remain there to this day. Negotiations between the Transnistrian and Moldovan leaders have been going on under the mediation of
OSCE, Russia, Ukraine,
European Union, and
USA. Despite expectations of the
Popular Front of Moldova, Moldova did not unite with Romania in 1991. In the early 1990s, the future of Moldova was a source of tension in Romania's relations with Russia. A March 1994
referendum of the new constitution saw an overwhelming majority of voters favoring continued independence. In 2001, the country became a member of the
WTO. During the first 10 years of independence, Moldova was governed by coalitions of different parties, lead mostly by former communist officials which turned to democracy. In the 2001 elections, the Communist Party of Moldova won the majority of seats in the Parliament and appointed
Vladimir Voronin as president. After few years in power, relationships between Moldova and
Russia deteriorated in November 2003 over the Transnistrian conflict. In the following election, held in 2005, the Communist party made a 180 degree turn and was re-elected on a pro-Western platform, with Voronin being re-elected to a second term as a president. After 1999-2001, Moldova has constantly affirmed its desire to join the European Union, however it is not even part of the accession process yet, and the country's internal and foreign trade policy remains divided between the influence of Russia and that of the EU and USA.
Government
Main articles: Politics of Moldova
Republic of Moldova is a relatively new state, which became independent after the break-up of former Soviet Union. Historically, it traces its statehood to the medieval
Principality of Moldavia (jointly with an equal size territory inside
Romania), and to the
Moldavian Democratic Republic (1917-1918), which chose to join Romania in 1918. In 1940, the Soviets
created a
puppet government under the name
Moldavian SSR, which they placed inside the
USSR as one of the 15 unional republics. On
23 June,
1990, the first democratically elected parliament proclaimed Moldova's sovereignty, and on
27 August,
1991 the country's separation from the USSR, and independence.
Political system
The
unicameral Moldovan
parliament (''Parlament'') has 101 seats, and its members are elected by popular vote every four 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. There is a large variety of political parties and movements in Moldova with the main ones being listed below:
★
Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova
★
Popular Christian Democratic Front
★
Movement for a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova
★
Democratic Forces Party
★
Party of Renaissance and Conciliation
★
Social Democratic party of Moldova
★
Liberal Party of Moldova
2001 Parliamentary Elections
★
Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) (50.07% votes, 71 mandates)
★
Electoral Bloc "Braghiş Alliance" (BEAB) (13.36% votes, 19 mandates)
★
Christian Democratic People's Party (CDPP) (8.24% votes, 11 mandates)
2005 Parliamentary Elections
★
Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) (45.98% votes, 56 mandates)
★
Electoral Bloc “Moldova Democrată” (BMD) (28.53% votes, 34 mandates)
★
Christian Democratic People's Party (CDPP) (9.07% votes, 11 mandates)
Relations with Romania/Identity Politics
Main articles: Relations of Moldova with Romania
In 1989,
Romanian became the official language of Moldova (former Romanian
Bessarabia). Following independence in 1991, the Romanian tricolor with a coat-of-arms was used as the flag, and
Deşteaptă-te române!, the Romanian national anthem, also became the anthem of Moldova. In those times, there was an expectation among certain groups in both countries that they were to be united soon, and a
Movement for unification of Romania and the Republic of Moldova began in both countries in the early 1990s. Dual citizenship became an increasingly important issue following the 2003 local elections, and in November 2003, the Moldovan parliament passed a law that allowed Moldovans to acquire dual citizenship.
In the address to the Romanian parliament in February 1991,
Mircea Snegur, the Moldovan president spoke about a common identity of the
Moldovans and
Romanians, referring to the "Romanians of both sides of the
Prut River" and "Sacred Romanian lands occupied by the Soviets". Historically, the Romanian government had provided scholarships to Moldovan students (via a common scheme with the Moldovan Ministry of Education) at all educational levels to attend Romanian schools and universities.
However, the initial enthusiasm in Moldova was tempered and, starting in 1993, Moldova started to distance itself from Romania. The constitution adopted in 1994 used the term "Moldovan language" instead of "Romanian" and changed the national anthem to
Limba noastră. The 1996 attempt by Moldovan president Mircea Snegur to change the official language to "Romanian" was dismissed by the Moldovan Parliament as "promoting Romanian expansionism".
