:Moldova People
Population:
4,458,435 (July 1992), growth rate 0.7% (1992)
Birth rate:
19 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
10 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
-2 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
35 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
64 years male, 71 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
2.6 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Moldovan(s); adjective - Moldovan
Ethnic divisions:
Moldavian (Moldovan) 64.5%, Ukrainian 13.8%, Russian 13.0%, Gagauz 3.5%,
Jews 1.5%, Bulgarian 2.0%, other 1.0% (1989 figures)
Religions:
Eastern Orthodox 98.5%, Jewish 1.5%, Baptist only about 1,000 members, other
1.0%; note - almost all churchgoers are ethnic Moldovan; the Slavic
population are not churchgoers (1991 figures)
Languages:
Romanian; (Moldovan official), Russian
Literacy:
NA% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write
Labor force:
2,095,000; agriculture 34.4%, industry 20.1%, other 45.5% (1985 figures)
Organized labor:
NA
:Moldova Government
Long-form name:
Republic of Moldova
Type:
republic
Capital:
Chisinau (Kishinev)
Administrative divisions:
previously divided into 40 rayons; now to be divided into 7-9 larger
districts at some future point
Independence:
27 August 1991 (from Soviet Union; formerly Soviet Socialist Republic of
Moldova)
Constitution:
formulating a new constitution; old constitution is still in effect but has
been heavily amended during the past few years
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
National holiday:
Independence Day, 27 August 1991
Executive branch:
president, prime minister, Cabinet of Ministers
Legislative branch:
Moldovan Supreme Soviet
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (highest civil court in Moldova)
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government:
Prime Minister Valeriy MURAVSKY (since 28 May 1991), 1st Deputy Prime
Minister Constantin OBOROC (since June 1990); 1st Deputy Prime Minister
Constantin TAMPIZA (since June 1990); 1st Deputy Prime Minister Andrei
SANGHELI (since June 1990)
Chief of State:
President Mircea SNEGUR (since 3 September 1990)
Head of Legislature:
Chairman of the Supreme Soviet (Premier) Valeriy MURAVSKIY (since May 1991);
1st Deputy Prime Minister Ian HADIRCA (since 11 May 1990); Deputy Prime
Minister Victor PUSCASU, 21 November 1989; Deputy Prime Minister Mihial
PLASICHUK, NA
Political parties and leaders:
Moldovan Popular Front, Yuriy ROSHKA, chairman (since summer 1990);
Unitatea-Yedinstvo Intermovement, V. YAKOVLEV, chairman; Bulgarian Rebirth
Society, Ivan ZABUNOV, chairman; Democratic Group, five cochairmen
Suffrage:
universal at age 18
Elections:
President:
last held 8 December 1991; results - Mircea SNEGUR won 98.17% of vote
Moldovan Supreme Soviet:
last held 25 February 1990; results - Moldovan Popular Front 33%,
Intermovement 34%, Communist Party 32%; seats - (366 total) Popular Front
Club 35; Sovereignty Club 35; Club of Independent Deputies 25; Agrarian Club
110; Club Bujak 15; Reality Club 25; Soviet Moldova 80; remaining 41 seats
probably belong to Onestr region deputies who usually boycott Moldovan
legislative proceedings
:Moldova Government
Other political or pressure groups:
United Council of Labor Collectives (UCLC), Igor SMIRNOV, chairman; Social
Democratic Party of Moldova (SDPM), V. CHIOBATARU, leader; 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
Member of:
CSCE, UN
Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador vacant
US:
Charge Howard Steers; Interim Chancery at #103 Strada Alexei Mateevich,
Kishinev (mailing address is APO AE 09862); telephone 8-011-7-0422-23-28-94
at Hotel Seabeco in Kishinev
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 carrying a
cross in its beak and an olive branch in its claws
:Moldova Economy
Overview:
Moldova, the next-to-smallest of the former Soviet republics in area, is the
most densely inhabited. Moldova has a little more than 1% of the population,
labor force, capital stock, and output of the former Soviet Union. Living
standards have been below average for the European USSR. The country enjoys
a favorable climate, and economic development has been primarily based on
agriculture, featuring fruits, vegetables, wine, and tobacco. Industry
accounts for 20% of the labor force, whereas agriculture employs more than
one-third. Moldova has no major mineral resources and has depended on the
former Soviet republics for coal, oil, gas, steel, most electronic
equipment, machine tools, and major consumer durables such as automobiles.
Its industrial and agricultural products, in turn, have been exported to the
other former Soviet republics. Moldova has freed prices on most goods and
has legalized private ownership of property, including agricultural land.
Moldova's economic prospects are dimmed by the difficulties of moving toward
a market economy and the political problems of redefining ties to the other
former Soviet republics and Romania.
GDP:
NA; per capita NA; real growth rate -12% (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
97% (1991)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues $NA million; expenditures $NA million, including capital
expenditures of $NA million (1992)
Exports:
$400 million rubles (f.o.b., 1990)
commodities:
foodstuffs, wine, tobacco, textiles and footwear, machinery, chemicals
(1991)
partners:
NA
Imports:
$1.9 billion rubles (c.i.f., 1990)
commodities:
oil, gas, coal, steel machinery, foodstuffs, automobiles, and other consumer
durables
partners:
NA
External debt:
$650 million (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate -7% (1991)
Electricity:
3,000,000 kW capacity; 13,000 million kWh produced, 2,806 kWh per capita
(1991)
Industries:
key products (with share of total former Soviet output in parentheses where
known): agricultural machinery, foundry equipment, refrigerators and
freezers (2.7%), washing machines (5.0%), hosiery (2.0%), refined sugar
(3.1%), vegetable oil (3.7%), canned food (8.6%), shoes, textiles
Agriculture:
Moldova's principal economic activity; products (shown in share of total
output of the former Soviet republics): Grain (1.6%), sugar beets (2.6%),
sunflower seed (4.4%), vegetables (4.4%), fruits and berries (9.7%), grapes
(20.1%), meat (1.7%), milk (1.4%), and eggs (1.4%)
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe
:Moldova Economy
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (1991), $NA, Western (non-US) countries, ODA
and OOF bilateral commitments (1991), $NA million
Currency:
as of May 1992, retaining ruble as currency
Fiscal year:
calendar year