MOLDOVA - Offically the poorest country in Europe.

Official name Republica Moldova/Republic of Moldova

Area 33,700 sq km or 13,000 sq miles

Capital Chişinău (Russian Kishinev)

Major towns/cities Bălţi, Tiraspol, Tighina

Physical features Undulating land largely bordered by the rivers Prut and Dniester; northern Moldova comprises the level plain of the Bălţi Steppe and uplands.

Currency leu (single) 1 Leu = 100 Bani or Lei. About 21 or 22 lei to the pound Sterling.

Moldova is a land of undulating countryside and relies to a large extent on agriculture. The fields are worked largely by hand and during the season hundreds of workers can be seen with hand tools tending the soil and the crops. School holidays are long, which enables the children to help in the fields.

Extreme poverty can be seen almost everywhere, not only in the villages but also in the towns. The centre of Chişinău is on the face of it quite prosperous but just away from the centre extreme poverty again can be found.

Generally speaking, the people are extremely hard working and generous with the very little that they have.

Schools have little equipment, sometimes even the basics, pens and papers are in very short supply. Very few of the schools in rural areas have any computers at all and the schools in the cities which may have a computer, it could be extremely old. See cr2ee introduction

A brief history.

Sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova emerged as an independent republic following the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

The bulk of it, between the rivers Dniester and Prut, is made up of an area formerly known as Bessarabia. This territory was annexed by the USSR in 1940 following the carve-up of Romania in the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact between Hitler's Germany and Stalin's USSR.

Moldova is the very poorest country in Europe and has a large foreign debt and high unemployment. Its once-flourishing wine trade is in the doldrums and it is heavily dependent on Russia for energy supplies.

(over a long time)

AD 106 The current area covered by Moldova, which as mentioned lies chiefly between the Prut River, bordering Romania in the west, and the Dniestr River, with Ukraine in the east, was conquered by the Roman Emperor Trajan and became part of the Roman province of Dacia.

It was known in earlier times as Bessarabia. mid-14th century Formed part of an independent Moldovan principality, which included areas, such as Bukovina to the west, that are now part of Romania. late 15th century Under Stephen IV the Great the principality reached the height of its power. 16th century Became a tributary of the Ottoman Turks. 1774/75 Moldovan principality, though continuing to recognize Turkish overlordship, was placed under Russian protectorship; Bukovina was lost to Austria. 1812 Bessarabia ceded to tsarist Russia. 1856 Remainder of Moldovan principality became largely independent of Turkish control. 1859 Moldovan Assembly voted to unite with Wallachia, to the southwest, to form the state of Romania, ruled by Prince Alexandru Ion Cuza. The state became fully independent in 1878.

1918 Following the Russian Revolution, Bessarabia was seized and incorporated within Romania.

1924 Moldovan autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) created, as part of Soviet Union, comprising territory east of Dniestr River.

1940 Romania returned Bessarabia, east of Prut River, to Soviet Union, which divided it between Moldovan SSR and Ukraine, with Trans-Dniestr region transferred from Ukraine to Moldova.

1941 Moldovan SSR occupied by Romania and its wartime ally Germany. 1944 Red Army reconquered Bessarabia.

1946/47 Widespread famine as agriculture was collectivized; rich farmers and intellectuals were liquidated.

1950 Immigration by settlers from Russia and Ukraine as industries were developed.

The late 1980s There was an upsurge in Moldovan nationalism, encouraged by the glasnost initiative of reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

1988 The Moldovan Movement in Support of Perestroika (economic restructuring) campaigned for accelerated political reform.

1989 There were nationalist demonstrations in Kishinev (now Chişinău). The Moldovan Popular Front (MPF) was founded; Moldovan was made the state language. There were campaigns for autonomy among ethnic Russians, strongest in industrialized Trans-Dniestr region, and Turkish-speaking but Orthodox Christian Gagauz minority in southwest.

1990 The MPF polled strongly in parliamentary elections and Mircea Snegur, a reform-nationalist communist, became president. Economic and political sovereignty was declared.

1991 Independence was declared and the Communist Party outlawed after a conservative coup in Moscow against Gorbachev; joined Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). There was insurrection in the Trans-Dniestr region.

1992 Admitted into United Nations and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe; a peace agreement was signed with Russia to end the civil war in Trans-Dniestr, giving special status to the region. The MPF-dominated government fell; A government of national accord was formed, headed by Andrei Sangheli and dominated by the ADP.

1993 A new currency, the leu, (plural Lei), was introduced. A privatization programme was launched and closer ties were established with Russia.

1994 Parliamentary elections were won by the ADP. Plebiscite rejected nationalist demands for a merger with Romania. Russia agreed to withdraw Trans-Dniestr troops by 1997.

1995 Joined Council of Europe; economic growth resumed.

1996 Petru Lucinschi was elected president.

1997 A cooperation agreement was signed with the Dniestr region. A law was passed that provided for elections using proportional representation.

1999 A new coalition government was formed, headed by Ion Sturza. It fell in November, and Vladimir Voronin, a communist, succeeded as prime minister.

2000 Constitutional changes increased the powers of the Parlamentul (legislature) and the president was now to be elected by the legislature rather than the people. However, the incumbent president Lucinschi refused to stand, and neither of the two presidential candidates in the December contest were able to secure the required majority.

2001 The Communist Party regained power in parliamentary elections. Vladimir Voronin became president, and Vasile Tarlev became prime minister.

2005 Elections returned the Communist Party.