Moldova

Flag of Moldova Moldavian coat of arms 

Moldova

Geography
  

  
Location:  Eastern Europe, between
Ukraine and Romania  
  

Area:   
total area: 33,700
sq km   
land area: 33,700 sq km   
comparative area: slightly
more than twice the size of Hawaii  
  Land boundaries:  total
1,389 km, Romania 450 km, Ukraine 939 km   
  Coastline:  0
km (landlocked)  
  Maritime claims:  none; landlocked  

  
International disputes: no official territorial claims by either Moldova or Romania, but nationalists in Romania seek the merger of Moldova into Romania; potential future dispute by Moldova and Romania against Ukraine over former southern and northern Bessarabian areas and Northern Bukovina ceded to Ukraine upon Moldova's incorporation into USSR.  Since 1992 the Russian 14th army has been supporting the the self-proclaimed Transdniester Republic, an enclave of ethnic Russians after a brief but bloody war that summer.    


  Climate:  moderate
winters, warm summers  
  Terrain:  rolling steppe, gradual
slope south to Black Sea  
  Natural resources:  lignite, phosphorites,
gypsum   
  Land use:   
arable land: 50%   

permanent crops: 13%   
meadows and pastures: 9%   
forest and woodland
: 0%   
other: 28%   
  Irrigated land:  2,920 sq
km (1990)  
  Environment:   
current issues: heavy
use of agricultural chemicals, including banned pesticides such as DDT, has
contaminated soil and groundwater; extensive soil erosion from poor farming
methods  
natural hazards: NA   
international agreements:
signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change  
  Note: 
 landlocked  
 
  


People
   

  
  Who's Who in Moldova


  Population: 
4,473,033 (July 1994 est.)   
  Population growth rate:  0.38%
(1994 est.)   
  Birth rate:  16.02 births/1,000 population
(1994 est.)   
  Death rate:  10.02 deaths/1,000 population
(1994 est.)   
  Net migration rate:  -2.2 migrant(s)/1,000
population (1994 est.)   


  Infant mortality rate:  30.3 deaths/1,000
live births (1994 est.)   


  Life expectancy at birth:   

total population: 68.07 years   
male: 64.65 years   
female
: 71.67 years (1994 est.)  


  Total fertility rate:  2.18
children born/woman (1994 est.)   


  Nationality:   
noun
: Moldovan(s)   
adjective: Moldovan   


  

Ethnic divisions: 
 Moldavian/Romanian 64.5%, Ukrainian 13.8%, Russian 13%, Gagauz 3.5%,
Jewish 1.5%, Bulgarian 2%, other 1.7% (1989 figures)  
note: internal
disputes with ethnic Russians and Ukrainians in the Dniester region and Gagauz
Turks in the south  


  

Religions:  Eastern Orthodox 98.5%, Jewish
1.5%, Baptist (only about 1,000 members) (1991)  
note: the large
majority of churchgoers are ethnic Moldavian  


  

Languages: 
Moldovan (official; virtually the same as the Romanian language), Russian,
Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)  
  Literacy:  age 9-49 can read
and write (1970)  
total population: 100%   
male: 100%
  
female: 99%   
  Labor force:  2.05 million (1992)  

by occupation: agriculture 34.4%, industry 20.1%, other 45.5% (1985 figures)
 
 
  
Government
   
  Names:   
conventional long form
: Republic of Moldova   
conventional short form: Moldova   

local long form: Republica Moldoveneasca   
local short form:
none   
former: Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova; Moldavia   
  
Digraph:  MD  
  Type:  republic   
  Capital:  Chisinau   


  Administrative divisions:  previously divided
into 40 rayons; new districts possible under new constitution in 1994  
  
Independence:  27 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)  
  National holiday: 
 Independence Day, 27 August 1991   
  Constitution:  old
Soviet constitution (adopted NA 1979) is still in effect but has been heavily
amended during the past few years; a new constitution is expected in 1994
 
  Legal system:  based on civil law system; no judicial review
of legislative acts; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction but accepts
many UN and CSCE documents  
  Suffrage:  18 years of age; universal
 
