Discover more about Moldovan Republic

Discover the Republic of Moldova!
more information www.moldova.md

Moldova, officially 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. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government. Moldova is a member state of the United Nations, Council of Europe, WTO, OSCE, GUAM, CIS, BSEC and other international organizations. Moldova currently aspires to join the European Union, and has implemented the first three-year Action Plan within the framework of the European Neighborhoods Policy (ENP). About a quarter of the population lives on less than US$ 2 a day.

Geography

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 since ancient times, and a major supplier of agricultural products in southeastern Europe. 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, receiving the waters of Raut, Bac, Ichel, Botna. Ialpug flows into one of the Danube firths, while Cogalnic into the Black Sea chain of firths.
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 meters (1,411 ft)-the highest point being the Balanesti Hill. Moldova's hills are part of the Moldavian Plateau, which geologically originate from the Carpathian Mountains. Its subdivisions in Moldova include Dniester Hills (Northern Moldavian Hills and Dniester-Raut Ridge), Moldavian Plain (Middle Prut Valley and Balti Steppe), and Central Moldavian Plateau (Ciuluc-Solonet Hills, Cornesti Hills (Codri Massive) - Codri, meaning "forests" -, Lower Dniester Hills, Lower Prut Valley, and Tigheci Hills). In the south, the country has a small flatland, the Bugeac Plain. The territory of Moldova east of the river Dniester is split between parts of the Podolian Plateau, and parts of the Eurasian Steppe.
Phyto-geographically, Moldova is shared between the Central European and Eastern European provinces of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the WWF, the territory of Moldova can be subdivided into three eco-regions: the Central European mixed forests, the East European forest steppe (the most territory of the country), and Pontic steppe (in the south and southeast).
The country's main cities are the capital Chisinau, in the center of the country, Tiraspol (in Transnistria), Balti and Tighina.

Capital city

Chisinau is a capital of the Republic of Moldova. You can find it at by position: latitude 47021, North and longitude 280501 East. Chisinau is a significant administrative, political, economic, scientific, cultural and touristic centre of the Republic of Moldova. The first historic record of the name Chisinau goes back to July 17 1436. The name derives from a word meaning “spring, pump, pipe”.
The city is located on seven hills and stretches over 120 km2. The population of Chisinau is over 752 thousand. Chisinau is crossed by two rivers - the Bic and Isnovat. The climate is moderate continental. The City is divided into 5 sectors: Centre, Buiucani, Botanica, Riscani and Ciocana. The Greater Chisinau area comprises 18 territorial administrative areas: 1 municipality, 6 towns, 8 communities and 3 villages. The local administrative state body is the City Hall of Chisinau.

Climate

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.

The Winter in Moldova is moderate, with a mean temperature in January of -5 to -3 0C. Some days it can fall to -15 to -20 0C, and during an intrusion of the arctic air mass even to -35 0C. The spring is not stable, as the number of sunny days and the mean air temperature is rising. In May the temperature is around +15 0C, decreasing the risk of late frosts.
The summer is hot and long, with the long periods of drought. The mean temperature in July is +19.5 to +22 0C, but sometimes can reach +35 to +40 0C. The summer rains are in most cases heavy and of short duration, sometimes causing local flooding.
The autumn is warm and long too, a so-called “Indian summer”. In November the mean temperature falls to +5 to +3 0C and may bring the first snowfalls and frosts.

Foreign relations

After achieving independence from the Soviet Union, Moldova established relations with other European countries. A course for European Union integration and neutrality define the country's foreign policy guidelines. In 1995 the country became the first post-Soviet state admitted to the Council of Europe. In addition to its participation in NATO's Partnership for Peace program, Moldova is also a member state of the United Nations, the OSCE, the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Francophonie and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In 2005 Moldova and EU established an action plan that sought to improve the collaboration between the two neighboring structures.
In June 2007 the Vice President of the Moldovan Parliament Iurie Rosca signed a bilateral agreement with the International Parliament for Safety and Peace, an intergovernmental organization for the promotion of world peace, based in Italy.[citation needed] After the War of Transnistria, Moldova had sought a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the Transnistria region by working with Romania, Ukraine, and Russia, calling for international mediation, and cooperating with the OSCE and UN fact-finding and observer missions. The foreign minister of Moldova, Andrei Stratan, had repeatedly stated that the Russian troops stationed in the breakaway region are there against the will of the Moldovan Government and called on them to leave "completely and unconditionally."