Foreign relations
Main articles: Foreign relations of Moldova
The government has stated that Moldova has European aspirations but there has been little progress toward
EU membership. On
May 1,
2004 many EU enthusiasts waving the EU flags found their flags confiscated by police and some were arrested under the clause of "anti-nationalism." 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. A
Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) with EU is the legal basis for EU relations with Moldova. The PCA 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 dialog 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. 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 used as the framework for
technical assistance to support agreed objectives.
Romanian President Traian Basescu is one of the strong advocates (at the EU level) for Moldova's bid to join the European Union.Romania seeks German support for Moldova's bid to join EU http://english.people.com.cn/200707/03/eng20070703_389584.html Romanian President Traian Basescu on Monday urged Germany to support the inclusion of Moldova in the next enlargement wave of the European Union (EU). Basescu made the appeal when meeting with his German counterpart, Horst Koehler, who started a two-day official visit to Romania on Monday, Basescu's office said. At the meeting, Basescu requested Germany to analyze the possibility of supporting the inclusion of Moldova in the next group of EU acceding countries in a future enlargement. In June 2007 the Republic of Moldova joined the International Parliament for Safety and Peace (see
[1]and
[2]).
Administrative divisions
Administrative divisions of Moldova
Moldova is divided into
thirty-two districts (''raioane'', singular ''
raion''); three municipalities (
Bălţi,
Chişinău,
Tighina); and two semi-autonomous regions (
Găgăuzia and
Transnistria). The cities of
Comrat and
Tiraspol also have municipality status, however not as first-tier subdivisions of Moldova, but as parts of the regions of Găgăuzia and Transnistria, respectively. The districts are:
Transnistria is a ''de jure'' part of Moldova, as its independence is not recognized by any country, although ''
de facto'' it is not controlled by the Moldovan government. It is administered by an unrecognized breakaway authority seeking closer ties with Russia, and its status is still disputed.
Geography
General map of Moldova
The largest part of the country lies between two rivers, the
Dniester and the
Prut. Moldova's rich soil and
temperate continental climate (with warm summers and mild winters) 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 metres (1,411 ft)—the highest point being the
Dealul Bălăneşti. The country's main cities are the capital
Chişinău, in the center of the country,
Tiraspol (in
Transnistria),
Bălţi and
Tighina.
Economy
Moldovan leu.
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,
Moldovan wine, and
tobacco. Moldova must import all of its supplies of
petroleum,
coal, and
natural gas, largely from
Russia. After the break up of the
Soviet Union in 1991, energy shortages contributed to sharp production declines. 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. In agriculture, the economic reform started with the
land cadastre reform.
Following the
regional financial crisis in 1998, Moldova has made significant progress towards achieving and retaining macroeconomic and financial stabilization. It has, furthermore, implemented many structural and institutional reforms that are indispensable for the efficient functioning of a market economy. These efforts have helped maintain macroeconomic and financial stability under difficult external circumstances, enabled the resumption of economic growth and contributed to establishing an environment conducive to the economy’s further growth and development in the medium term. Despite these efforts, and despite the recent resumption of economic growth, Moldova still ranks low in terms of commonly-used living standards and human development indicators in comparison with other transition economies. Although the economy experienced a constant economic growth after 2000: with 2.1%, 6.1%, 7,8% and 6,3% between 2000 and 2003 (with a forecast of 8% in 2004), one can observe that these latest developments hardly reach the level of 1994, with almost 40% of the
GDP registered in 1990. Thus, during the last decade little has been done to reduce the country’s vulnerability. After a severe economic decline, social and economic challenges, energy uprooted dependencies, Moldova continues to occupy one of the last places among the European countries according to the income per capita. In 2002 (Human Development Report 2004), in Moldova the registered GDP per capita was US $381 equivalent to US $ 1,470
PPP, which is 5.3 times lower than the world average (US $ 7,804). Moreover, GDP per capita is under the average of all regions in the world, including Sub-Saharan Africa (US $ 1,790 PPP). In 2004, about 40% of population were under the absolute poverty line and registered an income lower than US $ 2.15 (PPP) per day. Moldova is classified as medium human development and is placed on the 113 spot in the list of 177 countries. The value of the Human Development Index (0.681) is below the world average. Moldova remains the poorest country in Europe in terms of GDP per capita: $ 2,500 in 2006.
Information technology and telecommunications
In 2004, the investments volume on the
telecommunications and information market in Moldova increased by 30.1% in comparison with 2003, achieving 825.3 million
lei (65.5 million US dollars). The representatives of the
National Agency for Telecommunications and Information Regulation stated that 451 million lei (35.9 million dollars) were invested in the field of fixed telephone communication.
