Chisinau

Chisináu(in Romanian, Chișinău, pronounced[kipitiınambiu]]( listen)in Russian, Кишинёв, Kishiniov pronounced/kjj ɪj/f/) is the capital and the largest municipality of Moldavia. It has an estimated population of 779 400 inhabitants (2008), it is the main commercial and industrial centre. It is also the most populous city in the country, the most economically developed city of Moldova and one of its main industrial centres and communication centres in the region. The main educational institutions in the country are located.

Toponymy

According to some historians, the name comes from the old Romanian word chișla ('source, spring'), a word that is no longer used and has been replaced by cișmea, with the same meaning and nouă ('new'), since it was built next to a small spring. Today this fountain is located at the corner of Pushkin and Albișoara streets. A possible etymology is also kesene, a Cuman word meaning 'crypt'.

There is another city with a similar name: Chișineu-Criș (with an alternative spelling: Chișinău) in western Romania, near the border with Hungary. Its relation to the name of the Moldovan capital is unclear, as its Hungarian name is "Kisjenő" (kis 'little' plus the ethonymous Jenő), from which the Romanian name seems to derive.

History

It was founded at the beginning of the XV century, in 1436, as a monastery town, forming part of the Principality of Moldavia, which in the early 16th century fell under the Ottoman Empire. At the beginning of the XIX century it was a small village of 7000 inhabitants. In 1812 it was conquered and occupied by Russia, which then made it the administrative center of Bessarabia, its population grew to 92,000 in 1862 and 125,787 in 1900.

Metropolitan Cathedral and triumphal arch.

Monument to Esteban III de Moldavia.

Industrial Age

Starting in 1834, the city underwent a radical change in its structure, thanks to an urban regeneration plan, which divided the city into two areas. The old part of the city, with its irregular constructions and a new center and communications station. Between May 23, 1830 and October 13, 1836, the architect Avraam Melnikov built the Catedrala Nașterea Domnului, the city's Romanian Orthodox cathedral, and in 1840 the triumphal arch designed by the architect Luca Zaușkevici. These constructions were followed by many other distinctive buildings and constructions that changed the face of the city. Similarly, Chisinau was a Russian headquarters during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878.

Pogrom and pre-revolution

Towards the end of the 19th century, anti-Jewish sentiment was growing in Russia and Poland, leading to a great number of Jews to settle in Chisinau. By 1900, 43% of the city's population was Jewish, one of the highest percentages in Europe at the time.

In April 1903, an outbreak of anti-Semitism took place in the city that would go down in history as the Kishinev pogrom. The events lasted for three days, during which between 47 and 49 Jews were killed, 92 were severely injured, and 500 received minor injuries. In addition, hundreds of Jewish-owned homes and businesses were destroyed by angry residents. All these excesses have been attributed to the anti-Semitic propaganda propagated by the only official newspaper of the time, the Bessarabets (Бессарабецъ), which incited these acts. The reactions to these events were many, and among them was a petition directed by the president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, to Czar Nicholas II of Russia.

Another bloody event took place on August 22, 1905, when police forces opened fire on a demonstration of some 3,000 farm workers. A few months later Tsar Nicholas II was forced to issue the October Manifesto, which transformed the Russian autocracy into a semi-constitutional monarchy. However, these protests led to a new outbreak of anti-Semitic violence, which left 19 deaths.

World War I

After the First World War and the Russian Revolution, Bessarabia declared its independence from the Russian Empire and joined the Kingdom of Romania, which as a result of the victory of the allies in the war had doubled its territory, however this meant the loss of capital status for Chisinau.

Between 1918 and 1940, a new redevelopment of the city center was carried out and in 1927 a monument to Prince Stephen III of Moldova was built, made by the artist Alexandru Plămădeală.

World War II

Chisinau was almost completely destroyed during World War II.

According to the secret protocol of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, signed by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, Germany allowed the city to be occupied by the Red Army on June 28, 1940, after the Soviet Union had forced the Romanian government to cede Bessarabia and Bucovina to him again. Hardly had the occupation been carried out, the city was devastated by an earthquake that occurred on November 10, 1940 with an intensity of 7.3° on the Richter Scale and whose epicenter was located in western Romania.

About a year later, on June 22, 1941, the German invasion of the Soviet Union began, during this campaign Chisinau was attacked by gunboats and large-scale aerial bombardments by German forces, until the resistance of the Red Army ceased and the city finally fell to the German army on July 17, 1941.

Under German occupation, the Jewish population of Chisinau suffered from the mass murders that took place in every city in the region, many of the city's Jews being trucked to the outskirts, shot, and then partially buried. in common graves. The number of Jews murdered in the city is estimated at 10,000.

Towards the end of the war, the front once reached the city, this time before the advancing Red Army faced the retreating German forces, and after six months of bloody fighting, Chisinau was taken by the Army. Rojo on August 24, 1944. By then, it had lost 70% of its buildings, due to attacks, bombings and the 1940 earthquake.

