Moldova

I

Introduction

Moldova, republic in southeastern Europe. In Moldovan, the state language, the country’s official name is Republica Moldova. Moldova is bordered on the north, east, and south by Ukraine and on the west by Romania. Moldovans are the country’s largest ethnic group, although other ethnic groups constitute a majority in some regions. Chişinău is Moldova’s capital and largest city.

Present-day Moldova comprises a large part of the eastern half of the historic principality of Moldavia (the principality is generally known by the Westernized form of the name). At its largest extent, in the Middle Ages, the principality stretched from the Dniester River in the east almost to the Carpathian Mountains in the west. Much of the eastern half of Moldavia, between the Prut and Dniester rivers, was traditionally known as Bessarabia (Bessarabiya). Moldavian territory was divided in 1812, when the Ottoman Empire took control of all of the land west of the Prut River and Russia took control of the rest. The Russian government gave the name Bessarabia to the territory under its control to distinguish it from neighboring Ottoman-controlled Moldavia.

In 1918 Bessarabia became independent and then united with Romania. Troops of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR, the successor to the Russian Empire) occupied Bessarabia in 1940. The Soviet government joined most of Bessarabia to part of the already existing Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR), across the Dniester River, to form the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR). Romania regained Bessarabia in 1941 but lost it again to the USSR in 1944. When the USSR collapsed in 1991, the republic became the independent country of Moldova. In addition to the region of Bessarabia, present-day Moldova also includes territory along the left bank of the Dniester known as Trans-Dniester. The remainder of the historic principality of Moldavia is now part of Romania and Ukraine.

After declaring independence in 1991, Moldova signed the agreement establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), an organization composed of former Soviet republics. Moldova became a formal member of the CIS in 1994. That year the country adopted its first post-Soviet constitution. In the early 1990s secessionist movements among certain ethnic groups took hold in the Trans-Dniester region and in the Gagauz region in the south. While the status of the Trans-Dniester region remained an issue as of 1999, the armed conflict over Moldova’s territorial integrity was largely resolved by the mid-1990s.

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II

Land and Resources

Moldova is a landlocked country that covers an area of about 33,700 sq km (about 13,000 sq mi). It was the second smallest republic of the former USSR, after Armenia. The terrain of Moldova is primarily a hilly plain interspersed with deep river valleys. The average elevation is 147 m (482 ft) above sea level. The Kodry Hills occupy the central portion of Moldova, rising to a maximum elevation of about 430 m (about 1,410 ft) at Mount Bălăneşti.

Moldova contains an extensive river system; more than 3,000 rivers and streams traverse the country. The two largest rivers are the Dniester and the Prut, both of which rise in the Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine, to the north of Moldova. The Dniester, the larger of the two rivers, flows through the eastern portion of Moldova in a southeasterly direction. It forms part of the country’s border with Ukraine in the northeast, cuts through Moldova’s interior, and meets the Ukrainian border again in the southeast, where it reenters Ukraine and then empties into the Black Sea. The Prut, a major tributary of the Danube River, forms Moldova’s entire western border with Romania. At the extreme southern tip of Moldova, the Prut joins the Danube, which flows eastward and empties into the Black Sea. Other major rivers include the Yalpug, the Byk, and the Reut.

The hills in the central portion of Moldova are densely forested, mostly with oak and hornbeam trees. Linden, maple, beech, and wild fruit trees also grow in Moldova. Cultivated crops have largely replaced the natural grass cover of the plains, or steppes, in northern and southern Moldova. Grassy salt marshes are common in some river valleys.

A wide variety of wildlife inhabits Moldova, although the population of certain animals, such as wolves, has declined dramatically during the last century. Roe deer, which are native to the region, are abundant. The spotted deer, which was introduced to Moldova, is also well established. Members of the weasel family, including badgers, martens, ermines, and polecats, are common. Other mammals include wild boars, foxes, and hares. Common birds include larks, jays, and blackbirds. Some species, such as the wild goose, are migratory.

Natural resources in Moldova include deposits of lignite, phosphorite, and gypsum. Three-quarters of the country is covered in chernozem, an exceptionally fertile type of soil that is ideal for agriculture.