  Executive branch:   
chief of state: President
Mircea SNEGUR (since 3 September 1990); election last held 8 December 1991
(next to be held NA 1996); results - Mircea SNEGUR ran unopposed and won 98.17%
of vote; note - President SNEGUR was named executive president by the Supreme
Soviet on 3 September 1990 and was confirmed by popular election on 8 December
1991  
head of government: Prime Minister Andrei SANGHALI (since
1 July 1992; reappointed 5 April 1994 after elections for new legislature)
  
cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by the president on recommendation
of the prime minister  
  Legislative branch:  unicameral  

Parliament: elections last held 27 February 1994 (next to be held NA 1999);
results - percent by party NA; seats - (104 total) Agrarian-Democratic Party
56, Socialist/Yedinstvo Bloc 28, Peasants and Intellectual Bloc 11, Christian
Democratic Popular Front 9  
  Judicial branch:  Supreme Court
  
  Political parties and leaders:  Christian Democratic Popular
Front (formerly Moldovan Popular Front), Iurie ROSCA, chairman; Yedinstvo
Intermovement, V. YAKOVLEV, chairman; Social Democratic Party, Oazu NANTOI,
chairman, two other chairmen; Agrarian-Democratic Party, Dumitru MOTPAN, chairman;
Democratic Party, Gheorghe GHIMPU, chairman; Democratic Labor Party, Alexandru
ARSENI, chairman; Reform Party, Anatol SELARU; Republican Party, Victor PUSCAS;
Socialist Party, Valeriu SENIC, chairman; Communist Party, Vladimir VORONIN
 
  Other political or pressure groups:  United Council of Labor
Collectives (UCLC), Igor SMIRNOV, chairman; Congress of Intellectuals, Alexandru
MOSANU; The Ecology Movement of Moldova (EMM), G. MALARCHUK, chairman; The
Christian Democratic League of Women of Moldova (CDLWM), L. LARI, chairman;
National Christian Party of Moldova (NCPM), D. TODIKE, M. BARAGA, V. NIKU,
leaders; The Peoples Movement Gagauz Khalky (GKh), S. GULGAR, leader; The
Democratic Party of Gagauzia (DPG), G. SAVOSTIN, chairman; The Alliance of
Working People of Moldova (AWPM), G. POLOGOV, president; Christian Alliance
for Greater Romania; Stefan the Great Movement; Liberal Convention of Moldova;
Association of Victims of Repression; Christian Democratic Youth League  
  
Member of:  BSEC, CE (guest), CIS, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, IBRD, ICAO, ILO,
IMF, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), IOC, ITU, NACC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
UPU, WHO, WIPO   
  Diplomatic representation in US:   

chief of mission: Ambassador Nicolae TIU   
chancery: 1511 K Street
NW, Room 329, Washington, DC   
telephone: (202) 783-3012 or -2807
  
  US diplomatic representation:   
chief of mission
: Ambassador Mary C. PENDLETON   
embassy: Strada Alexei Mateevich
#103, Chisinau   
mailing address: use embassy street address   

telephone: 373 (2) 23-37-72 or 23-34-76   
FAX: 7-0422-23-30-44




Economy

BISNIS Economic Review


  CIA Overview:  Moldova has pushed ahead boldly on economic reform since gaining its independence from
the Soviet Union in 1991. It introduced a convertible currency - the leu - in late 1993 that has remained stable against the dollar, removed price controls on most products, eliminated licenses and quotas on most imports and exports, and freed interest rates. In 1994, Moldova aims to privatize at least one-third of state enterprises, lower inflation to 1% per month, and reduce the budget
deficit to 3.5% of GDP. Moldova enjoys a favorable climate and good farmland but has no major mineral deposits. As a result, Moldova's economy is primarily based on agriculture, featuring fruits, vegetables, wine, and tobacco. Moldova, however, must import all of its supplies of oil, coal, and natural gas, and energy shortages have contributed to sharp production declines since the break-up
of the Soviet Union. Activities by separatist groups in the Dniester region have held back economic development in that area. Foreign economic assistance has been a tangible plus for Moldova, whereas direct foreign investment has
been lacking.  


