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MOLDOVA

@Moldova:Geography

 Location: Eastern Europe, northeast of Romania

 Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States - European States
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MOLDOVA - MAJOR CITIES 
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                                        Latitude,      Internat'l     Time   
                        Population      Longitude      Phone Code     Zone   
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KISHINEV                   665,000    47.00N, 28.50E       7-        GMT+3   
Tiraspol                   182,000    46.51N, 29.38E       7-        GMT+3   
Beltsy                     159,000    47.46N, 27.41E       7-        GMT+3   
Bendery                    130,000    46.48N, 29.29E       7-        GMT+3   
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 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: certain territory of Moldova and Ukraine -
 including Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina - are considered by
 Bucharest as historically a part of Romania; this territory was
 incorporated into the former Soviet Union following the
 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1940

 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

@Moldova:People

 Population: 4,489,657 (July 1995 est.)

 Age structure:
 0-14 years: 27% (female 588,155; male 609,372)
 15-64 years: 64% (female 1,487,170; male 1,386,293)
 65 years and over: 9% (female 258,958; male 159,709) (July 1995 est.)

 Population growth rate: 0.36% (1995 est.)

 Birth rate: 15.93 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Death rate: 10.05 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Net migration rate: -2.25 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Infant mortality rate: 29.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

 Life expectancy at birth:
 total population: 68.22 years
 male: 64.81 years
 female: 71.8 years (1995 est.)

 Total fertility rate: 2.16 children born/woman (1995 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 15 and over can read and write (1989)
 total population: 96%
 male: 99%
 female: 94%

 Labor force: 2.03 million (January 1994)
 by occupation: agriculture 34.4%, industry 20.1%, other 45.5% (1985
 figures)

@Moldova:Government

 Names:
 conventional long form: Republic of Moldova
 conventional short form: Moldova
 local long form: Republica Moldova
 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: new constitution adopted NA July 1994; replaces old
 Soviet constitution of 1979

 Legal system: based on civil law system; no judicial review of
 legislative acts; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction but
 accepts many UN and OSCE 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 SANGHELI (since 1 July 1992;
 reappointed 5 April 1994 after elections for new legislature); First
 Deputy Prime Minister Ion GUTU (since NA)
 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, Vladimir SOLONARI, 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, cochairman; Communist Party, Vladimir VORONIN,
 cochairman; Peasants and Intellectuals Bloc

 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, EBRD, ECE, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, ILO,
 IMF, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ITU,
 NACC, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WTO

 Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission: Ambassador Nicolae TAU
 chancery: Suites 329, 333, 1511 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20005
 telephone: [1] (202) 783-3012
 FAX: [1] (202) 783-3342

 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
 FAX: [373] (2) 23-30-44

 Flag: same color scheme as Romania - 3 equal vertical bands of blue
 (hoist side), yellow, and red; emblem in center of flag is of a Roman
 eagle of gold outlined in black with a red beak and talons carrying a
 yellow cross in its beak and a green olive branch in its right talons
 and a yellow scepter in its left talons; on its breast is a shield
 divided horizontally red over blue with a stylized ox head, star,
 rose, and crescent all in black-outlined yellow

Economy

 Overview: 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 must import all of its supplies of oil, coal, and natural gas,
 and energy shortages have contributed to sharp production declines
 since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Moldovan government
 is making steady progress on an ambitious economic reform agenda, and
 the IMF has called Moldova a model for the region. As part of its
 reform efforts, Chisinau has introduced a stable currency, freed all
 prices, stopped issuing preferential credits to state enterprises and
 backed their steady privatization, removed export controls, and freed
 interest rates. Chisinau appears strongly committed to continuing
 these reforms in 1995. Meanwhile, privatization of medium and large
 enterprises got underway in mid-1994 and is expected to pick up speed
 in 1995. To improve its precarious energy situation, Chisinau reached
 an agreement with Moscow in December 1994 on gas deliveries for 1995.
 Gazprom, Russia's national gas company, has agreed to reduce prices
 for natural gas deliveries to Moldova from the world market price of
 $80/thousand cubic meters (tcm) to $58/tcm in return for part
 ownership of the Moldovan pipeline system.

 National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $11.9 billion (1994
 estimate as extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1992)

 National product real growth rate: -30% (1994 est.)

 National product per capita: $2,670 (1994 est.)

 Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7.6% per month (1994)

 Unemployment rate: 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: $144 million to outside the FSU countries (1994); 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: $174 million from outside the FSU countries (1994); 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: $300 million (as of 11 December 1994)

 Industrial production: growth rate -30% (1994 est.)

 Electricity:
 capacity: 3,000,000 kW
 production: 8.2 billion kWh
 consumption per capita: 1,830 kWh (1994)

 Industries: key products are canned food, agricultural machinery,
 foundry equipment, refrigerators and freezers, washing machines,
 hosiery, refined sugar, vegetable oil, shoes, textiles

 Agriculture: accounts for about 40% of GDP; 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: lei per US$1 - 4.277 (22 December 1994)

 Fiscal year: calendar year

@Moldova:Transportation

 Railroads:
 total: 1,150 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial
 lines
 broad gauge: 1,150 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)

 Highways:
 total: 20,000 km
 paved or graveled: 13,900 km
 unpaved: earth 6,100 km (1990)

 Pipelines: natural gas 310 km (1992)

 Ports: none

 Airports:
 total: 26
 with paved runways over 3,047 m: 1
 with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
 with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
 with paved runways under 914 m: 3
 with unpaved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
 with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 2
 with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 5
 with unpaved runways under 914 m: 8

@Moldova:Communications

 Telephone system: 577,000 telephones; 134 telephones/1,000 persons;
 telecommunication system not well developed; 215,000 unsatisfied
 requests for telephone service (1991)
 local: NA
 intercity: NA
 international: 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; 1 EUTELSAT and 1 INTELSAT earth station

 Radio:
 broadcast stations: AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
 radios: NA

 Television:
 broadcast stations: NA
 televisions: NA

@Moldova:Defense Forces

 Branches: Ground Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, Republic Security
 Forces (internal and border troops)

 Manpower availability: males age 15-49 1,116,912; males fit for
 military service 881,642; males reach military age (18) annually
 35,447 (1995 est.)

 Defense expenditures: $NA, 2% of GDP (1994)


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