Moldova’s climate is continental, with conditions modified somewhat by the Black Sea. Winters are fairly mild, with average daily temperatures in January ranging from –5° to –3°C (23° to 27°F). Summers are quite warm, with average daily temperatures in July generally exceeding 20°C (68°F) and daily highs occasionally reaching 40°C (104°F). Precipitation is fairly light and irregular and occurs least in the south, where it averages 350 mm (14 in) per year. Precipitation is greatest in the higher elevation areas, where it can exceed 600 mm (20 in) per year. Moldova’s climate is conducive to agriculture, especially grape growing.

The environment of Moldova suffered extreme degradation during the Soviet period, when industrial and agricultural development proceeded without regard for environmental protection. Excessive use of pesticides resulted in heavily polluted topsoil, and industries lacked emission controls. The Moldovan government is now burdened with the Soviet legacy of ecological mismanagement. Environmental initiatives are administered by the State Department for Environmental Protection. High levels of pesticide and fertilizer use have been linked with elevated rates of disease and infant mortality. Soil contamination and groundwater pollution are associated problems.

III

The People of Moldova

Moldova has a population (2007 estimate) of 4,320,490, giving it an average population density of 128 persons per sq km (332 per sq mi). The country’s inhabitants are concentrated in the northern and central portions of the country. During the Soviet period, Moldova had the highest population density of any Soviet republic, although it was one of the least urbanized. Some 53 percent of the population lives in urban areas. Chişinău, the capital, is located on the Byk River in the central part of the country. Other important cities include Tiraspol and Tighina (also called Bender), both located on the Dniester River in eastern Moldova, and Bălţi, in north central Moldova. The rural population is clustered in large villages.

Ethnic Moldovans constitute about 65 percent of Moldova’s population. The next largest ethnic group is Ukrainians, who make up about 14 percent of the population, followed by Russians, who constitute about 13 percent. Russians and Ukrainians migrated to Moldova in large numbers after World War II (1939-1945), although settlement by these peoples also predated the war. Both groups live almost exclusively in Moldova’s major urban centers and in the Trans-Dniester region in the east, where they constitute slightly more than half of the population. Other ethnic groups include Gagauz (a Turkic people) and Bulgarians; these two groups reside primarily in the southernmost regions of Moldova, having settled there in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The state language of Moldova is called Moldovan. It is essentially a dialect of Romanian, a Romance language derived mainly from the Latin language. In 1938 the Soviet government mandated that the Cyrillic alphabet (the script of the Russian language) be used for Moldovan instead of the Latin (or Roman) alphabet, in part to bolster its claim that the Moldovan and Romanian languages were separate. In 1989 Moldovan officials passed a law that made Romanian the official language and reintroduced the Latin alphabet. In the constitution adopted in 1994 the language was officially renamed Moldovan. Russian is widely spoken in Moldova and is the predominant language in the Trans-Dniester region. The Gagauz people traditionally speak Gagauz, a Turkic language, although many are also fluent in Russian. Russian missionaries created a Cyrillic alphabet for the Gagauz language in 1895.

Christianity is the predominant religion in Moldova. Nearly half of the population belongs to the Eastern Orthodox Church, and there is also a small Roman Catholic community. Unlike most other Turkic peoples, who are traditionally Muslim, the Gagauz are adherents of Orthodox Christianity. The Communist regime of the Soviet period was officially atheistic and hostile toward religion. Moldova began to experience an upsurge in religious practice in the late 1980s, when the regime relaxed restrictions. This increased after independence, when all restrictions on religious expression were lifted.

Moldova has an adult literacy rate of 99 percent. Illiteracy is slightly higher among the female population than the male population. Education in Moldova is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 16, or through the first cycle of secondary education (the second cycle lasts an additional three years). During the Soviet period, the government established a comprehensive system of universal and tuition-free education. Most schools taught in the Russian language, and education was the primary method of Communist indoctrination. In the early 1990s the government of independent Moldova introduced sweeping changes in educational content, especially in the areas of literature, language, and history. Institutes of higher education include Moldovan State University (founded in 1945), the Technical University of Moldova (1964), the State Agricultural University of Moldova (1932), and the Moldovan G. Musicescu Academy of Music (1940), all located in Chişinău. The capital is also the site of the Moldovan State Art Museum.