  National product:  GDP - purchasing power
equivalent - $16.3 billion (1993 estimate from the UN International Comparison
Program, as extended to 1991 and published in the World Bank's World Development
Report 1993; and as extrapolated to 1993 using official Moldovan statistics,
which are very uncertain because of major economic changes since 1990)  
  
National product real growth rate:  -4% (1993 est.)  
  National product per capita: 
 $3,650 (1993 est.)  
  Inflation rate (consumer prices): 
30% per month (1993)  
  Unemployment rate:  less than 1% (includes
only officially registered unemployed; large numbers of underemployed workers)
 
  Budget:   
revenues: $NA  
expenditures:
$NA, including capital expenditures of $NA  
note: budget deficit
for 1993 approximately 6% of GDP  
  Exports:  $108 million
to outside the FSU countries (January-September 1993); over 70% of exports
go to FSU countries  
commodities: foodstuffs, wine, tobacco, textiles
and footwear, machinery, chemicals (1991)  
partners: Russia, Kazakhstan,
Ukraine, Romania, Germany  
  Imports:  $145 million from outside
the FSU countries (January-September 1993); over 70% of imports are from FSU
countries  
commodities: oil, gas, coal, steel machinery, foodstuffs,
automobiles, and other consumer durables  
partners: Russia, Ukraine,
Uzbekistan, Romania, Germany  
  External debt:  $325 million
(end of 1993)  
  Industrial production:  growth rate -10% (1993)
 
  Electricity:   
capacity: 3,115,000 kW  

production: 11.1 billion kWh   
consumption per capita: 2,491
kWh (1992)  
  Industries:  key products are canned food, agricultural
machinery, foundry equipment, refrigerators and freezers, washing machines,
hosiery, refined sugar, vegetable oil, shoes, textiles  
  Agriculture: 
 Moldova's principal economic activity; products are vegetables, fruits,
wine, grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, meat, milk, tobacco  
  
Illicit drugs:  illicit cultivator of opium poppy and cannabis; mostly
for CIS consumption; transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe
 
  Economic aid:   
recipient: Joint EC-US loan (1993),
$127 million; IMF STF credit (1993), $64 million; IMF stand-by loan (1993),
$72 million; US commitments (1992-93), $61 million in humanitarian aid, $11
million in technical assistance; World Bank loan (1993), $60 million; Russia
(1993), 50 billion ruble credit; Romania (1993), 20 billion lei credit  
  
Currency:  the leu (plural lei) was introduced in late 1993  
  
Exchange rates:  NA  
  Fiscal year:  calendar year  
 

 
Communications
   
  Railroads:  1,150 km; does not
include industrial lines (1990)  
  Highways:   
total
: 20,000 km   
paved or gravelled: 13,900 km   
unpaved
: earth 6,100 km (1990)  
  Pipelines:  natural gas 310 km
(1992)  
  Ports:  none; landlocked  
  Airports:   

total: 26   
usable: 15   
with permanent-surface runways
: 6   
with runways over 3,659 m: 0   
with runways 2,440-3,659 m
: 5   
with runways 1,060-2,439 m: 8   
note: a C-130
can land on a 1,060-m airstrip  
  Telecommunications:  The
telecommunication system of Moldova is not well developed; number of telephone
subscribers 577,000 (1991); number of subscribers per 1,000 persons 134 (1991);
number of unsuccessful requests for telephone service 215,000 (1991); international
connections to the other former Soviet republics by land line and microwave
radio relay through Ukraine, and to other countries by leased connections
to the Moscow international gateway switch; 2 satellite earth stations - 1
EUTELSAT and 1 INTELSAT; broadcast services NA  
 
  
Defense Forces

  
  Branches:  Ground Forces, Air and Air Defence Force,
Security Forces (internal and border troops)  
  Manpower availability: 
 males age 15-49 1,098,156; fit for military service 869,866; reach military
age (18) annually 35,814 (1994 est.)  
  Defense expenditures: 
$NA, NA% of GDP   

CIA Data Files (1994)














This page was last up-dated: