Moldova

For other uses of "Moldova" and "Moldavia", see Moldova (disambiguation).

Republic of Moldova Republica Moldova
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Limba noastră-i o comoară   Our language is a treasure
Anthem: Limba noastră  (Romanian) Our Language
Location of Moldova (orange) in Europe (white)
Capital and largest city	Chişinău
Official languages	Moldovan/Romanian1
Demonym(s)	Moldovan, Moldavians
Government	Parliamentary republic
• President	Vladimir Voronin
• Prime Minister	Vasile Tarlev
Independence from the Soviet Union
• Date	August 27, 1991
• Finalised	December 25, 1991
Area
• Total	33,843 km2 (13,067 sq mi) (139th)
• Water (%)	1.4
Population
• 2007 estimate	4,320,490 (121st³)
• 2004 census	3,383,332²
• Density	111/km2 (287.5/sq mi) (81st)
GDP (PPP)	2007 estimate
• Total	$9,367 million (141st)
• Per capita	$2,962 (135th)
Gini (2003)	33.2 medium inequality
HDI (2006)	0.694 medium (114th)
Currency	Moldovan leu (MDL)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Calling code	373
ISO 3166 code	MD
Internet TLD	.md
Moldovan is commonly considered another name for Romanian (Gagauz and Russian are also official in the Gagauz Autonomous Region). 2004 census from National Bureau of Statistics. Figure does not include Transnistria and Tighina. Ranking based on 2005 UN figure including Transnistria.

The Republic of Moldova (Template:Lang-ro) 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. Later, in 1918, Bukovina and Bessarabia together with Transylvania joined to Romania. On June 28 1940, Romania received an ultimatum from the Soviet Union, demanding the evacuation of the Romanian military and administration from Bessarabia and from the northern part of Bukovina, with an implied threat of invasion in the event of non-compliance. Under pressure from Moscow and Berlin, the Romanian administration and armed forces retreated to avoid war. After changing hands in 1941 and 1944 during World War II, Moldova was administered by the USSR as the Moldavian SSR until 1991 when it declared its independence on August 27, 1991. Although Moldova has been independent since 1991, Russian forces have remained on Moldovan territory east of the Nistru River despite signing international obligations to withdraw and against the will of Moldovan Governement. Moldova has officially been a neutral country since its independence, and an early member of the NATO Partnership for Peace. Moldova currently aspires to join the European Union. and is implementing its first three-year Action Plan within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) of the EU.

The Moldovans are a Latin people identically to the Romanians, with the Romanian language.

History

Main articles: History of Moldova, Principality of Moldavia, and Greater Romania

Moldavia until the World War II

Main article: Moldavia

Moldova's territory was inhabited in ancient times by Dacians. Due to its strategic location on a route between Asia and Europe, Moldova has been invaded several times, including those by 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 the 1860s education and mass in Romanian, but the effect 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). For more information see:Greater Romania.

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

Soviet occupation

Main articles: Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina and Moldavian SSR

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 its 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 the Cyrillic alphabet, in contrast with Romanian, which was written in the 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/).

Population transfer was another effect of Soviet occupation. Hundreds of thousands of migrants were relocated to Moldova from other parts of Soviet Union to conduct industrialization and militarization.

During 1946-47, due to the 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 active in Moldova; however the KGB managed to uproot them with arrests and deportation. In 1965-1972 there was an attempt by a number of local intellectuals and students to create a movement for the promotion of Romanian culture and to force 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.

Return to independence

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 Romanian and declaring it the state language of the MSSR. 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. 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 the 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, led 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. Since 1999, 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.

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.

Government

Main article: Politics of Moldova

File:Vladimir voronin.jpg

The President of Moldova, Vladimir Voronin

Moldova is a unitary, parliamentary, representative democratic republic. The constitution of Moldova adopted in 1994 sets the framework for the government of the country. In order to amend the constitution, a parliamentary majority of at least two thirds is required. Furthermore, the constitution cannot be revised in time of war or national emergency, and no revision can be made that limits the fundamental rights enumerated in the Constitution. Furthermore, amendments to the Constitution affecting the state's sovereignty, independence, or unity can only be made after a majority of voters support the proposal in a referendum.

The country's central legislative body is the unicameral Moldovan parliament (Parlament), which has 101 seats, and whose members are elected by popular vote every four years. The head of state is the president, who is elected by Parliament, requiring the support of three fifths of the deputies (at least 61 votes). The president appoints a prime minister who functions as the head of government and who in turn assembles a cabinet, both subject to parliamentary approval. The Constitution also establishes an independent Constitutional Court, which has the power of judicial review over all acts of parliaments, Presidential decrees, and international treaties. Members of this Court is composed of six judges, two appointed by the President, Parliament, and the High Magistrates Council each. The judges serve for a term of six years, during which time they are not subordinate to any other power and cannot be removed from their posts.

Currently, the President of Moldova is Vladimir Voronin and has held this post since 2001. The main party in parliament is the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova, which holds a majority of 55 seats. Other parties with deputies in Parliament are the Party Alliance Our Moldova, the Democratic Party of Moldova, the Social Liberal Party, and the Christian-Democratic People's Party. 17 deputies to parliament are independents.

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Moldova

After achieving independence from the Soviet Union, Moldova had 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. 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. In 1st of October 2007, foreign minister of Moldova, Andrei Stratan, said at UN that Russian troups are in Republic of Moldova against the will of Moldovan Government.

Relations with Romania/Identity Politics

Main article: Relations of Moldova with Romania

The territory of the present Republic of Moldova was a part of the historic region of Romania, Bessarabia (in yellow), until the USSR occupation in 1945.