Administrative divisions

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

Economy

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. The economy contracted dramatically following the fall of the Soviet Union, and despite making a limited recovery since 2000, it remains one of the poorest countries in Europe.

Currency
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldovan_leu
The national currency, the Moldovan “Leu”. The name of the currency originates in Romania and means "lion".

Curious facts about “Leu”

1. On the front side of each banknote only one man is represented - the best-known ruler of Moldavia - Stefan cel Mare (Stephen the Great).
2. On the back side of a 100 lei banknote the Bendery fortress is shown, though there is a typo in its name, as the word Thighina should be written without first "h" - Tighina.
3. The first two lines of the Miorita ballad - «Pe-un picior de plai, Pe-o gura de rai…», are written in the white circle on the front side of each banknote.
4. On the back side of a 1000 lei banknote the Presidency building is shown, yet the writing says that it's the Parliament building. This is because when these banknotes were first printed in 1992 this building was indeed the Parliament building, but then it became the Presidency building.

Banknotes: 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 Leu.
Coins: 1 bani; 5 bani; 10 bani; 25 bani; 50 bani. (1 Leu = 100 bani)
If you want to see the specimens of banknotes and coins access the web-site of National Bank of Moldova: www.bnm.org

Culture

Located geographically at the crossroads of Latin, Slavic and other cultures, Moldova has enriched its own culture adopting and maintaining some of the traditions of its neighbors and of other influence sources.
The country's cultural heritage was marked by numerous churches and monasteries build 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, then split between Austria, Russia, and an Ottoman-vassal Moldavia (after 1859, Romania), made the largest contribution to the formation of the modern Romanian culture. Among these were many Bessarabians, such as Alexandru Donici, Alexandru Hajdeu, Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, Constantin Stamati, Constantin Stamati-Ciurea, Costache Negruzzi, Alecu Russo, Constantin Stere.
Mihai Eminescu, a late Romantic poet, and Ion Creanga, a writer, are the most influential Romanian language artists, considered national writers both in Romania and Moldova.
Moldova has produced artists with works that are recognized worldwide: composers (Gavriil Musicescu, Stefan Neaga, Eugen Doga), sculptors (Alexandru Plamadeala), and architects (Alexey Shchusev, a Moldovan-born Russian architect).
In the field of popular music, Moldova has produced the boyband O-Zone, who came to prominence in 2004, with their hit song Dragostea Din Tei, also known as "The Numa Numa Song".
Ethnic Moldovans, 78.3% of the population, are Romanian-speakers and share the Romanian culture. Their culture has been also influenced (through Eastern Orthodoxy) by the Byzantine culture. The country has also important minority ethnic communities. Gagauz, 4.4% of the population, are the only Christian Turkic people. Greeks, Armenians, Poles, Jews, Ukrainians, although not numerous, were present since as early as 17th century, and had left cultural marks. The 19th century saw the arrival of many more Ukrainians and Jews from Podolia and Galicia, as well as new communities, such as Lipovans, Bulgarians and Germans. In the second part of the 20th century, Moldova saw a massive Soviet immigration, which brought with it many elements of the Soviet culture. The country has now important Russian (6%) and Ukrainian (8.4%) populations. 50% of ethnic Ukrainians, 27% of Gagauzians, 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 ethnic minorities use Moldovan/Romanian as first language.

Languages
The Constitution of Moldova states that the Moldovan language is the official language, while the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova names the official language Romanian. The 1989 State Language Law speaks of a Moldo-Romanian linguistic identity.
In 2003, the government of Moldova adopted a national political conception which states that one of the priorities of the national politics of the Republic of Moldova is the insurance of the existence of the Moldovan language. (See also Controversy over national identity in Moldova)
Russian is provided with the status of a "language of interethnic communication", and remains widely used on all levels of the society and the state. The national political conception also states that Russian-Moldovan bilingualism is characteristic for Moldova. Gagauz and Ukrainian have significant regional speaker populations and are granted official status together with Russian in Gagauzia and Transnistria respectively.

