Aminet 6/Aminet 6 - June 1995.iso/Aminet/docs/misc/wfbook93_texi.lha/texi/161.data

Text File | 1995-03-27 | 11.4 KB | 391 lines

@node Geography (Moldova)
@section Geography (Moldova)

@display

Location:
  Eastern Europe, between Ukraine and Romania
Map references:
  Asia, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
 total area:
  33,700 km2
 land area:
  33,700 km2
 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:
  potential dispute with Ukraine over former southern Bessarabian areas;
  northern Bukovina ceded to Ukraine upon Moldova's incorporation into USSR
Climate:
  mild winters, warm summers
Terrain:
  rolling steppe, gradual slope south to Black Sea
Natural resources:
  lignite, phosphorites, gypsum
Land use:
 arable land:
  50%
 permanent crops:
  0%
 meadows and pastures:
  9%
 forest and woodland:
  0%
 other:
  41%
Irrigated land:
  2,920 km2 (1990)
Environment:
  heavy use of agricultural chemicals, including banned pesticides such as
  DDT, has contaminated soil and groundwater; extensive erosion from poor
  farming methods
Note:
  landlocked



@end display

@node People (Moldova)
@section People (Moldova)

@display

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)



@end display

@node Government (Moldova)
@section Government (Moldova)

@display

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



@end display

@node Government (Moldova 2. usage)
@section Government (Moldova 2. usage)

@display

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



@end display

@node Economy (Moldova)
@section Economy (Moldova)

@display

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



@end display

@node Economy (Moldova 2. usage)
@section Economy (Moldova 2. usage)

@display

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



@end display

@node Communications (Moldova)
@section Communications (Moldova)

@display

Railroads:
  1,150 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)
Highways:
  20,000 km total; 13,900 km hard-surfaced, 6,100 km earth (1990)
Pipelines:
  natural gas 310 km (1992)
Ports:
  none; landlocked
Airports:
 total:
  26
 useable:
  15
 with permanent-surface runways:
  6
 with runways over 3,659 m:
  0
 with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
  5
 with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
  8
Telecommunications:
  poorly supplied with telephones (as of 1991, 494,000 telephones total, with
  a density of 111 lines per 1000 persons); 215,000 unsatisfied applications
  for telephone installations (31 January 1990); connected to Ukraine by
  landline and to countries beyond the former USSR through the international
  gateway switch in Moscow



@end display

@node Defense Forces (Moldova)
@section Defense Forces (Moldova)

@display

Branches:
  Ground Forces, Air and Air Defence Force, Security Forces (internal and
  border troops)
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 1,082,562; fit for military service 859,948; reach military
  age (18) annually 35,769 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
  exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP



@end display