Flora and fauna combine elements of different origin and under the
influence of relief and soil-climatic features two types of vegetation
prevail: woodland vegetation and steppe vegetation. Forests are
predominated by oak trees, elm, beech and hornbeam. Steppe vegetation
has been preserved only in certain areas in the form of patches of
steppe vegetal associations.

The climate in Moldova is temperate. The average annual temperature is
8-10°C above 0, (on January 3-5°C bellow 0, on July 20-25°C above 0).
The average annual rainfall level is about 380 mm in the South and 560
mm in the center and northern parts.

Natural resources

Moldova’s water bodies are part of the Black Sea Basin. The
main rivers are Nistru and Prut and a small portion of Danube River
reaches Moldova in the southern part. Lakes are small, being located
mainly in the river meadows of Prut and Nistru. Mainly to this
inter-river location Moldova has the most fertile soil, that consist
the treasure of the republic.

The same time Republic of Moldova has natural resources used to make
construction materials and namely: granite, stone, limestone, clay,
grit-stone, etc.

Republic of Moldova Political system

Moldova is a parliamentary republic. It legislation is based on the
principles of the Constitution issued in 1994 and modified in 2000.

Legislative power is represented by the unicameral parliament consisting of 101 deputies and elected for a 4-year term.

The Government led by the Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev represents executive power.

The Supreme Court is the supreme judicial body. The Constitutional
Court exercises control over protection of the articles of
Constitution.

The head of the state is the President elected by the Parliament for
a term of 4 years. Today the President of Moldova is Vladimir Voronin,
also representing PCRM.

Republic of Moldova is a unitary state divided into 40 regions. In
1994 according to the new Constitution Transnstry and Republic of
Gagauzia were granted autonomy within the indivisible Moldova.

Foreign policy of the Republic of Moldova is directed towards
developing of the co-operation with other countries and integration
into European and International structures. Moldova is diplomatically
recognized by more than 110 states and is a member of various European
and International organizations.

In 1991 Republic of Moldova became a member of CIS and in 1992 a
member of United Nations Organization and a full member of OSCE. In
1994 the Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA) between the
European Union and the Republic of Moldova was signed, and in July 1995
Moldova became the member of European Council. Since 1996 Moldova is a
member of Central European Initiative, and since 2001 – the member of
WTO.

Chisinau

"My white city – you’re a stone flower …"

There are several
legends concerning the Chisinau origin. According to one of them, settlement
was founded near the spring called “Chisinau” in a picturesque place in Codri,
on the bank of the river Byc. The earliest mention of Chisinau refers to 1466.
In this very year a Moldovan ruler, Stefan cel Mare, had granted a special letter
to his uncle, Vlaicul, by which the former had transferred the right of possession
of the present Chisinau’s territory.

During the Osman Yoke Chisinau had been repeatedly ruined and destroyed. It
must have influenced its economic development, which up to the 18th , the beginning
of the 19th centuries had gone by the slowed down rates.

In its modern view Chisinau was founded in the beginning of the 19th century.
In 1834 the first general plan of the city was authorized. The old city, situated
on the Bik river, remained untouched though. There were churches around and
a huge market in the center, where the townspeople and peasants of nearby villages
led an intensive trade. Some of the constructions of those days survived: Riscani
church (1777) and Blagoveshchensk church (1807), and the oldest building – Мazarichii
church referring to 1752.

Construction works began in 1818. In 1834 Government approved the general plan
of Chininau development. In 1829-1834 were developed the wells, assuring with
drinking water the majority of Chisinau citizens. At the expense of city Duma
near the Мazarichii church there was arranged a spring, that supplied the drinking
water to the whole city. This water had been delivered in water carts.

High quality
of construction works and real development became possible only due to the outstanding
architect A. Bernardazzi. He had designed and had built the most significant
edifices that form the Chisnau unique look. Benardazzi was one of those who
appreciated the decorative characteristics of the natural white coquina quarried
in the Chisinau outskirts. Before that all the constructions were plastered,
and only in the end of the 19th century came into use the neat stone-work with
the redbrick insertions. This kind of fronts design became the local peculiarity.
At the same time, municipal improvement was carried out very slowly. Paving
was started only in 1862.

In 1870 the railway station was built, and in 1871 the railway communication
on the Chisinau-Tiraspol section was opened. Organization of the water-supply
system began in 1892 with the construction of 2 water towers.

The newly confirmed plan of the city gave wide streets, spacious squares and
magnificent parks to the townspeople. The streets’ width allowed to plant trees
along them (Chisinau is noticed to have been one of the greenest capitals in
Europe till now). A park was laid out near the central square. It was planted
those days with acacias and mulberry-trees and became famous because of a great
Russian poet Alexander Puskin who had frequently strolled there. In 1885 a monument
to him was set up in the park, around the monument there were planted acacias
(two of them have survived up to the present time). Today this monument is one
of the oldest established in Chisinau.