The cultural development of Moldova was tied historically to that of Romania, reflecting the Romanian origin of Moldova’s majority population. The first Moldovan books were religious texts that appeared in the mid-17th century. Prominent figures in Moldova’s cultural development include the author Ion Creanga and the poet Mihai Eminescu, both of whom wrote during the 19th century. After the USSR annexed Moldova in the 1940s, the Soviet government sought to sever the region’s close cultural ties with Romania. Romanian literature was officially banned, and many ethnic Romanian intellectuals were executed or deported. During the Soviet period, a government-mandated genre called socialist realism transformed art and literature into a form of Communist propaganda. The characteristics of socialist realism were strongly evident in the early works of Moldovan writers Emelian Bucov and Andrei Lupan, among others. Perhaps the most well-known Moldovan writer during the Soviet period was Ion Druţa, whose works include the play Casa mare (The Parlor, 1962) and the novel Balade de cîmpie (Ballad of the Steppes, 1963).

Moldova has a rich folk culture, which flourished during the Soviet period. The Soviet government strongly promoted Moldovan folk music and dance, but it also introduced subtle distortions to hide the folk traditions’ Romanian origins. For example, the national folk costume was changed to replace the Romanian opinca, a traditional moccasin, with the Russian boot. An ancient folk ballad, the Miorita, holds special significance in Moldovan folk culture. Folk traditions such as ceramics and weaving continue to be practiced in rural areas.

IV

Economy

Moldova’s rich black soil makes agriculture the foundation of its economy. When Moldova was part of the USSR, Soviet central planners made its primary role one of supplying food products to the rest of the Soviet Union. The Moldovan economy suffered from the disruption of trading relationships following the breakup of the USSR. The conflict in the Trans-Dniester region greatly compounded the economic turmoil. Moldova’s light industry, which is highly dependent on trade outside the republic, suffered the most. Moldova has survived many of the most severe hardships of its transformation to a free-market economy; however, the country’s economic vitality remains highly dependent upon the size of its crop harvest. The gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the value of goods and service produced, was $2.9 billion in 2005.

With assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international organizations, Moldova initiated widespread privatization and strict monetary controls soon after independence. The policies contained inflation—which had resulted in prices increasing by as much as 20 times annually in the early 1990s—to one of the lowest rates in the former Soviet republics. To privatize housing and industry, the government issued vouchers to residents based on the number of years they had worked for state enterprises. Residents exchanged the vouchers for ownership shares in enterprises or for housing. By 1997 the majority of former state enterprises were in private hands. Moldova was among the first of the former Soviet republics to allow private ownership of farmland.

Moldova’s economy is built upon agriculture, which contributed 17 percent of GDP in 2005. The country’s extremely fertile land and temperate climate allow for the cultivation of a variety of crops. Moldova is a leading producer of grapes, tobacco, and rose oil. Other crops include wheat; maize; vegetables, such as tomatoes and potatoes; sugar beets; and fruit. Livestock raising, particularly pigs, and milk production are also important.

Industry, which accounted for 25 percent of GDP in 2005, is dominated by food processing. The country has traditionally specialized in frozen and canned vegetables. It is also well known for sparkling wines and brandy produced from its grape harvest. Other industries use locally grown sunflowers and soybeans to make vegetable oil, and beets to process raw sugar. During the Soviet era, manufacturing plants were developed to produce military equipment and consumer goods, and Moldova remains a significant producer of carpets, refrigerators and freezers, washing machines, and televisions. Moldova also has a metal-refining industry, almost entirely dependent upon imported raw materials and fuels. More than one-quarter of Moldova’s industrial plants are in the disputed Trans-Dniester region.

While Moldova has small oil and natural gas reserves, it must import most of its fuels from Russia. Fuel payments are a constant drain on the country’s economy. In 2003, 88 percent of its electricity was produced in thermal plants burning fossil fuels; the remainder was produced in a single hydroelectric facility on the Dniester River.

Moldova’s principal trading relationships are with other former Soviet republics, chiefly Russia and Ukraine. Trade with countries to the west is increasing, led by exchanges with Romania and Germany. Food and agricultural products account for about one-half of exports, while the leading imports are fuel, electricity, and mineral products.

Moldova used the Russian ruble as its legal tender until November 1993, when it introduced its own currency, the leu (plural lei; 12.60 lei equal U.S.$1; 2005 average).

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