Traditions
Moldova is a European Country, which has a rich ethnic history. The majority of the populations are Moldovans (Romanians), but the following national minorities live on this territory too: Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Gagauzians, Russians, Germans, Greeks, and others. In Moldova many traditions are centuries old. It is hard to believe that the multi-ethnic character of the country still exists within the popular traditions. What’s more it has enriched them with new qualities, giving them a new color and transforming them into an original bunch of customs, rituals, and folklore present in Moldovan villages. In spite of the differences of nationalities, the people here have the most important quality - Hospitality. In Moldova every guest is received with special warmth.
The householder will always serve his guest with great Moldovan wine and with the best dishes of food. Usually, the guests are invited into the "Casa Mare" (Big Room) - a traditional room in each house where people feast together. There are a lot of holidays in Moldova and everyone can join in them.
The Winter Holidays, for instance, feature greetings cards, best wishes, plays performed by both children and adults from one door to another, thus announcing with joy the coming of the New Year. Everybody is looking forward to Santa Claus to come on a sleigh filled with presents. Especially children prepare themselves for this event: they put on different costumes and masks and perform in front of the Christmas tree. In fact, at that period the holidays, following the traditional agricultural calendar coincide with the Christian festival of Christmas.
Another very important traditional holiday is "Martisor" - the symbol of spring. In March everybody in Moldova hangs on their collar two knitted white and red ropes, which symbolize nature’s revival.
In spring the most important holiday for our people is the Easter religions holiday. For this celebration people prepare in good time, they cook special food: Easter Cake and painted eggs and the best wine. In the course of time the painted eggs have become a handicraft art.
A lot of traditional events in our country represent an amalgam of elements characteristic to the agricultural, religious and civil calendars, a mixture that was transformed in a permanent source of goodwill, warmth and hospitality in Moldova. During the holidays guests in Moldova can participate in a range of cultural events: concerts "Martisor", "Ciresar", "Maria Biesu Welcomes", etc., performances, parades, mass manifestations on Independence Day, on "Limba Noastra" Day, on towns or villages’ Day, etc. On Harvest Days traditional fairs are organized in towns and villages. Especially during these holidays, tourists can get closer to the national folk and handcraft art.
We cannot speak about Moldova without mentioning the traditions of a family nature: weddings, celebrations, etc., which becomes real shows performed by guests and hosts.
In Moldovan villages "sezatorile" are very traditional social meetings, especially in the winter, where people sing, dance, and make handicrafts.
It’s truly said that each guest in the "Casa Mare" of Moldova is a real friend.

Wine industry
Moldova is famous for its wines. For many years viticulture and winemaking in Moldova were the general occupation of the population. Evidence of this is present in historical memorials and documents, folklore, and the Moldovan spoken language.
The country has a well established wine industry. It has a vineyard area of 147,000 hectares (360,000 acres), of which 102,500 ha (253,000 acres) are used for commercial production. Most of the country's wine production is made for export. Many families have their own recipes and strands of grapes that have been passed down through the generations.