Besides the
organized laying out of the parks and squares, individual efforts of the townspeople
were also making Chisinau greener. To plant a tree near the house was considered
to be a good tone. It is interesting that in the 19th century the fur-trees
and pine-trees from Russia and Crimea were brought to Bessarabia (so referred
to as a part of Moldovan territory in the Prut and Nistru interstream area).
But only nobility was allowed to plant them in the court yards.

Time was going by and Chisinau was developing, absorbing the nearby settlements.
It is surprising, but in 1918 Chisinau occupied the area of the present center
district of the city and ended in the Sadovaia street. The city was one-storeyed,
only churches and metropolitan see building towered above another buildings.
The first large buildings were constructed on present Puskin and Gogol streets,
then schools along the Sadovaia street were built.

Chisinau suffered a lot from the 1940 earthquake.

On the 22nd of June 1941, from the firs hours of the WWII, Chisinau was in the
front line. In the morning the city was bombed from the air, and shortly after
it was occupied by the Romanian army. On 18 August 1944 Romanian King Mihai
and marshal Antonescu looked the city over. WWII finished for Chisinau on August,
24 1944, when the Soviet army entered the city after the Chisinau-Iasi operation.
There were no battles within the city, but it was totally destroyed as a result
of the earthquake and bombardments.

After the
World War II Chisinau grows and recovers very fast. It’s characteristic that
in Moldova of that period there were only 3 architects – Valentin Voitehovschi,
Robert Curt and Valentin Mednic - all graduates of the Bucharest Architectural
Institute. By the end of 40th architects from other cities- Moscow, Odessa and
Kiev- were sent to Chisinau. A multinational group of architects and designers
was generated and began to restore the city according to the general plan of
the city’s reconstruction authorized in 1945 – 1947 with the participation of
the academician А. Sciusev. The first new building of the city has become a
building of the railway station (1948)

After the Architectural Institute had been opened in the republic in 1975 there
appeared a group of the local architects, which had to design and construct
a number of office and administrative buildings. From this very period constructions
of capital-wide fame have begun to appear in Chisinau : buildings of Parliament,
of House of Government, of Presidential Residence, Trade Unions Palace etc.

Thus Chisinau has got its modern metropolitan image combining originality of
architectural design and magnificence of parks. Our capital is especially beautiful
in autumn, when the yellow foliage paints the parks and streets in bright gilding,
and the townspeople get ready for the City Day celebrated annually.

Moldavian cuisine

Moldavian
cuisine gained the popularity far beyond the bounds of Moldova due to
the extensive use and peculiar compositions of various fruit and
vegetables, spice and condiments, that impart a specific taste and
strong flavor to traditional Moldavian dishes.

Most fist courses in Moldova are made with a special kind of wheat
kvass or vegetable pickle. The most popular dishes of this kind are
zama (poultry soup with noodles), sarbusca and borsch. In different
parts of Moldova you may be offered different dishes: in riverside this
may be fish soup with rice, in Gagauzia – shorpa, spicy soup with lamb
meat.

As regards meat dishes, Moldovans equally use mutton (ciorba,
ghiveci, musaca), pork (carnatei, costita, musca), beef (mititei), and
poultry (zama). As a rule, meat is combined with vegetables or fruit
(quince accompanies veal, turkey is served with apricots). Combination
of dry wine and tomato juice in meat dishes and sauces is
characteristic for Moldavian cuisine. It gives a special delicacy to
the meat and, at the same time, makes it juicier. This feature relates
Moldavian cuisine to cuisines of other Romanic nations. Usually such
dishes are grilled on charcoal on a thick iron grate called gratar, or
in the oven: in a cauldron or small ceramic pots.

Vegetables
play a special role in Moldavian cuisine – they are used fresh, boiled,
fried, baked, stuffed, stewed and salted. Particularly tasty are
peppers, eggplants and gogoshars stuffed either with other vegetables,
or with rice, vegetables and meat. A very specific dish is tomatoes
filled with brynza (pungent sheep cheese), which is often used as a
fill or an adding to vegetables, eggs and meat. Vegetable ragout
(ghiveci and musaka), made from vegetables stewed with oil and spice,
are spread widely, as well as haricot, either in corns or in pod,
stewed with cheese or fried onion. The main dish of a holiday meal is
sarmale: small portions of rice and meat stuffing in vine, cabbage or
coltsfoot leaves.

The
most known and popular dish of Moldovan cuisine is, undoubtedly,
mamaliga, which stands for hominy served with fried fish, eggs,
cracklings, brynza and cream or mujdei, pungent garlic sauce.

Traditional Moldavian batch is, first of all, placinte: thin
unleavened pies filled with curds, eggs and green, potatoes, cabbage,
apples or pumpkins. Traditional pastry includes strude (short rolls
filled with poppy-seeds, rose jam, cherry etc.), pies and Easter cakes.
Crepes and desserts with dried fruit are very popular, too.

No Moldovan meal can go without wines. Usually, domestic wine from
local vine species is served to a regular home meal, and wines from
European species accompany holiday meal. Northern and Central regions
of Moldova supply excellent dry wines, both red and white, cognacs and
brandy; Southern areas supply fine dessert wines.