Chișinău

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Chișinău
City
The "Gates of Chișinău", as seen when entering the city from the direction of the Chișinău airport

Flag
Seal
Chișinău
Location of Chișinău in Moldova
Coordinates: 47°0′00″N 28°55′00″E / 47.00000°N 28.91667°E / 47.00000; 28.91667
Country  Moldova
First written mention 1436[1]
Government
 • Mayor Dorin Chirtoacă, since 2007
Area[2]
 • City 123 km2 (47 sq mi)
 • Metro 563.3 km2 (217.5 sq mi)
Elevation 85 m (279 ft)
Population (1 January 2013 (est.))[3]
 • City 671,800
 • Density 5,427/km2 (14,060/sq mi)
 • Metro 800,600
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code MD-20xx
Area code(s) +373 22
Website www.chisinau.md
View of Chişinău from orbit

Chișinău (/ˌkɪʃɨˈnaʊ/ Romanian pronunciation: [kiʃiˈnəw]; historically also known as Kishinev, from Russian: Кишинёв[4]) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. It is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc. According to January 2013 official estimates, Chișinău proper has a population of 671,800 and the municipality of Chișinău is home to 800,600 residents.[3]

Chișinău is the most economically prosperous locality in Moldova and its largest transportation hub. As the most economically and socially important municipality in Moldova, the city has a broad range of educational facilities.

Etymology and names

The origin of the city's name is unclear. In one version, the name comes from the archaic Romanian word chișla (meaning "spring", "source of water") and nouă ("new"), because it was built around a small spring, at the corner of Pușkin and Albișoara streets.[5]

An alternative version, by Ștefan Ciobanu, Romanian historian and academician, holds that the name was formed the same way as the name of Chișineu (alternative spelling: Chișinău) in Western Romania, near the border with Hungary. Its Hungarian name is Kisjenő, from which the Romanian name originates.[6] Kisjenő in turn comes from kis "small" and the "Jenő," one of the seven Hungarian tribes that entered the Carpathian Basin in 896 and named 21 settlements.[7]

Chișinău is known in Russian as Кишинёв (Kishinyov). It is written Kişinöv in the Latin Gagauz alphabet. It was also written as "Chișineu" in pre-20th-century Romanian[8] and as "Кишинэу" in the Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet, a spelling that is still used in Moldova. Historically, the English language name for the city, "Kishinev", was based on the modified Russian one because it entered the English language via Russian at the time Chișinău was part of the Russian Empire (e.g. Kishinev pogrom). Therefore, it remains a common English name in some historical contexts. Otherwise, the Romanian-based "Chișinău" has been steadily gaining wider currency, especially in written language.[citation needed]

History

Main article: History of Chișinău

Founded in 1436 as a monastery village, the city was part of the Principality of Moldavia, which, starting with the 16th century fell under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. At the beginning of the 19th century it was a small town of 7,000 inhabitants. In 1812, in the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812), the eastern part of Moldavia was ceded to the Russian Empire and Chișinău became the capital of the newly annexed gubernia of Bessarabia. Its population had grown to 92,000 by 1862 and to 125,787 by 1900.[9]

Industrial age

By 1834, an imperial townscape with broad and long roads had emerged as a result of a generous development plan, which divided Chișinău roughly into two areas: The old part of the town — with its irregular building structures — and a newer City Center and station. Between 26 May 1830 and 13 October 1836 the architect Avraam Melnikov established the Catedrala Nașterea Domnului with a magnificent bell tower. In 1840 the building of the Triumphal arch, planned by the architect Luca Zaushkevich, was completed. Following this the construction of numerous buildings and landmarks began.

On 28 August 1871 Chișinău was linked by rail with Tiraspol and in 1873 with Cornești. Chișinău-Ungheni-Iași railway was opened on 1 June 1875 in preparation for the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). The town played an important part in the war between Russia and Ottoman Empire, as the main staging area of the Russian invasion.