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. An essential increase of 163 million lei (12.9 million dollars) has been achieved in the field of mobile telephony. In comparison with 2003, investments in this sector practically doubled. An insignificant increase was registered in the other
market segments, but the investment volume remained the same in the field of
fixed telephone communication. In 2005, the volume of investments in telecommunication and information technology exceeded the level of the previous year, primarily due to the investments of the national operator of the stationary telephone communications of the
Joint-Stock Company Moldtelecom for the implementation of the CDMA (
Code Division Multiple Access) technology, by the investments of the operators of mobile telephony
Orange and
Moldcell in the development of
infrastructure, also by means aimed at the extension and improvement of access services to Internet by new
broadband technologies.
Human rights
The
United States Senate has held committee hearings on irregularities that marred elections in Moldova, including the arrest and harassment of opposition candidates, intimidation and suppression of independent media, and state run media bias in favor of candidates backed by the
Moldovan Government.
[4]
State media coverage of the street protests in 2002 regarding the Communists’ attempt to reinstate obligatory study of the Russian language and to defend the cultural identity that the majority of Moldovans share with neighboring Romania was censored. In February 2002, in response to severe censorship of the state broadcaster Teleradio-Moldova (TVM), hundreds of TVM journalists went on strike in solidarity with the anti-communist opposition. In retribution, a few journalists and staff members were dismissed or suspended from the station in March
[5].
However, in 2004 an improvement was made and the Moldovan Parliament removed Article 170 from the country's Criminal Code. Article 170 called for up to five years imprisonment for
defamation.
[6]
According to the
OSCE, the media climate in Moldova remained restrictive as of 2004.
[7] Authorities continued a long-standing campaign to silence independent opposition voices and movements. In a case widely criticized by
human rights defenders, opposition politician
Valeriu Pasat was sentenced to a ten-year prison term. The United States and human rights defenders from the European Union consider him a political prisoner, and an official statement from Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the judgment "striking in its cruelty".
:''See also:
Human rights in Transnistria''
Demographics
Main articles: Demographics of Moldova
Ethnic composition
Ethnic composition in 1989.
Given that the definition of ethnic groups is the subject of an ongoing dispute, the following data must be treated with caution. The main controversy, concerns the identity between ''
Moldovans'' and ''
Romanians'', as well as between the corresponding Moldovan and Romanian languages (see
Moldovan language). The distinction between Moldovans and Romanians has been a greatly disputed political issue with one side arguing that Moldovans constitute an ethnic group separate from the Romanian
ethnos, whereas others claim that Moldovans in both Romania and Moldova are simply a subgroup of the Romanian ethnos, similar to
Transylvanians,
Oltenians, and other groups (''see
Moldovans'').
The last reference data is that of the
2004 Moldovan Census[8] and the
2004 Census in Transnistria:
| # | Ethnicity | Mold. census | % Mold | Transnistrian census | % Tran | Total | % |
|---|
| 1. | Moldovans
★ | 2,564,849 | 75.8% | 177,156 | 31.9% | 2,742,005 | 69.6% |
| 2. | Ukrainians | 282,406 | 8.3% | 159,940 | 28.8% | 442,346 | 11.2% |
| 3. | Russians | 201,218 | 5.9% | 168,270 | 30.3% | 369,488 | 9.4% |
| 4. | Gagauzians | 147,500 | 4.4% | 11,107 | 2.0% | 158,607 | 4.0% |
| 5. | Romanians
★ | 73,276 | 2.2% | NA | NA | 73,276 | 1.9% |
| 6. | Bulgarians | 65,662 | 1.9% | 11,107 | 2.0% | 76,769 | 1.9% |
| 7. | Others | 48,421 | 1.4% | 27,767 | 5.0% | 76,188 | 1.9% |
| 8. | 'TOTAL' | '3,383,332' | '100%' | '555,347' | '100%' | '3,938,679' | '100%' |
Note: Transnistrian authorities published only the percentage of ethnic groups; the number of people was calculated from those percentages. The number or percentage of Romanians in Transnistria was not published; it is included in "others".
According to the ''
Moldova Azi'' news agency,
[9] a group of international census experts described the 2004 Moldovan census as "generally conducted in a professional manner", while remarking that that "a few topics… were potentially more problematic", in particular:
# 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. Also it is unclear how many respondents consider the term "Moldovan" to signify an ethnic identity other than "Romanian".