Food and Drink
Moldova is rich in fertile soil and in hardworking and caring people. Nature is very generous in Moldova, offering plentiful grapes, fruits, vegetables, meat and milk products and cereals, all of which have found their uses in our national food. The fertile soil and the traditional agricultural methods make possible the cultivation of a diverse range of ecologically pure raw materials.
Moldovan cuisine has had a great influence on the traditional food of the other nationalities that live on this territory. At the same time some elements have been incorporated from Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Gagauzian and Russian cuisine, as well as elements taken some centuries ago from Greek and Turkish food.
The ingredients used in the traditional meals are: a variety of vegetables like tomatoes, green peppers, aubergines, white cabbage, beans, onions, garlic, etc. The vegetables are used for salads and sauces; they are baked, pickled, salted, and canned thus becoming a real food art. The maize and maize flour give a specific color to the traditional meals, like soups, biscuits, flakes, alcohol free drinks, etc. The most common is “mamaliga” - a maize porridge or polenta with a fine and delicious taste. "Mamaliga" is served together with diced meat, cheese, fried meat, cream, etc.
Meat cooked for the first and the second course has a special place in the Moldovan food. The most common are chicken soup, goulash, roast meat, grilled minced meat rolls, etc. A lot of meat courses are grilled over charcoal. But before the grilling procedure the meat is properly picked.
There is not a holiday without cabbage rolls, meat jelly, noodles, etc. The traditional table is not complete without biscuits, pies, cake dipped in syrup and fruit.
In different parts of Moldova there are local cuisines. In the East the Ukrainians prefer borsch, in the south the Bulgarians can offer a delicious chicken sauce - mangea, and the Gagauzians may serve you sorpa - a spicy ram soup, and the Russians will offer you their traditional pelmeni - a kind of roll stuffed with meat.
The Moldovan cuisine is served with a variety of traditional drinks: stewed fruits, juices, as well as alcoholic drinks like: wine, brandy, "tuica" - plum brandy, etc.
Wine growing in Moldova is a century-old tradition. The famous Moldovan wines are well known and appreciated at home and far beyond the country borders. The wines can be dry, sweet and strong, they have a varied bouquet of flavors and colors. For wine producing European vines are used such as: Sauvignon, Cabernet, Muscat, etc., as well as Moldovan varieties: Feteasca, Black Rara, Moldova, etc.
Strong drinks such as plum brandy, are produced using traditional methods.
Wine tastings are offered in most Moldovan cellars.

Religion
For the 2004 census, Eastern Orthodox Christians, who make up over 90% of Moldova's population, were not required to declare the particular of the two main churches they belong to. The Moldovan Orthodox Church, autonomous and subordinated to the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Orthodox Church of Bessarabia, autonomous and subordinated to the Romanian Orthodox Church, both claim to be the national church of the country.

Official Holidays

January 1                New Year
January 7                Orthodox Christmas
March 8                   International Women’s Day
April 27                   Orthodox Easter
May 1                      International Labour Day
May 5                      Memorial Easter
May 9                      Victory Day (WW II)
August 27               NATIONAL DAY
August 31               Limba Noastra (National Language Day)

Region of Moldova - Transnistria
more information www.pridnestrovie.net

Transnistria, also known as Trans-Dniester, Transnistria, and Pridnestrovie, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, is a breakaway republic within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova with the official status of an autonomous territory. Although not recognized by any state or international organization and de jure part of Moldova, it is de facto independent and functions like a state. It is organized as a presidential republic, with its own government, parliament, military, police, and postal system. Its authorities have adopted a constitution, flag, a national anthem, and a coat of arms.
Transnistria is located mostly in a strip between the Dniester River and Ukraine. After the dissolution of the USSR, Transnistria declared independence leading to the war with Moldova that started in March 1992 and was concluded by the ceasefire of July 1992. As part of that agreement, a three-party (Russia, Moldova, PMR) Joint Control Commission supervises the security arrangements in the demilitarized zone, comprising 20 localities on both sides of the river. Although the ceasefire has held, the territory's political status remains unresolved, and Transnistria has been de facto independent since that time.
Transnistria is sometimes compared with other post-Soviet frozen conflict zones such as Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia.

Region of Moldova - Gagauzia
more information www.gagauzia.md

Gagauzia, or Gagauz-Yeri, is a region in the south of Moldova consisting primarily of 150,000 Gagauz, a Turkic ethnic group but traditionally Orthodox Christian by religion. The region gained autonomous status through Moldovan legislation promulgated in 1995, which includes the right to independently determine issues relating to its political, economic, and cultural development. Comrat is the regional capital.
The base of the Gagauzian economy is agriculture, particularly viticulture. The main export products are wine, sunflower oil, non-alcoholic beverages, wool, leather and textiles. There are twelve wineries, processing over 400,000 tons annually. There are also two oil factories, two carpet factories, one meat factory, and one non-alcoholic beverages factory.
There are 451 kilometers of roads in Gagauzia, of which 82% are paved. Turkey loaned Moldova 35 million dollars to improve Gagauzia's road network.