Pogroms and pre-revolution

Chișinău, 1889

In the late 19th century, especially due to growing anti-Semitic sentiment in the Russian Empire and better economic conditions, many Jews chose to settle in Chișinău. By the year 1900, 43% of the population of Chișinău was Jewish — one of the highest numbers in Europe.

A large anti-Semitic riot took place in the town on 6–7 April 1903, which would later be known as the Kishinev pogrom. The rioting continued for three days, resulting in 47 Jews dead, 92 severely wounded, and 500 suffering minor injuries. In addition, several hundred houses and many businesses were plundered and destroyed. The pogroms are largely believed to have been incited by anti-Jewish propaganda in the only official newspaper of the time, Bessarabetz (Бессарабецъ). The reactions to this incident included a petition to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia on behalf of the American people by the US President Theodore Roosevelt in July 1905.[10]

On 22 August 1905 another violent event occurred: The police opened fire on an estimated 3,000 demonstrating agricultural workers. Only a few months later, 19–20 October 1905, a further protest occurred, helping to force the hand of Nicholas II in bringing about the October Manifesto. However, these demonstrations suddenly turned into another anti-Jewish pogrom, resulting in 19 deaths.[10]

World War I and Interwar period

Following the Russian October Revolution, Bessarabia declared independence from the crumbling empire, before joining the Kingdom of Romania. Romania granted important subsidies to its province and initiated large scale investment programs in the infrastructure of the main cities in Basarabia and Northern Bucovina, expanded the railroad infrastructure and started an extensive program to eradicate illiteracy. Only with the advent of modern technology and industrialization, it slowly rose into prominence.[citation needed]

As of 1919, Chișinău had an estimated population of 133,000.[11] Between 1918 and 1940 the center of the city undertook large renovation work. In 1927 the Stephen the Great Monument, by the sculptor Alexandru Plămădeală, was erected.

World War II

Eternity — a memorial complex dedicated to the soldiers who fell in World War II and the military conflict in Transnistria

In the chaos of the Second World War Chișinău was almost completely destroyed. This destruction began with the Soviet occupation by the Red Army on 28 June 1940. As the city began to recover from the takeover, a devastating earthquake occurred on 10 November 1940. The epicenter of the quake, which measured 7.3 on the Richter scale, was in eastern Romania and subsequently led to substantial destruction.

After scarcely one year, the assault on the newly created Moldovan SSR by the German and Romanian armies began. Beginning with June 1941 the city came under bombardment by Nazi air raids. However, Romanian sources assign most of the responsibility for the damage to Soviet NKVD destruction battalions, that operated in Chișinău until 17 July 1941, when it was captured by invading Axis forces.[12]

Following the occupation, the city suffered from the characteristic mass murder of its predominantly Jewish inhabitants. As had been seen elsewhere in Eastern Europe, the Jews were transported on trucks to the outskirts of the city and then summarily shot in partially dug pits. The number of Jews murdered during the initial occupation of the city is estimated at approximately 10,000 people.[13]

As the war drew to a conclusion, the city was once more pulled into heavy fighting as German and Romanian troops retreated. Chișinău was taken by the Red Army on 24 August 1944 as a result of the Jassy-Kishinev Operation. By this point the city had lost about 70% of its buildings[citation needed] — the earthquake of 1940 and the air raids contributing to the largest part of this.

After the war, Bessarabia was fully integrated into the Soviet Union. Most of Bessarabia became the Moldavian SSR with Chișinău as its capital; around 30% of Bessarabia became parts of the Ukrainian SSR.

Soviet Union

Botanica District

In the years 1947 to 1949 the architect Alexey Shchusev developed a plan with the aid of a team of architects for the gradual reconstruction of the city.