Largest cities
: ''Sources:
2004 Census results in Transnistria,
World Gazetteer on 2004 Moldovan Census
Religions
According to the 2004 census, the population of Moldova has the following religious composition:
| Religion | Adherents | % of total |
|---|
Eastern Orthodox Christians | 3,158,015 | 95.5% | | Newer Protestant faiths: Baptists: Seventh-day Adventists: Pentecostal: Brethren Assemblies |
32,754
13,503
9,179
5,075 | 1.83%
0.99%
0.41%
0.28%
0.15% |
| Traditional Protestant: Confessional Evangelicals: Refomed: Evangelical Synod-Presbyterians |
1,429
1,190
3,596 | 0.19%
0.04%
0.04%
0.11% |
| Old-Rite Christians | 5,094 | 0.15% |
Roman Catholics | 4,645 | 0.14% | Muslims | 1,667 | 0.05% | Other religions | 25,527 | 0.77% | | Agnostics | 33,207 | 1% | Atheists | 12,724 | 0.38% |
Percentages are calculated from the number of people declaring a religion; 75,727 (2.29%) of the population did not declare a religion.
a Known as ''Creştini după Evanghelie''.
b Traditionally Orthodox Lipovans.
Orthodox Christians were not required in the census to declare the particular church they belong to.
Moldovan Orthodox Church, subordinated to the
Russian Orthodox Church, and
Orthodox Church of Bessarabia, autonomous and subordinated to the
Romanian Orthodox Church, both claim to be the national church of the country.
Before the Holocaust, the country had a substantial
Jewish community, 7%, or slightly over 200,000, in 1930. In June-July 1941 approx. 2/3 of Jews fled (mostly in miserable conditions) to the interior of USSR (Uzbekistan, Siberia, other regions) before the retreat of the Soviet troops. In 1941-1942, approx. 1/3 of
Bessarabian Jews (alongside Jews from several other districts of Romania) were deported to ghettos and labor camps in
Transnistria (WWII), where more than half perished in extreme conditions. Approx. 10,000 Jews (both military and civilians) were executed during the military action in June-July 1941 by German
Einsatzkommando D, and (at least on four occasions) by Romanian troops. By mid 1942 fewer than 20,000 Jews remained in the region. After the Soviets took back the region in 1944, most of the Bessarabian Jews returned. During the Soviet period some Jews from Moldova moved to other parts of the former
USSR, while some Jews from other regions moved to Moldova. During late 1980s and 1990s, there was mass migration of Jews to Israel, with a total number of emigrants estimated at over 100,000. The Jewish population was estimated at 1.5% as late as 2000.
Culture
Main articles: Culture of Moldova
Located geographically at the crossroads of Latin and Slavic cultures, Moldova has enriched its own culture adopting and maintaining some of the traditions of its neighbors.
The Prince
Dimitrie Cantemir is one of the most important figures of
Moldavian culture of the 18th century. Cantemir wrote the first geographical, ethnographical and economic description of the country in
Descriptio Moldaviae (
Berlin, 1714).
Mihai Eminescu was a late
romantic poet, probably the best-known and most influential
Romanian language poet.
Language
Main articles: Moldovan language,
Romanian language
The state language, according to Title I, Article 13 of the Moldovan Constitution, is
Moldovan. In Moldova's Declaration of Independence, the same language is called
Romanian[10]. 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 often, but not always, write ''î'' in some contexts where Romanians would use ''â''; this same form used to be normal in Romania until 1990s). There is, however, some regional variation, as might be found within any linguistic territory, and the common speech of areas such as
Chişinău or
Transnistria can be distinguished from the speech of
Iaşi, a Romanian city that is also part of the former
Principality of Moldavia, while the difference in the common speech between
Iaşi and the capital of Romania
Bucharest is even greater. Linguistically, Moldovan is considered one the the five major spoken dialects of Romanian, all five being written identically. In general, before 1988-89, the less educated, the greater the difference from standard Romanian, and the more words were borrowed ad hoc from Russian into the daily speech.
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
[11] 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. These differences in speech vocabulary are being slowly diluted after 1989. The matter of whether or not Moldovan is a separate language is a contested political issue within and beyond the Republic of Moldova. The 1989 law on language of the
Moldavian SSR, which is still effective in Moldova according to the Constitution
[12], asserts the existence of "linguistic Moldo-
Romanian identity".