In 1989, Romanian became the official language of Moldova (former Romanian Bessarabia). Following independence in 1991, the Romanian tricolor with a coat-of-arms (inspired by the coat of arms of Romania) 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. Already it is estimated that approximately half a million Moldovans have Romanian passports.

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".

Administrative divisions

Administrative divisions of Moldova

Main article: Administrative divisions of Moldova

Moldova is divided into thirty-two districts (raioane, singular raion); three municipalities (Bălţi, Chişinău, Tighina); and two 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 status of Transnistria is however under dispute. Although it is de jure part of Moldova and is recognized as such by the international community, Transnistria is not de facto under the control of the central government of Moldova. It is administered by an unrecognized breakaway authority under the name Pridnestrovian Moldovan Republic.

#	City	Population	Year
1.	Chişinău	647,513	2005
2.	Tiraspol	159,163
3.	Bălţi	122,778	2005
4.	Tighina	105,010	2004
5.	Rîbniţa	82,699	2004

Geography

General map of Moldova

Main article: Geography 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.

See also: List of cities in Moldova and List of localities in Moldova

Economy

Moldovan leu.

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, Moldovan wine, and tobacco. Because of this country is considered to have the cleanest air in the world . 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 European countries in income per capita.

In 2002 (Human Development Report 2004), 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 the population were under the absolute poverty line and registered an income lower than US $ 2.15 (PPP) per day. Moldova is classified as medium in human development and is at the 113th 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 volume of investment in 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, investments in telecommunication and information technology exceeded the level of the previous year, due to the investments by the national operator of the stationary telephone communications in the Joint-Stock Company Moldtelecom for the implementation of CDMA technology, the investments of the operators of mobile telephony Orange and Moldcell in the development of infrastructure, and the extension and improvement of Internet access services via new broadband technologies.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Moldova

Ethnic composition

File:Moldova ethnic coposition.jpg

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 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, a group of international census experts described the 2004 Moldovan census as "generally conducted in a professional manner", while remarking that "a few topics… were potentially more problematic", in particular:

1. The census includes at least some Moldovans who had been living abroad over one year at the time of the census.
2. * 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".

Religions

Orthodox Church of Bessarabia within Romanian Orthodox Church

Orthodox Christians were not required in the census to declare the particular church they belong to. The Moldovan Orthodox Church, 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.

Before the Holocaust, the country had a substantial Jewish community, 7%, or slightly over 200,000, in 1930. In June-July 1941 approximately two thirds of the Jews fled (mostly in miserable conditions) to the interior of the USSR (Uzbekistan, Siberia, other regions) before the retreat of the Soviet troops. In 1941-1942, approximately one third of the 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. Approximately 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

Mihai Eminescu, national poet of Romania and Moldova.

Main articles: Culture of Moldova and Culture of Romania

Located geographically at the crossroads of Latin and Slavic cultures and having the common heritage with the Culture of Romania, Moldova has enriched its own culture adopting and maintaining some of the traditions of its neighbors.

Language

Main articles: Moldovan language and Romanian language

The Constitution of Moldova (Title I, Article 13) states that the Moldovan language is the official language of the country. In Moldova's Declaration of Independence, the same language is called Romanian. The term "Moldovan" is the official name for the Romanian language in the Republic of Moldova, but this term is limited only to some political spheres, whereas "Romanian" is used on all other occasions: "Romanian" is the term used in schools, media and even in areas such as administration or law.

There is no particular linguistic break at the Prut River, which divides Moldova from Romania. In formal use, the languages are identical, although in 1993 (after the adoption of the Romanian alphabet in Moldova), the Romanian Academy issued a recommendation that made minor changes to the alphabet, a recommendation that was not applied in Moldova at that time. Eventually, with the publication of the "Dicţionarul ortografic al limbii române (ortopepic, morfologic, cu norme de punctuaţie)" by the Moldovan Academy of Sciences in 2000, the recommendation became mandatory in Moldova also. 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 of 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.

Most linguists don't consider the existence of the Moldovan language, although one Moldovan linguist, Vasile Stati, disputed this. However, Stati admitted latter in an interview for the Russian language newspaper "Vremea" that "without any doubt, the literary form of the Moldovan language, the cultivated form, as used by the writers and the linguists, is identical to the Romanian language". The afirmations of Stati are dubbed by the Moldovan law regarding the conception on national politics, adopted in December 2003:

"The conception has its starting point in the historical truth, confirmed by the common literary treasure: The Moldovan people and the Romanian people use a common literary form".

The 1989 law on language of the Moldavian SSR, which is still effective in Moldova according to the Constitution, also asserts the existence of "linguistic Moldo-Romanian identity".

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. 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. 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.

Gallery

• 
  Monument to Stephen the Great of Moldova
• 
  Triumphal Arch, Chişinău
• 
  Moldavian Orthodox church

External links

• Official governmental site
• Official web site of the Parliament
• The EU's relations with Moldova (European Commission site)
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Embassy of the Republic of Moldova in the United States of America
• Embassy of the United States of America in the Republic of Moldova
• Elections in Moldova 2005
• General Local Elections 2007
• U.S. Department of State 2005 report about Human Rights in Moldova
• Dimitrie Cantemir-Descrierea Moldovei

Profiles

• U.S. Department of State Post Reports - Moldova
• CIA - The World Factbook - Moldova
• ECMI - Information about Minority Issues in Moldova
• Moldova ART Gallery by Anastasia Ponyatovskaya: icons, oil paintings, batik. All items are for sale,delivering is avalable

Others

• MOLDOVA 2006 INVESTMENT CLIMATE STATEMENT
• Moldova: Young Women From Rural Areas Vulnerable To Human Trafficking
• OurNet — Moldova Internet Resources
• Civic Monitor NGO Portal

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