The beginning of the 1950s saw a rapid population growth, to which the Soviet administration responded by constructing large-scale housing and palaces in the style of Stalinist architecture. This process continued under Nikita Khrushchev, who called for construction under the slogan "good, cheaper and built faster". The new architectural style brought about dramatic change and generated the style that dominates today, with large blocks of flats arranged in considerable settlements.

The period of the most significant redevelopment of the city extended from 1971, when the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union adopted a decision "On the measures for further development of the city of Kishinev", which secured more than one billion rubles in investment from the state budget,[14] which continued until the independence of Moldova in 1991. On 4 March 1977 the city was again jolted by a terrible earthquake. Several people were killed and a panic broke out.

After independence

Many streets of Chișinău are named after historic persons, places or events. Independence from the Soviet Union was followed by a large-scale renaming of streets and localities from a Communist theme into a national one.[citation needed]

Geography

Chisinau
Climate chart (explanation)
JFMAMJJASOND
 
 
40
 
0
−6
 
 
38
 
2
−4
 
 
35
 
7
−1
 
 
42
 
16
6
 
 
51
 
22
11
 
 
76
 
25
14
 
 
69
 
26
16
 
 
45
 
26
15
 
 
46
 
22
11
 
 
27
 
15
6
 
 
40
 
8
2
 
 
38
 
3
−3
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: World Meteorological Organization

Chișinău is located on the river Bîc, a tributary of the Dniester, at 47°0′N 28°55′E / 47.000°N 28.917°E / 47.000; 28.917, with an area of 120 square kilometres (46 sq mi). The municipality comprises 635 square kilometres (245 sq mi).

The city lies in central Moldova and is surrounded by a relatively level landscape with very fertile ground. This has allowed for the cultivation of grapevine and fruit since medieval times.[citation needed]

Climate

Chișinău gardens

Chișinău has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa), characterized by hot dry summers and windy cold winters. Winter temperatures are often below 0 °C (32 °F), although they rarely drop below −10 °C (14 °F). In summer, the average temperature is approximately 25 °C (77 °F), however, temperatures sometimes reach 35 to 40 °C (95 to 104 °F) in mid-summer in the city centre. Although average precipitation and humidity during summer is low, there are infrequent yet heavy storms. Spring and autumn temperatures vary between 16 to 24 °C (61 to 75 °F), and precipitation during this time tends to be lower than in summer but with more frequent yet milder periods of rain.

Climate data for Chișinău
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 15.5
(59.9)		 20.7
(69.3)		 25.1
(77.2)		 31.6
(88.9)		 35.9
(96.6)		 37.5
(99.5)		 39.4
(102.9)		 39.2
(102.6)		 37.3
(99.1)		 32.6
(90.7)		 23.6
(74.5)		 18.3
(64.9)		 39.4
(102.9)
Average high °C (°F) 0.9
(33.6)		 2.6
(36.7)		 8.1
(46.6)		 15.4
(59.7)		 22.0
(71.6)		 25.2
(77.4)		 27.5
(81.5)		 27.2
(81)		 21.5
(70.7)		 15.1
(59.2)		 7.5
(45.5)		 2.3
(36.1)		 14.6
(58.3)
Daily mean °C (°F) −1.9
(28.6)		 −0.8
(30.6)		 3.7
(38.7)		 10.4
(50.7)		 16.5
(61.7)		 19.9
(67.8)		 22.1
(71.8)		 21.7
(71.1)		 16.3
(61.3)		 10.5
(50.9)		 4.1
(39.4)		 −0.6
(30.9)		 10.2
(50.4)
Average low °C (°F) −4.3
(24.3)		 −3.6
(25.5)		 0.2
(32.4)		 5.9
(42.6)		 11.6
(52.9)		 15.2
(59.4)		 17.3
(63.1)		 16.9
(62.4)		 12.0
(53.6)		 6.8
(44.2)		 1.6
(34.9)		 −2.8
(27)		 6.4
(43.5)
Record low °C (°F) −28.4
(−19.1)		 −28.9
(−20)		 −21.1
(−6)		 −6.6
(20.1)		 −1.1
(30)		 3.6
(38.5)		 7.8
(46)		 5.5
(41.9)		 −2.4
(27.7)		 −10.8
(12.6)		 −21.6
(−6.9)		 −22.4
(−8.3)		 −28.9
(−20)
Precipitation mm (inches) 36
(1.42)		 31
(1.22)		 34
(1.34)		 40
(1.57)		 48
(1.89)		 66
(2.6)		 64
(2.52)		 56
(2.2)		 51
(2.01)		 37
(1.46)		 38
(1.5)		 41
(1.61)		 542
(21.34)
Avg. rainy days 8 7 11 13 14 14 12 10 10 10 11 9 129
Avg. snowy days 13 13 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 11 51
% humidity 82 78 71 63 60 63 62 60 66 73 81 83 70
Mean monthly sunshine hours 74.4 81.9 124.0 186.0 254.2 282.0 297.6 294.5 225.0 170.5 75.0 58.9 2,124
Source #1: Pogoda.ru.net[15]
Source #2: HKO (sun only 1961–1990).[16]