With the end of the war, Bessarabia was once again annexed by the Soviet Union, and its major part constituted the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, whose capital was established at Chisinau, known ever since as Kishiniov.

Soviet times

Between 1947 and 1949, the Soviet architect Alekséi Shchúsev, together with a team of collaborators, developed a plan for the gradual reconstruction of the city.

At the beginning of the 1950s there was a rapid increase in the population, to which the Soviet authorities responded with the construction of large housing complexes of Stalinist architecture. This process continued under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev, whose construction projects were carried out under the motto "good, cheap and quick to build". The new architectural style brought about a drastic change in the appearance of the city and it remains to this day, dominated by huge blocks of concrete buildings with a unique appearance, and which were characteristic of all large Soviet cities.

The period of greatest development for the city began in 1971, following the decision of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union, to take measures for the development of Kishiniov, which resulted in the investment of about one billion rubles from the national budget in the city, until 1991, when Moldova declared itself independent.

Geography

Chisinau is located on the banks of the Bîc River, a tributary of the Dniester River (in Romanian Nistru). It has a total area of 120 km², and the total area of the municipality is 625 km².

The city is located in the center of the territory of Moldova, the territory that surrounds it is mostly flat and with many facilities for agriculture, mainly vines and fruit trees are cultivated, as it has been done since medieval times.

It is the city with the highest proportion of green spaces among the largest cities in Europe.^{[citation required ]}

Climate

Chisinau has a continental climate, characterized by hot, dry summers and cold, windy winters. Winter temperatures are frequently around 0 °C and drop to -10 °C. In summer the average temperature is 21 °C, however in the middle of summer the city reaches temperatures of 35 °C. During the summer months, rainfall and humidity is very low, and storms are frequent. During spring and autumn, with temperatures between 15 and 20 °C, rainfall is higher. The hours of sunshine are around 2200 hours per year.

Average climatic parameters of Chisináu (1991-2020)
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	15.5	20.7	25.7	31.6	35.9	37.5	39.4	39.2	37.3	32.6	23.8	18.3	39.4
Average temperature (°C)	1.1	3.4	9.2	16.4	22.3	26.1	28.4	28.3	22.3	15.5	8.1	2.7	15.3
Average temperature (°C)	-1.8	-0.2	4.5	11.0	16.8	20.7	22.9	22.6	17.0	10.8	4.8	-0.2	10.7
Temp. medium (°C)	-4.2	-3.0	0.7	6.3	11.8	15.9	17.9	17.5	12.5	7.1	2.1	-2.5	6.8
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	-28.4	-28.9	-21.1	-6.6	-1.1	3.6	7.8	5.5	-2.4	-10.8	-21.6	-22.4	-28.9
Total precipitation (mm)	36	31	35	39	54	65	67	49	48	47	43	41	555
Nevadas (cm)	7	6	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	20
Days of rain (≥ 1 mm)	8	7	11	13	14	14	12	10	10	11	12	10	132
Days of snowfall (≥ 1 mm)	13	13	8	1	0.03	0	0	0	0	0.4	5	11	51.4
Hours of sun	75	80	125	187	254	283	299	295	226	169	75	58	2126
Relative humidity (%)	82	78	71	63	60	63	62	60	66	73	81	83	70.2
Source #1: Погода и климат
Source No. 2: NOAA (Horas de sol, 1961-1990)

Administration

Territorial organization

The five sectors of Chisináu.

Moldova is administratively subdivided into 32 districts, 2 regions and 3 municipalities, Chisinau being one of them. In addition to the city itself, the municipality consists of 34 other suburban localities, and is subdivided into 5 sectors, each consisting of for a part of the city and several suburbs. The municipality as a whole elects a mayor and a local council, who appoint five praetors (magistrates), one for each sector. The five sectors of Chisinau, and the suburbs they comprise are:

Nr.	Sector	Surface (km2)	Population (approx.)
1	Centru	76 km2	110 300
2	Buiucani	134 km2	160 000
3	Rîșcani	55.13 km2	162 500
4	Ciocana	158.7 km2	152 000
5	Botanica	148 km2	210 000

• Botanica: formed by Sîngera (Dobrogea and Hangover) and Băcioi (Brăila, Frumușica and Străisteni).
• Buiucani: formed by Durlești, Vatra, Condrița, Ghidighici and Trușeni (Dumbrava).
• Centru: formed by Codru.
• Ciocana: formed by Vadul lui Vodă, Bubuieci (Bîc and Humulești), Budești (Văduleni), Colonița, Cruzești (Abortion), Tohatin (Buneți and Cheltuitori)
• Rîșcani: formed by Cricova, Ciorescu (Făurești and Goian), Grătiești (Hulboaca) and Stăuceni (Goianul Nou).

As can be seen, only 18 of the 34 localities are incorporated (6 as cities and 12 as communes), electing a mayor and a local council, and they contain within them the rest of the 16 localities.

Politics and government

Chisináu Town Hall.

