Climate and soils
Climate in Moldova is temperate. The average annual temperature is +8,+10� C (in January -3, -5, in July +20, +25). Summers are long, warm and relatively dry and winters are short and mild. Average annual rainfall is of about 380 mm in the south, and 560 mm in the central and northern parts.
The soil is black soil rich in humus. Flora is plentiful. Extremely favourable combination of climate and soil conditions create high yields of cereals, grapes, tobacco, fruit and vegetables.
Nationality composition and language fluency According to the 1991 census, Moldova?s population consisted of 4.4 million inhabitants. the majority are Moldovans with a 64 percent out of the total, Ukrainians, 14 percent, Russians, 13 percent, and others, including Jewish, Bulgarians, Gagauzi- 9 percent. The largest city is Chisinau with over 850,000 inhabitants; followed by Tiraspol with 184,000 inhabitants, Baltsi, 162,000 inhabitants and Bender, 132,000. The State Language is Moldovan (equivalent to Romanian) using the Latin method of writing. Other spoken languages are Russian, French, English, Spanish, Italian, German.
Political System
The Republic of Moldova proclaimed independence on the 27th of August, 1991. After five years of independence, the political situation has remained stable. Internationally, Moldova is well recognised. It is noteworthy Moldova?s access to the European Council with Moldova being the first CIS country to which admission was offered. The flag of the Republic of Moldova is the "Tricolor" with one blue, one yellow and one red vertical strip. In the centre of the banner is the escutcheon of Moldova.
On July, 29th, 1994 the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova was adopted. This was a major historic step for the Republic which placed the country on the road to democracy and a free market orientation.
According to the Constitution: The Republic of Moldova is a state of law and democracy, where the supreme guaranteed values are: human honour, rights and freedoms; and free development of human personality, justice and political pluralism. Legal, executive and judicial powers are separated. The President is the head of the state; he represents the state and is the guarantor of sovereignty, national independence, and territorial unity and integrity of the country. The Parliament consists of 101 deputies and is the representative and legislative body responsible to the electorate. Both the President and the Parliament are elected for a 4 year term by a universal, direct and freely expressed voting system. The Government insures internal and external policy implementation and manages the public administration. Basic economic principles are: free market operations with the freedom of individual initiative and open competition.
The Program of President Petru Lucinschi, who was elected on December 1, 1996, has as its base a "national policy focused on maintaining the national identity as well as the independent viability of the state". In the medium-term, the key priorities of the economy are major reforms including: restructuring enterprises, increasing domestic and foreign private investment, and strengthening of the commercial and industrial legal framework