Law and government

Chișinău City Hall

Municipality

Moldova is administratively subdivided into 3 municipalities, 32 districts, and 2 autonomous units. Chișinău is one of these municipalities.[17]

Besides the city itself, the municipality comprises 34 other suburban localities: 6 towns (containing further 2 villages within), and 12 communes (containing further 14 villages within). The population at the 2004 Moldovan Census is shown in brackets:

Cities/towns

Cities population (2013 est.)

  • Chișinău (671,800)
  • Codru (12,000)
  • Cricova (8,500)
  • Durlești (19,500)

Communes

Administration

Administrative sectors of Chișinău
Dorin Chirtoacă, the mayor of Chișinău

Chișinău is governed by the City Council and the City Mayor (Romanian: Primar), both elected once every four years. The current mayor is Dorin Chirtoacă. His predecessor was Serafim Urechean. Under the Moldovan constitution, Urechean — elected to parliament in 2005 — was unable to hold an additional post to that of an MP. The Democratic Moldova Bloc leader subsequently accepted his mandate and in April resigned from his former position. During his 11-year term, Urechean committed himself to the restoration of the church tower of the Catedrala Nașterea Domnului and improvements in public transport. From 1994, Chișinău saw the establishment of new trolleybus lines, as well as an increase in capacity of existing lines, to improve connections between the urban districts.

The latest elections took place on 10 July, 24 July, 27 November and 11 December 2005. On the first occasion only 26.93% of voters participated, below the one-third turnout necessary to validate the poll. Three subsequent attempts in July, November and December saw the election turnout fall further to 19.82%, 22.37% and 22.07% respectively. After several months in limbo it was announced that the interim office holder, Vasile Ursu, would continue to hold the position until the next scheduled elections in 2007.

The mayor, Dorin Chirtoacă from the Liberal party, took office after elections in June 2007. He was declared the victor in the second round of voting on 17 June 2007. 36,26% of the voters took part in the vote, just over the validation threshold. Chirtoacă won reelection in June 2011, narrowly defeating the candidate from the Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Dodon.[18][19] He received 50.6% of the vote to Dodon's 49.4%.

Local government

The municipality in its totality elects a mayor and a local council, which then name five pretors, one for each sector. They deal more locally with administrative matters. Each sector claims a part of the city and several suburbs:[20]

Botanica
Buiucani
Centru
Ciocana
Rîșcani

Economy

Historically, the city was home to fourteen factories in 1919.[11]

Air Moldova has its head office on the property of Chișinău International Airport.[21]

Notable sites around Chișinău include the cinema Patria, the new mall Malldova, and retailers N1 and Green Hills. While many locals continue to shop at the bazaars, many upper class residents and tourists shop at the retail stores and at Malldova. Elăt, an older mall in the Botanica district, and Sun City, in the center, are more popular with locals. Fast-food chain McDonald's has several locations around the city, with the largest being in a two-story building in the center. There is another McDonald's, a Sbarro, and a KFC in Malldova. Many Western companies, such as Levi's and Adidas, have stores in the mall.

