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Moldova

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Countries; European
Countries

                            Republica Moldova
   Republic of Moldova

   Flag of Moldova Coat of arms of Moldova
   Flag            Coat of arms
   Motto: none
   Anthem: Limba noastră
   ( Romanian: "Our Language")
   Location of Moldova
   Capital
   (and largest city)   Chişinău
                        47°0′N 28°55′E
    Official languages  Moldovan^1
                        ( Romanian)
   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 ( 139th)
                        13,067 sq mi
    - Water (%)         1.4
                                Population
    - Jan 2006 estimate 3,395,600^2 ( 121st^3)
    - 2004 census       3,383,332^2
    - Density           111/km² ( 81st)
                        339/sq mi
        GDP ( PPP)      2005 estimate
    - Total             $9,367 million ( 141st)
    - Per capita        $2,374 ( 135th)
       HDI  (2006)      0.694 (medium) ( 114th)
         Currency       Moldovan leu ( MDL)
        Time zone       EET ( UTC+2)
    - Summer ( DST)     EEST ( UTC+3)
       Internet TLD     .md
       Calling code     +373
   ^1 Moldovan is commonly considered another name for Romanian ( Gagauz
   and Russian are also official in the Gagauz Autonomous Region).
   ^22004 census and 2006 estimate from National Bureau of Statistics.
   Figures do not include Transnistria and Tighina.
   ^3Ranking based on 2005 UN figure including Transnistria.

   The Republic of Moldova (Republica Moldova) is a small landlocked
   country in eastern Europe, located between Romania to the west and
   Ukraine to the east and south. Historically part of the Principality of
   Moldavia, it was annexed by the Russian Empire in 1812 and reunited
   with other Romanian lands in Romania in 1918. After changing hands
   during World War II and ultimately being annexed by the Soviet Union,
   it was known as the Moldavian SSR between 1945 and 1991 and finally
   declared its independence on 27 August 1991.

   The Republic of Moldova is a member state of the United Nations, WMO,
   UNICEF, GUAM, CIS, BSEC and other international organizations.

   Moldova is a parliamentary democracy with a President as its head of
   state and a Prime Minister as its head of government.

History

   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 Kievan Rus' and
   the Mongols.

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

   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). In accordance with the June 1940
   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. Although Soviet
   troops were forced out in 1941 by the invasion of Axis forces, the
   Soviet Union re-occupied and annexed the area in August 1944.

   Soviet rule brought a harsh de-nationalization policy. The southern and
   northern parts (which had significant Slavic and Turkic minorities)
   were transferred to Ukraine. At the same time, Transnistria (where, at
   that time, ethnic Romanians were the largest ethnic group) was joined
   with the remaining land to form the Moldavian Soviet Socialist
   Republic, identical in territory to present-day Moldova. Under Stalin,
   ethnic Russians and Ukrainians were encouraged to immigrate into the
   new country, especially into urbanized areas, while large numbers of
   ethnic Romanians were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan. The overall
   result was the destruction of Romanian elites and middle-classes, and
   their replacement with Soviet (mostly Slavic) elements.

   After the Soviet Union occupied the region of Bessarabia during World
   War II, 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 SSR.

   The Soviet official policy also stated that Romanian and Moldovan were
   two different languages and Moldovan was written in Cyrillic alphabet,
   as opposed to Romanian, which was written in Latin alphabet.

   In 1970s and 1980s Moldova 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 billon rubles of investment from the USSR
   budget. Subsequent decisions that directed enormous wealth and brought
   highly qualified specialists from all over the USSR to develop Moldova.
   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 1989 onwards; in August 1989 a language
   law was passed, adopting the Latin alphabet for Moldovan and declaring
   it the state language of the MSSR . In August 1991, Moldova declared
   its independence and in December of that year became a member of the
   post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States along with most of the
   former Soviet republics. At the end of that year, an ex-communist
   reformer, Mircea Snegur, won an election for the presidency. Four
   months later, the country achieved formal recognition as an independent
   state at the United Nations.

   The part of Moldova east of the Dniestr River, Transnistria—which is
   more heavily industrialized and is populated by 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. This caused a brief military conflict between
   Moldova and Transnistria in 1992, which resulted in the deaths of more
   than 1,500 people and has caused lingering mistrust between political
   forces on both sides of the conflict. Russian and Ukrainian 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 European
   Union, OSCE, USA, Russia and Ukraine.

   Despite expectations of the Popular Front, 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. Russian President Boris
   Yeltsin's government did not want to see one of the former Soviet
   republics on Russia's frontier joined to another country.

   A March 1994 referendum saw an overwhelming majority of voters favoring
   continued independence. In the 2001 elections a pro-Russian Communist
   party won the majority of seats in the Parliament and appointed a
   Communist president, Vladimir Voronin. After few years in power
   relationships between Moldova and Russia deteriorated over the
   Transnistrian conflict. In the following election, held in 2005, the
   Communist party made 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.

   During the 2005 parliamentary elections Russia tried to influence the
   election process by intensively favourable coverage of pro-Russian
   candidates in the Russian mass media and by organizing meetings and
   agitation campaigns using the Russian CIS-EMO organization (“Elections
   Monitoring Organization”), which is not recognized internationally as
   an independent election observer. This organization was proven to have
   poor records from the previous Kyrgyzstan election. As a response to
   the security threat, Moldovan authorities denied entry to the Republic
   of Moldova for the members of the CIS-EMO organization. Some who
   nonetheless made their way into the Republic were found distributing
   leaflets and actively participating in the election campaign, despite
   not having a valid Moldovan passport or any proof of Moldovan
   citizenship or any permission from the election authority. These
   members were consequently deported from the country. This action
   angered the Russian side. As a consequence, Russian-Moldovan ties
   greatly weakened, and the nation is split between those who favour
   building ties with the West and those who favour building ties with
   Russia.