Government buildings of the city.

Chisinau is administered by a Municipal Council and a mayor, both elected for four-year terms. The first mayor to perform such functions was Angel Nour in 1817, and the municipality continued in office until 1941. At the end of the Soviet era, institutionality was restored in 1990, when Nicolae Costin was democratically elected.

The current mayor is Vasili Ursu, who served as substitute mayor and continues as such, since the quorum required for his final appointment has not been reached in the elections held. His predecessor in office is Serafim Urechean, who was elected to the position of deputy in the April 2005 elections. Under the Moldovan constitution the positions of mayor and congressman cannot be held simultaneously, and given his role as leader of the political alliance Moldovan Democratic Bloc resigned to be able to assume his seat in parliament. During his 11-year term, the ousted mayor sponsored the reconstruction of the Nașterea Domnului cathedral church, as well as promoting the installation of trolleybus lines, in order to interconnect the different districts of the city.

Between May 23 and June 10, 2005, the Central Electoral Commission received different candidacies for the post of mayor, but in the elections held on July 10, July 24, November 27, and December 11 of that year, the quorum of a third of the voters necessary to validate the election was not reached, with participations of 26.93%, 19.82%, 22.37% and 22.07% respectively. Bearing these results in mind and in view of the electoral limbo, the Commission determined that the alternate mayor should exercise his position as property, probably until the elections scheduled for 2007.

Transportation

Trolebus in Chisináu.

Alecu Russo Street in the district of Rîșcani de Chisináu.

Airport

The city has an international airport (Chisinau International Airport), with direct flights to cities such as Athens, Barcelona, Bucharest, Budapest, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Kiev, Lisbon, Larnaca, London-Stansted Airport, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, Prague, Rome, Tel Aviv, Verona and Vienna. The total capacity of the aerodrome is 1,200,000 passengers per year.

Bus and minibus

The most popular mode of transportation in Moldova is the bus. The Chisinau service can be quite expensive at certain times of the day. In the city there are three main stations, from where buses leave for other parts of the country. In addition, some companies carry out international services, among which are Odessa (Ukraine) and Bucharest (Romania).

Within the city, there are several minibus lines that connect the center with the suburbs. They pass in an average of ten minutes and the ride costs about three lei.

Train

There is an international railway terminal, with connections to Bucharest, kyiv, Minsk, Odesa and Moscow. Due to the conflict between Moldova and the Republic of Transnistria (not internationally recognized), rail traffic with Ukraine may be cut off at times.

Urban transportation

Within the city it is possible to get around by taxi, trolleybus and minibus. Currently, the price of a trolleybus ticket is 2 lei while that of a minibus is 3 lei. The two transports follow a fixed route, the difference lies in the fact that the trolleybus has fixed stops while the minibus stops where the passenger indicates.

Demographics

The population of Chisináu is composed of various ethnic groups.

According to the 2004 census, the municipality of Chisinau had 712,218 inhabitants, of whom 589,446 lived in the city itself. The estimated results as of January 1, 2011 indicated that the population of the municipality was 664,700 inhabitants, while in the limits of the city of Chisinau there were 789,500 inhabitants, which represents an increase with respect to the 2004 census.

According to the same census, the population of Chisinau is divided into several ethnic groups.

• 67.6 % Moldovan
• 13.9 % Russian
• 8.3 % Ukrainian
• 4.5 % Romanian
• 1.2 % Bulgarian
• 0.9% gagauzos
• 1.6 % other
• 1.9% without declaring

The official census data reflected 67.6% Moldovans and 4.5% Romanians. However, because Moldovan ethnic status is still disputed within organizations such as the OSCE, some publications such as The World Factbook present the data together. According to the "Moldova Azi" news agency, an international group of census experts described the 2004 Moldovan census as "generally carried out professionally", although they noted that & #34;certain aspects […] were potentially problematic," particularly:

1. The census includes at least some Moldovans living abroad more than a year before the census.
2. The accuracy of the figures on nationality/ethnicity and language are debatable. Some censors apparently recommended to the censuses to declare themselves "moldavos" instead of "rumanos", and even within the same family there are contradictory data on it. Nor is it clear how many of the censuses consider that the term "moledavo" means something different from the "rumana" ethnic identity.

Education

State University of Moldova in Chisináu.

There are thirty-six universities and five public institutes in the city, in addition to the Moldovan Academy of Sciences and the Moldovan State University.

At the end of 2005, Chisinau had 146 pre-school educational institutions, serving more than 25,000 children. In addition, there are 158 pre-university or secondary education institutions, where more than 96,000 young people studied, divided into 60 high schools, 40 middle schools, 19 gymnasiums, 15 schools, 14 kindergartens, seven primary schools, and three special night schools., as well as 27 non-school centers (including sports and creative schools). The annual consumption per student in 2005 was 1,256 lei (in 2006 this figure had increased by 300 lei).

Twinned cities

Chișinău is twinned with the following towns:

Notable people