Several amusement parks exist around the city. A Soviet era one is in the Botanica district, along the three lakes of a major park, which reaches the outskirts of the city center. Another, the modern Aventura Park, is located farther from the center. A circus, which used to be in a grand building in the Rîşcani sector, has been inactive for several years due to a poorly funded renovation project.

Demographics

Historical population
Year Pop.  ±%  
1812[22] 7,000—    
1818[22] 10,966+56.7%
1835[22] 34,079+210.8%
1847[22] 43,965+29.0%
1851 58,849+33.9%
1865 94,047+59.8%
1897(c)[23] 108,483+15.3%
1912 121,000+11.5%
1930(c)[23] 114,896−5.0%
1950 134,000+16.6%
1963 253,500+89.2%
1980 519,200+104.8%
1991 676,700+30.3%
2004(c)[24] 589,446−12.9%
2013(e)[3] 671,800+14.0%
c-census; e-estimate

According to the last census, from 2004, there were 712,218 people living in the municipality of Chișinău.

As of 1 January 2013 estimates, 671,800 inhabitants live within the Chișinău city limits, and 800,600 within the municipality limits, an increase from the figure recorded at the 2004 census.[3] However the real population increases to over 1 million people, due to new comers from the rest of country, many foreigners, especially from Arabian countries, Turkey, China which permanently residing here, many tourists from all over Europe and USA.[citation needed]

Population by sector

Sector Population (2004 cen.)[25] Population (2012 est.)
Botanica 156,633 171,900
Buiucani 107,744 111,500
Centru 90,494 94,200
Ciocana 101,834 118,200
Rîșcani 132,740 138,400

Vital statistics (2012)

  • Births: 8900 (11.1 per 1000)
  • Deaths: 6201 (7.7 per 1000)
  • Growth rate: 2699 (3.4 per 1000)

Ethnic composition

Ethnic group1 Population % of total*
Moldovans2 481,626 67.62%
Romanians2 48,456 4.49%
Russians 99,149 13.92%
Ukrainians 58,945 8.28%
Bulgarians 8,866 1.24%
Gagauz 6,448 0.91%
Jews 2,649 0.37%
Poles 834 0.12%
Others 21,717 3.05%
Footnotes:

1Source: 2004 census results
2Since the independence of Moldova, there is an ongoing controversy
over whether Romanians and Moldovans are the same ethnic group.

Religion

Chișinău is the seat of the Moldovan Orthodox Church, as well as of the Metropolis of Bessarabia. The city has multiple churches and synagogues.[11]

  • Christians – 90.0%
    • Orthodox Christians – 88.4%
    • Protestant – 1.2%
      • Baptists – 0.6%
      • Evangelicals – 0.4%
      • Pentecostals – 0.2%
      • Seventh-day Adventists 0.1%
    • Catholics – 0.4%
  • Other – 1.0%
  • No religion – 1.4%
  • Atheists – 1.5%
  • Undeclared – 6.1%

Cityscape

Panorama of Chișinău

Architecture

National Archeology and History Museum of Moldova

Chișinău's growth plan was developed in the 19th century. In 1836 the construction of the cathedral and its belfry was finished. The belfry was demolished in Soviet times and was rebuilt in 1997.

Modern architecture

Many modern-style buildings were built in the city since 1991. There are many office and shopping complexes that are modern, renovated or newly built, including Kentford, SkyTower, and Union Fenosa headquarters. However, the old Soviet-style clusters of living blocks are still an extensive feature of the cityscape.

Culture and education

See also: List of public schools in Chișinău and List of universities in Moldova
National Opera and Ballet Theatre

The city is home to 12 public and 11 private universities, the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, a number of institutions offering high school and 1–2 years of college education.

