Moldova
Editor- Elizabeth Hoff
Introduction
World Map of Moldova
Physical Map of Moldova
Political Map of Moldova
Geography and Travel in Moldova
Moldova's highest elevation point is Balenesti Hill, at 1,411ft. Even though the elevation is not very high, Moldova has a rugged topography. The Moldavian Plateau is part of the Carpathian Mountains, and much of the Plateau's geography is crossed with ravines and valleys. Chisinau is Moldova's largest city, as well as it's capital. It is located in the middle of the country, and is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center. Tiraspol is another major city in Moldova, located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River. It serves as a major city for light industry, in which they make things such as furniture. The Dniester Hills is a large landform of Moldova in the northern area. They run along the Dniester River, a major river of Moldova. A large subbasin river system in Moldova is the Prut subbasin rivers, which there are many of. Moldova has a mild and sunny climate. Summers are warm and long, with an average temperature of 68 degrees F. Winters are decently mild and dry, with an average temperature of 25 degrees F. The record high annual temperatures in Chisinau is 102.9 degrees F, with a record low of -20 degrees F. In most of the entire country, there is a steady amount of people, 26-250 per square kilometer. In the major cities, however, the population density rockets to 251-1,000 people, and even 1,000+ in select cities. This would be due to the major industries there, as well as factories, all of which need workers to operate. To reach Moldova from the Dallas/Fort Worth area, you would need to fly in an airplane. It could cost you as low as 190 euros to travel to Moldova through one of it's three airlines. A flight from Dallas to Moldova would be 15 hours long with multiple tops along the way. Since Moldova is landlocked, it is non-accessible by boat without crossing through other countries. You can also cross into Moldova by train across either the Ukrainian border or the Romanian border. The train ride from Bucharest would cost roughly $40 US currency.
Sources for this paragraph: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiraspol ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi%C8%99in%C4%83u ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DniesterHills ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Moldova#Climate ; http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/downloads/maps/grump-v1/grump-v1-population-density/mdadens.jpg ; http://wikitravel.org/en/Moldova#Get_in ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Rivers_of_Moldova ; https://www.google.com/#safe=active&q=length+of+a+flight+to+moldova+from+dallas
Moldova's government and foreign policy
Moldova's government is a Parliamentary Democracy. Chiril Gaburici is their current Prime Minister, who serves as the head of government. The Parliament is their Legislative Branch of government, the people who make the laws. Moldova is a part of the United Nations. Since it has a multi-party election system and officials are elected by the people, Moldova has a limited government. Moldova has many political parties, one of them being a Pro-Russian Homeland party. Just days before the 2014 fall elections, this party was removed from the polls because they were found to have had financial support from a foreign country (presumably Russia). The rights of Moldovan citizens are being restricted and oppressed. Sexual harassment and exploitation of women and children is common even though laws were passed to protect them. Women are not protected against domestic violence, and media and freedom of expression is censored by the government. Opposing political candidates are harassed and oppressed. The rights and responsibilities of American citizens are very very different than in Moldova. Here, women can vote and have a career as equals to men, but in Moldova, they are not even safe from domestic violence. We have the freedom of speech and media, whereas their media is censored by their government and opposing political candidates are in danger. Moldova has many influences from it's surrounding countries. Romania mainly influences Moldova, but also Ukraine and Russia. However, recently, public media was censored so that Moldovan citizens could not gain any word regarding Romania. The United States and Moldova signed a $262 million five-year compact to assist Moldova with it government and to increase prosperity. Mostly, though, Moldova is an independently operating country.
Sources for this paragraph: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Moldova ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Moldova ; http://www.europeanforum.net/country/moldova#political_situation ; http://www.un.org/en/members/#r ; http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5357.htm ; http://armenpress.am/static/news/b/2013/03/710500.jpg ; http://armenpress.am/static/news/b/2013/03/710500.jpg ;
Economy of Moldova
Moldova uses their own currency, called Moldovan Leu. One US dollar is equal to 18.23 Moldovan Leus when converted. Moldova's largest exports are wine, nuts, packaged mendicant and sunflower seeds. It's largest imports include wine, rolled tobacco, cars, packaged mendicants and refined petroleum. Moldova's GDP per capita is 2,239.29 US dollars. This is over 50,000 less than in the US. Therefore, Moldova would not be considered a wealthy country in comparison to the US.
