World Country Guide

General Information

Area
33,800 sq km (13,050 sq miles).

Population
3,606,800 (official estimate 2004).

Population Density
106.7 per sq km.

Capital
Chisinau (Kishinev). Population: 662,200 (official estimate 2004).

Geography
Moldova is a small landlocked state in southeastern Europe – one of the most highly populated republics of the former USSR. To the north, east and south Moldova, is bound by Ukraine; to the west by Romania. The River Prut constitutes the border with Romania. The country has rich pastures and wooded slopes, ideal for wine-growing.

Government
Republic since 1991. Gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Head of State: President Vladimir Voronin since 2001. Head of Government: Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev since 2001.

Language
The Constitution of 1994 described the official language as ‘Moldovan’ although it is considered to be virtually identical to Romanian. In 1940, after Soviet annexation, the Cyrillic script was introduced and was referred to as Moldavian up until 1989 when the Latin alphabet was reintroduced. Russian is still the most widely spoken language. The ethnic and linguistic make-up of Moldova is as follows: Moldovans 64.5 per cent, Ukrainians 13.8 per cent, Russians 13.0 per cent, Gagauz 3.5 per cent, Bulgarians 1.5 per cent, others 3.7 per cent.

Religion
Mostly Eastern Orthodox Christian and other Christian denominations. A small amount of the population are Jewish.

Time
GMT + 2 (GMT + 3 from last Sunday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in October).

Electricity
220 volts AC, 50Hz.

Communications

Telephone
IDD is available to major towns. Country code: 373. For outgoing international calls: dial 0, wait for tone, then dial 0 and the country code. There are two types of payphone: Soviet ones (taking tokens) and modern ones (taking cards).

Mobile telephone
GSM 900 networks in use. Roaming agreements in operation. Coverage extends over the central area of the country. Network operators include Moldcell (website: www.moldcell.md) and Voxtel (website: www.voxtel.md).

Internet
Major commercial ISPs include Moldovan ISP Dynamic Network Technologies (website: www.dnt.md), MegaDat (website: www.mcc.md), MoldTelecom (website: www.moldtelecom.cm) and Relsoft (website: www.mldnet.com).

Post
All mail to and from Moldova may be subject to long delays. The postal and telecommunication systems are being modernised. The main post office is at 73 Stefan cel Mare boulevard, 277012 Chisinau. Post office hours: Mon-Sun 0900-2000. There are express mail services in Chisinau.

Press
The press is generally uncensored. There are more than a dozen daily newspapers in Moldova, the most popular being Moldova Suverana published in Romanian. Other main papers include Dnestrovskaya Pravda, Nezavisimaya Moldova (published in Russian), Trudovoi Tiraspol and Viata Satului. English-language publications can sometimes be found at major hotels in Chisinau. Western press deliveries are erratic.

Radio
BBC World Service (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice) and Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov) can be received. From time to time the frequencies change and the most up-to-date can be found online. Services in Romanian, Russian and English are also available on 68.48MHz (0600-0800 and 1800-2200 local time).