Chişinău, as well as Moldova as a whole, still show signs of ethnic culture. Signs that say "Patria Mea" (English: My homeland) can be found all over the capital. While few people still wear traditional Moldavian attire, large public events often draw in such original costumes.

American sculptor Moissaye Marans was born in Chișinău in 1902.

In Chişinău there are several museums. The three national museums are The National Museum of Ethnography & Natural History, the National Museum of Arts and the National Museum of Archaeology & History.

Media

The first radio station in Chişinău, Radio Basarabia, was launched by the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company on 8 October 1939, when the religious service was broadcast on air from the Nativity Cathedral. The first TV station in the city, Moldova 1, was launched on 30 April 1958, while Nicolae Lupan was serving as the redactor-in-chief of TeleRadio-Moldova.[26]

The majority of Moldova's media industry is based in Chișinău. The state national broadcaster in the country is the state-owned Moldova 1, which has its head office in the city. The broadcasts of TeleradioMoldova have been criticized by the Independent Journalism Center as showing 'bias' towards the authorities.[27] There are some hopes that a new broadcasting code will resolve some of these issues.

The Romanian Pro TV Chișinău broadcasts locally. It was repeatedly denied national license by the government and threatened to be closed down. The station broadcasts a mixture of independent local news, in addition to entertainment and documentary programs from Romania.[28]

Other TV channels are PRIME, Jurnal TV, Publika TV, CTC, DTV, Euro TV, MTV, MuzTV, NIT and TV 7. In addition to television, most Moldovan radio and newspaper companies have their headquarters in the city. Broadcasters include the national radio Vocea Basarabiei, Prime FM, BBC Moldova, Europa Libera, Kiss FM, Pro FM, Radio 21, Fresh FM (Romanian radio station Național FM), Radio Nova, Russkoe radio, Hit FM, and many others.

Unimedia.md is the most visited portal.[29] Others portals are Jurnal.md, News.yam.md, and Union.md.

The biggest broadcasters are SunTV, Satellit and Zebra TV. In 2007 SunTV and Zebra launched digital TV cable networks.

Politics

Parliament elections results
Year AEI PCRM
2010 54.22% 234,156 40.19% 173,570
July 2009 56.20% 215,443 41.23% 158,034
April 2009 47.99% 176,742 42.43% 153,227

Electoral and political Chişinău given a higher priority for the center-right parties, in principle AEI. PCRM the main opposition party, has a large percentage in the city, but its support base in the city is dwindling.

Elections

Summary of 28 November 2010 Parliament of Moldova election results in Chişinău Municipality
 
Parties and coalitions Votes % +/−
Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova 173,570 40.19 −1.04
Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova 122,845 28.44 +11.55
Liberal Party 69,266 16.04 −7.10
Democratic Party of Moldova 35,369 8,19 -2.36
Party Alliance Our Moldova 6,676 1.15 −4.47
Other Party (<1.0%) 24,259 5.59 +3.02
Total (turnout 67.59%) 433,974 100.00

Transport

Chișinău International Airport
Chișinău Railway Station exterior
Chişinău daily congestion on the streets
Trolleybus on the street

Traffic

The city traffic becomes more and more congested each year pass. Nowadays there are at about 300,000 cars in the city plus 100,000 transit transport coming everyday to the city carring people for work, study, entertainment and business. Prospective number of personal transport will reach the 550,000 (without transit) in 2025. Douzens of street during daily time are congested, being full of transport.

Trolleybuses

See also: Trolleybuses in Chișinău

There is wide trolleybus network operating as common public transportation within city. The network comprises 22 trolleybus lines being 246 km (153 mi) in length. Trolleybuses run between 06.00 AM and 11.00 PM. There are 270 units daily operating in Chişinău. However the requirements are as minimum as 340 units. Trolleybus ticket costs at about 2 lei (ca. $0.18). It is the cheapest method of transport within Chişinău municipality.

