*Moldova, People
Population:
4,455,645 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.4% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
16.15 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
10.01 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
-2.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
30.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
67.92 years
male:
64.49 years
female:
71.53 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
2.2 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Moldovan(s)
adjective:
Moldovan
Ethnic divisions:
Moldovan/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:
almost all churchgoers are ethnic Moldovan; the Slavic population are not
churchgoers
Languages:
Moldovan (official); note - virtually the same as the Romanian language,
Russian
Literacy:
age 9-49 can read and write (1970)
total population:
100%
male:
100%
female:
99%
Labor force:
2.095 million
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 Moldoveneasca
local short form:
none
former:
Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova; Moldavia
Digraph:
MD
Type:
republic
Capital:
Chisinau (Kishinev)
Administrative divisions:
previously divided into 40 rayons; to be divided into fewer, larger
districts at some future point
Independence:
27 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Constitution:
as of mid-1993 the new constitution had not been adopted; old constitution
(adopted NA 1979) 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
Political parties and leaders:
Christian Democratic Popular Front (formerly Moldovan Popular Front), Ivrie
ROSCA, chairman; Yedinstvo Intermovement, V. YAKOVLEV, chairman; Social
Democratic Party, Oazul NANTOI, chairman, two other chairmen; Agrarian
Democratic Party, Valery CHEBOTARV, leader; Democratic Party, Gheorghe
GHIMPU, chairman; Democratic Labor Party, Alexandru ARSENI, chairman
Other political or pressure groups:
United Council of Labor Collectives (UCLC), Igor SMIRNOV, chairman; 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; Women's League; Stefan the Great Movement
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Elections:
President:
last held 8 December 1991 (next to be held NA1996); results - Mircea SNEGUR
ran unopposed and won 98.17% of vote
Parliament:
last held 25 February 1990 (next to be held NA 1995); results - percent of
vote by party NA; seats - (350 total) Christian Democratic Popular Front 50;
Club of Independent Deputies 25; Agrarian Club 90; Social Democrats 60-70;
Russian Conciliation Club 50; 60-70 seats belong to Dniester region deputies
who usually boycott Moldovan legislative proceedings; the remaining seats
filled by independents; note - until May 1991 was called Supreme Soviet
*Moldova, Government
Executive branch:
president, prime minister, Cabinet of Ministers
Legislative branch:
unicameral Parliament
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State:
President Mircea Ivanovich SNEGUR (since 3 September 1990)
Head of Legislature:
Chairman of the Parliament Petru LUCINSCHI (since 4 February 1993); Prime
Minister Andrei SANGHELI (since 1 July 1992)
Member of:
BSEC, CIS, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, IBRD, ICAO, ILO, IMF, NACC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
WHO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
Permanent Representative to the UN Tudor PANTIRU (also acts as
representative to US)
chancery:
NA
telephone:
NA
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Mary C. PENDLETON
embassy:
Strada Alexei Mateevich #103, Chisinau
mailing address:
APO AE 09862
telephone:
7-0422-23-37-72 or 23-34-94
FAX:
7-0422-23-34-94
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
*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 other
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 republics. Moldova has freed prices on most goods and has legalized
private ownership of property. Moldova's near-term economic prospects are
dimmed, however, by the difficulties of moving toward a market economy, the
political problems of redefining ties to the other former Soviet republics
and Romania, and the ongoing separatist movements in the Dniester and Gagauz
regions. In 1992, national output fell substantially for the second
consecutive year - down 22% in the industrial sector and 20% in agriculture.
The decline is mainly attributable to the drop in energy supplies.
National product:
GDP $NA
National product real growth rate:
-26% (1992)
National product per capita:
$NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 27% per month (first quarter 1993)
Unemployment rate:
0.7% (includes only officially registered unemployed; also large numbers of
underemployed workers)
Budget:
revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports:
100 million to outside the successor states of the former USSR (1992)
commodities:
foodstuffs, wine, tobacco, textiles and footwear, machinery, chemicals
(1991)
partners:
Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Romania
Imports:
100 million from outside the successor states of the former USSR (1992)
commodities:
oil, gas, coal, steel machinery, foodstuffs, automobiles, and other consumer
durables
partners:
Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Romania
External debt:
$100 million (1993 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate -22% (1992)
Electricity:
3,115,000 kW capacity; 11,100 million kWh produced, 2,491 kWh per capita
(1992)
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
*Moldova, Economy
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%), eggs (1.4%)
Illicit drugs:
illicit producer of opium and cannabis; mostly for CIS consumption;
transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe
Economic aid:
IMF credit, $18.5 million (1992); EC agricultural credit, $30 million
(1992); US commitments, $10 million for grain (1992); World Bank credit, $31
million
Currency:
plans to introduce the Moldovan lei in 1993 or 1994, until then retaining
Russian ruble as currency
Exchange rates:
rubles per US$1 - 415 (24 December 1992) but subject to wide fluctuations
Fiscal year:
calendar year