Sources for this paragraph: https://www.google.com/#safe=active&q=convert+rate+dollars+to+moldovan+leu ; http://atlas.media.mit.edu/profile/country/mda/ ; https://www.google.com/#safe=active&q=gdp+per+capita+moldova ; https://www.google.com/#safe=active&q=us+gdp+per+capita ; http://cdn.moldova.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/lei32-680x365.jpg ; http://cdn.moldova.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/lei32-680x365.jpg ;
Ethinities of Moldova
There are many ethnic groups in Moldova, mainly from it's neighboring countries. Russia, for example, is a major ethnicity found in Moldova. Also, people from Romania and Ukraine have made their home in this beautiful place. Bulgarian is also a recognized ethnic group of Moldova. Over 75%, though, are Moldovan, or natives to Moldova. One in ten of children in Moldova do not attend school, against the country's policy. Schooling is provided up until 12th grade. Both girls and boys attend school. In principle, public education is free in Moldova. However, children's attendance of school does end up depending on the family's economic state. Moldova is working and making progress on Women's rights, even though thus far it has been nearly non-existent. Women are in danger of domestic violence, and people are not very protected generally. Unfortunately, children in Moldova experience many violations of their rights. Education is obviously one of them. Also, health care for children and their parents is poor in Moldova. Literacy rates for men and women are almost exactly equal in Moldova, and the overall literacy rate is 98.52%. This shows that even though school rates for children is not great, people are still literate. Currently, the Transnistria War is a major ethnic conflict in Moldova. It is between the Russian ethnic group and the Moldovan ethnic group. It is over a strip of land bordering Moldova and Ukraine. Transnistria used to be controlled by Ukraine, but then the Moldovan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic emerged in the area, with Tiraspol as their capital. Transnistria represents over one-tenth of Moldova's land. In 1992, a ceasefire was called, and has held since. However, the conflict remains unresolved.
Sources for this paragraph: http://cache1.asset-cache.net/gc/157180871-russian-dolls-ii-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=Kx5xDJvUcMhx5FPykK3FlDjwVFjeTUAmneCwMvxVpfo%3D ; http://kellyjarvis.theworldrace.org/blogphotos/theworldrace/kellyjarvis/moldova.jpg ; http://4liberty.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/500px-Flag_map_of_Moldova.svg_.png ; http://www.indexmundi.com/moldova/ethnic_groups.html ; http://www.epdc.org/country/moldova ; https://books.google.com/books?id=9jwF6mz_FWIC&pg=PA477&lpg=PA477&dq=is+school+attendance+required+in+moldova&source=bl&ots=wN1mKcEv2s&sig=WVrKltuxEszVMj5nbk0yMZ-vYvo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1U72VOe8F8u-ggTo2oPgDw&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=is%20school%20attendance%20required%20in%20moldova&f=false ; http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/blog/anonymous/working-together-womens-human-rights-moldova ; http://www.humanium.org/en/moldova/ ; http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/moldova/literacy-rate ;
Country flag,
and Religion
Moldovan flag, languages and Religions
The official language of Moldova is Romanian. Russian, Gagauz, and Ukrainian are also commonly spoken. The dominant religion in Moldova is Orthodox Christianity. 96% of the population belongs to one of the two denominations of Orthodox Christianity. The other main religion found in Moldova is Roman Catholicism, another form of Christianity. Many other religions are practiced, but those are the two major ones. Moldova's flag was created in 1990. The flag has three vertical stripes of blue, yellow, and then red. The colors of Moldova's flag are nearly identical to that of Romania's flag, to show the two countries' similarities. In the center of the flag is the Coat of Arms of Moldova. The coat of arms depicts an eagle holding a shield charged with aurochs, an extinct type of wild cattle. In the eagle's mouth there is an Orthodox Christian cross, the country's main religion. In stead of a sword, the eagle holds an olive branch, depicting peace. The auroch's head, as well as the rose, crescent, and star on the shield held by the eagle are all traditional symbols of Moldova.
Sources for this paragraph: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Moldova ; https://www.google.com/#safe=active&q=religions+in+Moldova ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Moldova ; https://www.google.com/#safe=active&q=in+what+year+was+moldovas+flag+created ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Moldova ;
Traditional Holidays and Festivals in Moldova
One holiday celebrated in Moldova is Old New Year, the Orthodox New Year. It is on January 14th on the Gregorian calendar. A special festival held in Moldova is the Sweet Acacia Flower Music Contest. This is a musical contest between local Moldovan folk bands and other bands from the neighboring countries. This festival is held in May. The festival also includes parades with people of all ages dressed in costumes and a concluding hora dance, which is a type of circle dance. The traditional dress for women in Moldova is a white embroidered dress with an embroidered vest trimmed with sheep fleece. Usually a black embroidered overskirt is also worn. Men wear white pants and shirt, with a vest similar to the women's. They also wear a hat decorated with feathers or flowers. Both the men and women wear leather shoes with laces that tie around the ankles. A popular Moldovan dish is sarma, which is stuffed cabbage rolls. Below I have attached a link of a recipe for sarma. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sarmale-stuffed-cabbage-or-vine-leaves/
Sources for this paragraph: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_New_Year ; http://www.iexplore.com/travel-guides/europe/moldova/festivals-and-events ; https://www.google.com/#safe=active&q=hora+dance ; http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Moldovans.html ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldovan_cuisine ;
Population Density
Languages
Ethnicities of Moldova
Choropleth Maps CER
C- Based on the data presented in the in the ethnicities of Moldova choropleth map, one can conclude that the country of Moldova has had much influence from it's neighboring country of Romania.
E- In the choropleth map of Moldovan ethnicities, almost the entire country is consumed in the yellow color, which is Romanian ethnicity. Also, in both of the pie charts on the side of the map, Romania is the largest ethnicity percentage by far.
R- If a country is mainly made up of the ethnicity of a certain neighboring country, it obviously has many people from that country living there. People incorporate culture, and cultural diffusion. The new country then adopts at least multiple elements of the neighboring country's culture into their own. Therefore, one can conclude that Romania has had a lot of influence on Moldova and it's culture.