Buses

Chişinău buses begin at 6.00 AM and end at 00.00. There are 29 lines of buses within Chişinău municipality. At each public transportation stops there is attached a schedule for bus\ trolleybus. There are approximately 330 public transportation stops within Chişinău municipality. There is a big lack of buses in in municipality, only 105 buses operating within Chişinău. The minimum requirement for Chişinău being of 225 buses. Bus services in Chișinău are inexpensive, priced at 3 lei for a ticket (ca. $0.25).

Minibuses

In Chișinău and its suburbs, privately operated minibuses, known as "rutieras" generally follow the major bus and trolleybus routes and appear more frequently.[citation needed] There are approx. 1800 units of minibuses operating within Chişinău. Minibuses services are priced the same as buses - 3 lei for a ticket (ca. $0.25).

Road

The most popular form of internal transport in Moldova is generally the bus. [citation needed] Although the city has just three main terminals, buses generally serve as the means of transport between cities in and outside of Moldova. Popular destinations include Tiraspol, Odessa (Ukraine), Iași and Bucharest (Romania).

Airport

Chișinău International Airport offers connections to major destinations, within Europe and Asia including Athens, Bucharest, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Kiev, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Rome, Vienna and others. The airport handled 1,220,496 passengers in 2012.

The Air Moldova flight operator has its head office on the grounds of Chișinău International Airport.[30]

Rail

The second most popular form of domestic transportation within Moldova is via railways. The total length of the network managed by CFM (as of 2009) is 1,232 kilometres (766 miles). The entire network is single track and is not electrified. The central hub of all railways is Chişinău Central Railways Station. There is another smaller railway station - Revaca located on the city's ends.

Chişinău Railway Station has an international railway terminal with connections to Bucharest, Kiev, Minsk, Odessa, Moscow, Samara, Varna and St. Petersburg. Due to the simmering conflict between Moldova and the unrecognised Transnistria republic the rail traffic towards Ukraine is occasionally stopped.[citation needed]

Sport

FC Zimbru Stadium

There are four professional football clubs in Chișinău, all playing in the Divizia Națională (national league): FC Zimbru Chișinău, FC Dacia Chișinău, FC Academia Chișinău, and CSCA-Rapid Ghidighici. Of the larger public multiuse stadiums in the city is the Stadionul Dinamo (Dinamo Stadium), which has a capacity of 2,692. The Zimbru Stadium, opened in May 2006 with a capacity of 10,500 sitting places, meets all the requirements for holding official international matches, and was the venue for all Moldova's Euro 2008 qualifying games.

Actually there are discussions to build a new modern olympic stadium with capacity of circa 25,000 seats, that would meet all international requirements.

Personalities

Natives

Residents

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Moldova

Twin Towns – Sister Cities

Chișinău is twinned with:[31]