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.
In some cases
Russian is used alongside Moldovan (Romanian) within state institutions, despite not having legal status. This is generally in direct relation to the political context in the government, which can be either pro-Russian or pro-Romanian/pro-Western. As of 2006, five members of the Moldovan government were not able to speak Moldovan, the main language used in government meetings being Russian
[13]. In
Transnistria, the breakaway authorities consider its old Cyrillic form co-official with
Russian and
Ukrainian, and persecute inhabitants that use the standard Latin alphabet.
Sport
Football has traditionally been Moldova's national sport, however,
rugby union has risen to become a very popular sport with the
national team earning promotion to Division one of the
European Nations Cup with some brilliant displays attracting many spectators to their matches.
See also
Gallery
Notes
1. http://www.moldpres.md/default.asp?Lang=en&ID=68715 ( "Voronin highlighted, that we will strive for becoming an EU member")
2. Moldova-EU Action Plan Approved by European Commission, http://www.azi.md, 14 December 2004, retrieved 2 July 2007
3. Legea cu privire la functionarea limbilor vorbite pe teritoriul RSS Moldovenesti Nr.3465-XI din 01.09.89 Vestile nr.9/217, 1989 (Law regarding the usage of languages spoken on the territory of the Republic of Moldova): ''"Moldavian SSR supports the desire of the Moldovans that live across the borders of the Republic, and considering the existing linguistical Moldo-Romanian identity - of the Romanians that live on the territory of the USSR, of doing their studies and satisfying their cultural needs in their maternal language."''
4. U.S. Library of Congress, Senate report 2004
5. Press freedom report (CPJ)
6. Statement of Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
7. Report on Assessment Visit to Moldova by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
8. Official results of 2004 Moldovan census
9. Experts Offering to Consult the National Statistics Bureau in Evaluation of the Census Data, ''Moldova Azi'', May 19, 2005, story attributed to AP Flux. Retrieved October 11, 2005.
10. Declaraţia de independenţa a Republicii Moldova, Moldova Suverană
11. Stati, V.N. ''Dicţionar moldovenesc-românesc''. [=''Moldovan-Romanian dictionary''.] Chişinău: Tipografia Centrală (Biblioteca Pro Moldova), 2003. ISBN 9975-78-248-5.
12. Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, Title 7, Article 7: ''"The law of 1 September 1989 regarding the usage of languages spoken on the territory of the Republic of Moldova remains valid, excepting the points where it contradicts this constitution."''
13. Moldovan MPs say state functionaries that do not speak state language should be dismissed
External links
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Official governmental site
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Official web site of the Parliament
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The EU's relations with Moldova (European Commission site)
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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Embassy of the Republic of Moldova in the United States of America
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Embassy of the United States of America in the Republic of Moldova
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Elections in Moldova 2005
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General Local Elections 2007
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U.S. Department of State 2005 report about Human Rights in Moldova
Profiles
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U.S. Department of State Post Reports - Moldova
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CIA - The World Factbook - Moldova
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ECMI - Information about Minority Issues in Moldova
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'Moldova ART Gallery' by Anastasia Ponyatovskaya: icons, oil paintings, batik.All items are for sale,delivering is avalable
Others
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MOLDOVA 2006 INVESTMENT CLIMATE STATEMENT
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Moldova: Young Women From Rural Areas Vulnerable To Human Trafficking
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OurNet — Moldova Internet Resources
International rankings
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Bertelsmann:
Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2006, ranked 75th out of 119 countries
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Reporters without borders:
Annual worldwide press freedom index (2005), ranked 74th out of 167 countries
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The Wall Street Journal:
2005 Index of Economic Freedom, ranked 77th out of 155 countries
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The Economist:
The World in 2005 - Worldwide quality-of-life index, 2005, ranked 99th out of 111 countries
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Transparency International:
Corruption Perceptions Index 2005, ranked 88th out of 158 countries
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United Nations Development Programme:
Human Development Index 2005, ranked 116th out of 177 countries
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World Economic Forum:
Global Competitiveness Report 2005-2006 - Growth Competitiveness Index Ranking, ranked 82nd out of 117 countries
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World Bank:
Doing Business 2006, ranked 83rd out of 155
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World Bank:
Ease of Starting a Business 2006, ranked 69th out of 155
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United Nations Conference on Trade and Development:
Foreign Direct Investment Performance Index 2004, ranked 35th out of 140
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