1992 Edition

Climate

mild winters, warm summers

Coastline

none - landlocked

Comparative area

slightly more than twice the size of Hawaii

Disputes

potential dispute with Ukraine over former southern Bessarabian areas; northern Bukovina ceded to Ukraine upon Moldova's incorporation into USSR; internal with ethnic Russians in the Trans-Dnestr and Gagauz Muslims in the South

Environment

NA

Land area

33,700 km2

Land boundaries

1,389 km; Romania 450 km, Ukraine 939 km

Land use

NA% arable land; NA% permanent crops; NA% meadows and pastures; NA% forest and woodland; NA% other; includes NA% irrigated

Maritime claims

none - landlocked

Natural resources

lignite, phosphorites, gypsum

Terrain

rolling steppe, gradual slope south to Black Sea

Total area

33,700 km2

Birth rate

19 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate

10 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

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)

Infant mortality rate

35 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force

2,095,000; agriculture 34.4%, industry 20.1%, other 45.5% (1985 figures)

Languages

Romanian; (Moldovan official), Russian

Life expectancy at birth

64 years male, 71 years female (1992)

Literacy

NA% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write

Nationality

noun - Moldovan(s); adjective - Moldovan

Net migration rate

-2 migrants/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor

NA

Population

4,458,435 (July 1992), growth rate 0.7% (1992)

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)

Total fertility rate

2.6 children born/woman (1992)

Administrative divisions

previously divided into 40 rayons; now to be divided into 7-9 larger districts at some future point

Capital

Chisinau (Kishinev)

Chief of State

President Mircea SNEGUR (since 3 September 1990)

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)

Constitution

formulating a new constitution; old constitution is still in effect but has been heavily amended during the past few years

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

Executive branch

president, prime minister, Cabinet of Ministers

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

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

Independence

27 August 1991 (from Soviet Union; formerly Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court (highest civil court in Moldova)

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

Legislative branch

Moldovan Supreme Soviet

Long-form name

Republic of Moldova

Member of

CSCE, UN

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

National holiday

Independence Day, 27 August 1991

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

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

President

last held 8 December 1991; results - Mircea SNEGUR won 98.17% of vote

Suffrage

universal at age 18

Type

republic

Agriculture

Moldova's principal economic activity; products (shown in share of total

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%)

output of the former Soviet republics)

Grain (1.6%), sugar beets (2.6%),

Budget

revenues $NA million; expenditures $NA million, including capital expenditures of $NA million (1992)

Currency

as of May 1992, retaining ruble as currency

Economic aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (1991), $NA, Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1991), $NA million

Electricity

3,000,000 kW capacity; 13,000 million kWh produced, 2,806 kWh per capita (1991)

Exports

$400 million rubles (f.o.b., 1990) commodities: foodstuffs, wine, tobacco, textiles and footwear, machinery, chemicals (1991) partners: NA

External debt

$650 million (1991 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

NA; per capita NA; real growth rate -12% (1991)

Illicit drugs

transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe

Imports

$1.9 billion rubles (c.i.f., 1990) commodities: oil, gas, coal, steel machinery, foodstuffs, automobiles, and other consumer durables partners: NA

Industrial production

growth rate -7% (1991)

Industries

key products (with share of total former Soviet output in parentheses where

freezers (2.7%), washing machines (5.0%), hosiery (2.0%), refined sugar (3.1%), vegetable oil (3.7%), canned food (8.6%), shoes, textiles

known)

agricultural machinery, foundry equipment, refrigerators and

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

97% (1991)

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.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Airports

NA

Civil air

NA major transport aircraft

Highways

20,000 km total (1990); 13,900 km hard-surfaced, 6,100 km earth

Inland waterways

NA km perennially navigable

Merchant marine

NA

Pipelines

NA

Ports

none - landlocked

Railroads

1,150 km (includes NA km electrified) (1990); does not include industrial lines

Telecommunications

poorly supplied with telephones; 215,000 unsatisfied applications for telephone installations (31 January 1990); connected to Ukraine by landline and countries beyond the former USSR through the switching center in Moscow

Branches

Republic Security Forces (internal and border troops); Russian Forces (Ground, Navy, Air, and Air Defense)

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

NA