Introduction
A country tucked between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova is an agriculture based nation with strong traditions in dance, music, and food. With over 2,000 hot springs and a variety of rivers running through its landscape, it's no wonder that Moldovan territory has been disputed for ownership for centuries. Despite the tumultuous political history, Moldova's declaration of independence in 1992 has opened up major industries to thrive, such as wine, sunflower seeds, and, oddly enough, insulated wire. Chișinău, the captial of Moldova, is the center for education and economy, and is home to many UN embassies. Moldova has a total population of 3,538,288 and the size of the entire country is about the same size as Maine, USA.
While the Soviet Union introduced universal education, which was previous inaccessible to much of the Moldovan population, the suppression of local languages encouraged intense language competition between speakers of Romanian, Russian, and Moldovan. This competition can be seen today with a new prestige language, English, and a lingua franca used primarily for inter-ethnic communication, Russian.
This agriculturally based nation celebrates Orthodox holidays with traditions that share Romanian roots, such as with instruments like the cobza, a lute-like wooden stringed instrument and dances like the Hora, a group performance with men and women. Food, likewise, resembles that of its neighboring nations, such as stuffed cabbage rolls and varieties of cheeses, potato dishes, and cabbage meals.
Greenwich, Winter 2016