Moldova - geography
Most of Moldova consists of fertile plains with black soils, chernozem,
between the rivers Prut (Romanian Prutul) in the west and the land
around the Dniester (Nistru) in the east. Prut forms the western
border with Romania until it joins the Danube. To the north and in the central
part there are low mountains. The natural vegetation is steppe and forest
steppe, but over 80 percent is agricultural land. The former large forests
disappeared in the early 1900's, and now only 8 percent of the area is forest.
The climate is moderate mainland climate with long, hot summers and short,
cold winters; monthly average for resp. July and January are 19-22 °C and −3-−5
°C. To the great inconvenience of viticulture, much precipitation falls in
heavy rain and hailstorms; the total annual precipitation is 400-650 mm.
Population
Moldova is a multi-ethnic state. The majority of the population of Moldova
excluding the Dniester Republic are Moldovans who speak Moldovan, a dialect
of Romanian. Most Moldovans also speak Russian. Ukrainians and Russians
together make up 60 percent of the Dniester Republic and 40 percent of
Moldovans. In the southern part of the country, around the town of Komrat, they
live approximately 4 percent gagausere, a Turkish Orthodox Christian people
who in the 19th century were granted land here by the Russian emperor. Most
Gagausians cite Russian as their language; only a few speak Moldovan. In 1995,
the Gagau region gained the status of an autonomous region in Moldova. As a
result of the Holocaust, the formerly very large Jewish population now amounts
to only approximately 1.5 percent. Other minorities are 2 percent Bulgarians as well
as Belarusians, Poles and Roma.
- Countryaah:
Do you know how many people there are in Moldova? Check this site to see
population pyramid and resident density about this country.
Although there was a sharp industrialization after World War II, still in
1998 a majority of the population lived in the countryside. Life expectancy in
2005 was 64 years for men and 71 for women, while child mortality was 14 per
mille, which has been a significant improvement since 1995, when it was 22 per
mille and among Europe's highest. The over-fertilization and unrestrained use of
pesticides by Moldovan agriculture is cited as a major cause of the high infant
mortality rate and the general poor health of the population. In January 2005,
it was estimated that approximately 400,000 Moldovans worked outside the country's
borders.
Industries
Moldova is a very fertile country, and agriculture with associated service
and processing companies forms the backbone of the economy. Agriculture's share
of GDP is 18 percent, and it employs almost 1/4of the
workforce (2004), but is characterized by outdated technology and structure. The
main products are wine, fruit and vegetables, tobacco, sunflower oil and
cereals. Special products such as rose oil and other essential oils are also
produced. Large parts of the arable land are the artificial water from damming
the rivers. Agriculture is characterized by large operating units. In 1996, a
national land reform was launched with a view to dismantling the 961 collective
farms from the Soviet period and creating 1 million. private use. The first
phase of the reform was completed in 2000, when agriculture was almost 100
percent privatized. After this, the second phase began, which was to build
centers for the marketing of agricultural products. The reforms were sought to
be slowed down by the Communists when they came to power in 2001, but they have
had to bow to the positive results.
Moldova was a backward peripheral area under both Russian rule ("Siberia to
the west") and under Romanian rule. After World War II, a comprehensive
industrialization program was launched, mainly companies for processing
agricultural production, but also machine factories, chemical and electronic
companies and a number of light industries. Many of the new industries were
located around the capital, Chişinău, and in the area east of the
Dniester. Cities like Bendery and Tiraspol grew into real industrial
cities. With the De facto Republic's de facto independent
status, a large part of Moldova's industry is outside the administration of the
government and is not affected by the privatization process, which already in
1995 had transferred two thirds of industry, trade and services to private
individuals through a voucher. system. In 2000, three electricity
distribution companies were sold to a Spanish company, and in 2002, the sale of
large state-owned companies in the wine industry began, but otherwise
privatization is slow. On the other hand, a large number of large companies in
the Republic of Denmark have been privatized since 2003. However, as the
Republic of Denmark is not recognized as a state, the legality of these
privatizations is questionable. The Moldovan parliament has passed a law that
only sales approved by the Moldovan government are legal. However, Moldova has
not yet (2005) filed a lawsuit against foreign investors in the Dniester
Republic.
Like other Soviet republics, Moldova was fully integrated into the USSR's
planned economy and, after the dissolution of the Union in 1991, remained
heavily dependent on trade with the CIS countries, in particular Russia and
Ukraine. Among other things. the dependence on energy from here is very
large. Apart from the Dubossary hydropower plant on the Dniester, which provides
approximately 1.5 percent of the country's electricity supply, Moldova is completely
dependent on energy imports, and this accounts for a fifth of total
imports. Moldova (minus the Dniester Republic) gets all its gas from Russia and
most of its electricity from Russia, Ukraine, Romania and a thermal power plant
in the Dniester Republic.
Efforts to turn foreign trade to the west have only succeeded to some
degree; however, trade with the EU is increasing and the EU's share of Moldova's
exports in 2004 was 30 percent. Russia accounts for 36 percent of exports
(2004). In 2002-2004, Ukraine, a major electricity supplier, took over Russia's
place as Moldova's leading import partner. Foreign investment has also been
limited. Only in the tobacco, wine and light industry (electric pumps)
investment interest from the West was shown in the 1990's, and a poor investment
climate still (2005) discourages many Western investors.
Moldova - language
Official language is the Romanian dialect Moldovan, whose
pronunciation and vocabulary are to some extent influenced by Russian. Moldovan,
spoken by approximately 72% of the population, was written in 1940-89 with the
Cyrillic alphabet, then just like Romanian again with the Latin. The written
language officially differs from the Romanian in not following the orthographic
reform of 1993, but this is circumvented in practice by many media. In the
Dniester Republic, where Russian and Ukrainian dominate, the Cyrillic alphabet
is still used in Moldovan. The questions of the official name and status of the
language, the spelling and use of the alphabet are all politically charged and
occasionally lead to conflicts. Ukrainian and Russian are spoken throughout
Moldova by, respectively. 11 and 9%, gagausic of approximately 4% and Bulgarian
andromani of quite a few (2004).
|