Politics

   Meeting of Presidents from GUAM countries; Voronin, Aliev, Yushchenko
   and Saakashvili.
   Enlarge
   Meeting of Presidents from GUAM countries; Voronin, Aliev, Yushchenko
   and Saakashvili.

Political system

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

2005 Parliamentary Elections

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

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)

Independence of Moldova

   In the address to the Romanian parliament, in February 1991, Mircea
   Snegur, the Moldovan president talked about a common identity of the
   Moldovan and Romanians, referring to the "Romanians of both sides of
   the Prut River" and "Sacred Romanian lands occupied by the Soviets".

   In 1989, Romanian became the official language of Moldova. Following
   independence in 1991, the Romanian tricolor with a coat-of-arms was
   used as 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.

   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".

Relations with the European Union

   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 dialogue in a number of
   policy areas. Moldova welcomed EU enlargement and signed on 30 April
   2004 the protocol extending the PCA to the new EU member states.

   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.

Administrative divisions

   Administrative division
   Enlarge
   Administrative division

   Moldova is divided into 32 districts ( raion, pl. raioane), 5
   municipalities ( Bălţi, Chişinău, Comrat, Tighina, Tiraspol), two
   semi-autonomous regions ( Găgăuzia and the breakaway region of
   Transnistria, whose status is still disputed). The districts are:
     * Anenii Noi
     * Basarabeasca
     * Briceni
     * Cahul
     * Cantemir
     * Călăraşi
     * Căușeni
     * Cimişlia
     * Criuleni
     * Donduşeni
     * Drochia

                     * Dubăsari
                     * Edineț
                     * Fălești
                     * Florești
                     * Glodeni
                     * Hîncești
                     * Ialoveni
                     * Leova
                     * Nisporeni
                     * Ocnița
                     * Orhei

                                   * Rezina
                                   * Rîşcani
                                   * Sîngerei
                                   * Soroca
                                   * Străşeni
                                   * Şoldăneşti
                                   * Ştefan Voda
                                   * Taraclia
                                   * Teleneşti
                                   * Ungheni

   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.

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 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
   centre of the country, Tiraspol (in Transnistria), Bălţi and Tighina.

Largest cities

   #    City   Population Year County
   1. Chişinău 647,513    2005
   2. Tiraspol 158,069    2004
   3. Bălţi    122,778    2005
   4. Tighina  97,027     2004
   5. Cahul    35,481     2004
   6. Ungheni  35,157     2004 Ungheni
   7. Soroca   28,407     2005 Soroca
   8. Orhei    25,680     2005 Orhei

Economy

   Moldovan money.
   Enlarge
   Moldovan money.

   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. Energy shortages contributed to sharp
   production declines after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

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

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

   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 that 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 -purchasing power equivalent-
   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.

Human rights

   Critics accuse the government of Moldova of having a poor human rights
   record, accusing it of interference with political freedom and of
   arbitrary arrest and torture.

   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 favour of candidates backed by the
   Moldovan Government.

   State media coverage of the street protests in 2002 regarding the
   communists’ attempt to reinstate obligatory study of the Russian
   language and the defend of 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.

   However, in 2004 an improvement was done and the Moldovan Parliament
   removed Article 170 from the country's Criminal Code. Article 170
   called for up to five years imprisonment for defamation.

   According to the OSCE, the media climate in Moldova is restrictive.
   Authorities continue 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 10 year prison term. The United States and human rights defenders
   from the European Union considers a political prisoner, and an official
   statement from Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the judgment
   "striken in its cruelty".

   According to a report of Transnistrian state agency Olvia, 4 members of
   the opposition group "Equal Rights" were arrested by Moldovan Special
   Forces. Under police pressure, they were forced to sign a prepared
   confession without reading it. Police then threatened to plant
   narcotics and remove their kidneys, in order to sell them on the black
   organ market. While under arrest, they heard screams of torture from
   nearby cells.

Demographics

Ethnic composition

   Ethnic composition in 1989.
   Enlarge
   Ethnic composition in 1989.

   Given that the definition of ethnic groups is the subject of an ongoing
   dispute, the following data must be taken 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 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, number of people was calculated from those percentages. 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 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

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

Language

   The official language is Moldovan; this is by all accounts a form of
   Daco-Romanian and is essentially the same as Romanian. There is no
   particular linguistic break at the Prut River, which divides Moldova
   from Romania. In formal use, the languages are identical except for
   minor orthographical issues (the Moldovans write î in some contexts
   where Romanians would use â; this same form used to be normal in
   Romania). There is, however, some regional variation, as might be found
   within any linguistic territory, and the common speech of 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. In general, the larger the Slavic-speaking population of a
   region is, the greater the difference from standard Romanian.

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

   The 1989 law on language of the Moldavian SSR, which is still effective
   in Moldova according to the Constitution , 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.

   After 2001, when Communist Party arrive in power, Russian is used as a
   de facto official language alongside Moldovan (Romanian), despite not
   having legal status. As of 2006, 3 members of Moldovan government were
   not able to speak Moldovan, the main language used in government
   meetings being Russian.

   Title I, Article 13 of the Moldovan Constitution, names it the
   "national language" (limba de stat) of the country. In the unrecognized
   state of Transnistria, it is co-official with Ukrainian and Russian.

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 communicated 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 technology CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access),
   by the investments of the operators of mobile telephony “ Voxtel” 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.

Culture

   Mihai Eminescu, national poet of Romania and Moldova
   Enlarge
   Mihai Eminescu, national poet of Romania and 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.

Gallery

   Triumphal Arch, Chişinău

                             Moldavian Orthodox church

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