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Brezianu, Andrei; Spânu, Vlad (2010). The A to Z of Moldova. Scarecrow Press. p. 81. ISBN 9781461672036. Retrieved 26 December 2013. 
  2. ↑ "Planul Urbanistic General al Municipiului Chişinău" (Press release). Chișinău City Hall. Retrieved 20 January 2013. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Number of resident population in the Republic of Moldova as of 1st January 2013, in territorial aspect" (Press release). National Bureau of Statistics of Moldova. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013. 
  4. ↑ "Chisinau". Random House Unabridged Dictionary. 1997. 
  5. ↑ (Romanian) History of Chișinău on Kishinev.info, Retrieved on 12 October 2008
  6. ↑ (Romanian) Istoria Orasului
  7. ↑ (Hungarian)
  8. ↑ Zamfir C. Arbure: Basarabia în secolul XIX, 1898
  9. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Virtual Kishinev. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Kaba, John (1919). Politico-economic Review of Basarabia. United States: American Relief Administration. p. 12. 
  12. ↑ Virgil Pâslariuc. "Cine a devastat Chişinăul în iulie 1941?" Historia.ro (Romanian)
  13. ↑ "Memories of the Holocaust: Kishinev (Chişinău) (1941–1944)", jewishvirtuallibrary.org
  14. ↑ Architecture of Chișinău on Kishinev.info, Retrieved on 12 October 2008
  15. ↑ "Pogoda.ru.net" (in Russian). May 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2014. 
  16. ↑ Sunshine hours for Kisinev, Moldova, accessed 9 January 2014.
  17. ↑ Moldovan Law 764-XV from 27 December 2001, Monitorul Oficial al Republicii Moldova, no. 16/53, 29 December 2001
  18. ↑ CEC a anunţat rezultatele finala la Chişinău, "Moldova Azi", http://www.azi.md/ro/story/19193 (accessed 21 June 2011).
  19. ↑ EXIT-POLL: Dorin Chirtoacă: 53%; Igor Dodon: 41%, "UNIMEDIA", http://unimedia.info/stiri/exit-poll-dorin-chirtoaca-53-igor-dodon-41-34785.html (accessed 10 March 2013).
  20. ↑ Moldovan Law 431-XIII from 19 April 1995, Monitorul Oficial al Republicii Moldova, no. 31-32/340, 9 June 1995 (Romanian)
  21. ↑ "Contact us." (Direct map link) Air Moldova. Retrieved on 31 December 2010. " Legal Address: Dacia bd. 80 ⁄ 2, Airport, MD 2026, Chişinău, Moldova." Address in Romanian: "bd. Dacia 80/2, Aeroport, MD 2026, Chișinău, Moldova." Map in Romanian. Address in Russian: "ул. Дачия 80/2, MD-2026, Кишинев, Молдова." Map in Russian.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Demography in Bessarabia
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Jewish Population in Bessarabia and Transnistria
  24. ↑ 2004 census results in Moldova
  25. ↑ Populația pe medii, localități și sexe, în profil teritorial; Biroul National de Statistica
  26. ↑ IPNA Compania Teleradio Moldova
  27. ↑ Monitoring of programs on Radio Moldova and TV Moldova 1 at the Wayback Machine (archived February 24, 2007)
  28. ↑ 2003 World Press Freedom Review at the Wayback Machine (archived September 29, 2007)
  29. ↑ "UNIMEDIA este cel mai vizitat site de știri din R. Moldova, potrivit metrica.md". Unimedia.info. Retrieved 2013-03-26. 
  30. ↑ "Head Office." Air Moldova. Retrieved on 15 May 2010.
  31. ↑ "Oraşe înfrăţite (Twin cities of Minsk) [via WaybackMachine.com]" (in Romanian). Primăria Municipiului Chişinău. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 2013-07-21. 
  32. ↑ Jérôme Steffenino, Marguerite Masson. "Ville de Grenoble –Coopérations et villes jumelles". Grenoble.fr. Retrieved 16 May 2013. 
  33. ↑ "Partner und Freundesstädte". Stadt Mannheim (in German). Retrieved 2013-07-26. 
  34. ↑ listed on Yerevan Municipality Official Website as Kishinev.
  35. ↑ "Yerevan - Twin Towns & Sister Cities". Yerevan Municipality Official Website. © 2005—2013 www.yerevan.am. Retrieved 2013-11-04. 
  36. ↑ "Twin towns and Sister cities of Minsk [via WaybackMachine.com]" (in Russian). The department of protocol and international relations of Minsk City Executive Committee. Archived from the original on 2 May 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-21. 
  37. ↑ "Kardeş Kentleri Listesi ve 5 Mayıs Avrupa Günü Kutlaması [via WaybackMachine.com]" (in Turkish). Ankara Büyükşehir Belediyesi - Tüm Hakları Saklıdır. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 2013-07-21. 

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