The Republic of Moldova. Geographical aspects

Geography. The Republic ofMoldovais a small country situatedin the South-East ofEurope. The meridian of 28˚50' eastern longitude andthe parallel of 47˚ northern latitude cross just in the middle part of the country. The geographical limits of the Republic of Moldova are the following: atnorth,village Naslavcea, 48˚ 21' northern latitude; at south,village Giurgiulesti, 45˚ 28' northern latitude; atwest,village Criva, 26˚ 30' eastern longitude; and at east,village Palanca, 30˚ 05' eastern longitude. The country lasts on 350 km between Naslavcea and Giurgiulesti and on 120 km from west to east, in its central part. The Republic ofMoldovais located in the Black Sea and the Danube basin.The Danube,the second largest river inEurope, plays an important role in the trade exchanges between European countries. Unfortunately, the Republic ofMoldovadid not use, so far, this economic potential of theDanube.

Borders and area. The Republic ofMoldovaborders with UkraineandRomania. The frontier withRomaniabasically follows the riverPrutand on a short stretch, of about 900 m, the Danube. The border withUkraineconsists of three sectors. The northern sector lasts between the villages Criva and Naslavcea, following the divide between the Dniesterand Prut river basins. The eastern sector partly follows the Dniester river courseand partly cross the Podolian Plateau. The southern sector of the Moldavian-Ukrainianborder starts at the village Giurgiulesti and lasts in the vicinity of Cismichioi, Basarabeasca, and Palanca.

As a result of the political agreement between Moldova and Ukraine, a new delimitation of the territories of the two countries was undertaken in 2001 in the vicinity of the town Basarabeasca. Consequently, the area of theRepublicof Moldovaas of 01.01.2002 increased by 0.144 km totaling 33483.5 km2 (Statistical yearbook, 2002).

Population. Administrative division. In 2000,theRepublic ofMoldovahad a population of 4,300,000 inhabitants.The population density is 128 persons/km2.

Administratively, the country is organized in two levels, according to alaw adoptedby the Parliament in 1998:

-communes (villages) and towns (cities) and

-counties (judete), the Autonomous Territorial Unit Gagauzia and the city ofChisinau.

Landscape. Most part of the country’sterritory is situated on MoldavianPlateau, lasting from the Bucovina piedmont and Sub-Carpathiansatwest to the riverDniesterat east. The branches of the Podolian Plateau intercalate into the left side of the Dniester river basin. Within these major landscape units, the highlands alternate with hills and plains.

The maximum altitude reaches 429 m (the Balanesti hill). The dominant altitudesvary between 20-60 m in the LowerDniesterPlain, 120-150 m in the Ialpug Depression, 200-250 m in the Middle Prut Plain and the Cubolta Plain. They reach 280-300 m on the Tigheci Hillocksand NorthernMoldavian Plateau, 320-350 m on the Dniester Plateau. In the central part of the country (CodriiPlateau)the altitudes may reach400-420 m.

The geology, together with biologic and anthropic elements,has contributedto thecreation of specific landscape and ecosystems. The specific geo-ecologic systems on this territory appeared at theend ofthe superior pleistoceneandin the first half ofthe holocene. Most geomorphologic and geologic elements, including the river valleys, appeared at that time. The biotic elements (plants, animals, soils) developed in the secondhalf of the holocene.

The formation of geo-ecologic components was the first phase of the creation of the present Moldavian landscape, followed byitsfurther differentiation, in contact withclimate and hydrologic elements. The inter-action between the relatively stable geomorphologic subsystem and the changeable environmental elements, leadedto different morpholitogenic formations:

  1. Fragmented plateaus appearedas a result of intense tectonic activityand climatic fluctuations during the pleistocene. These comprise the CodriiHights, the North Moldavian Plateau, the Tigheci Hillocks. A number of quaternary sediments were formed (loess, clays, sands,gravels);
  2. Hills separated by old valleys, modifiedduringthe Pleistocene,with large delluvial and proluvialdeposits, representedbyclays and sands. The Ciuluc Hills belong to this category;
  3. Hilly valleys, with thick (30-35 m) loess sediments intercalatedwith fossil soil layers.These are: the CuboltaValley, theMiddlePrutValley and the IalpugValley;
  4. Fragmented river valleys, on alluvial Pliocene deposits,and alluvial quaternaryvalleys. They are formed of sands and gravels, coveredwith loess deposits, also includingfossil soil layers.

Climate.The Republic ofMoldovahasa temperate-continental climate. The country is located at the interferenceof Atlantic,continental East-Europeanand tropical air masses. The solar radiation, air masses dynamics and the landscapecreatea climatewith a relatively mild winter, little snow, and a long, hot and dry summer(table 1). The average annual temperatureis 9.3˚C in the North (Briceni), 9.5˚C in the Centre (Chisinau) and 10.1˚C in the South (Cahul). The average multi-annual precipitation rate variesbetween 617 mm in the North (Briceni) and 546 mm in the South (Cahul).

Table 1

Average multi-annual temperatureand precipitationand valuesrecordedin 2002 at Briceni, Chisinau, and Cahul meteorological stations

Station

/

Temperature, ˚C

/

Precipitation, mm/year

Multi-annual / year 2002 / Multi-annual / year 2002
Briceni / 9.3 / 9.5 / 617 / 578
Chisinau / 9.5 / 10.8 / 556 / 605
Cahul / 10.1 / 11.0 / 546 / 570

The spatial distribution of precipitation on the territory of the country shows a gradual increaseof rainfallfrom south to north andin highland areas as compared to the adjacent valleys.

Water resources. The insufficient humidity, the landscape features as well as other physical and geographical factors result in modest water resources available in Moldova.

Rivers. The territory of the Republic of Moldova belongs to the Black Sea basin. Its river network can be divided into four sub-catchments: the Dniester river basin, the Prut river basin, the rivers discharging to the Danube and those flowing directly into the Black Sea. Most Moldavian rivers are small. The largest are: the Dniester, Prut, Raut, Bac, Botna, and Yalpug rivers. The rivers are mainly fed from atmospheric precipitation, the role of groundwater as a river source is limited. This feeding characteristic of the internal rivers often leads to particularly high water levels in spring, after the snow melt, as well as in summer, after heavy rains. Sometimes, this can result in disastrous floods.

Water bodies. A very few natural lakes exist in Moldova. Most of them are located in the floodplains of the river Prut (Beleu, Rotunda, Foltane lakes) and afew other rivers. In the same time, a big number of water bodies (over 3,500) were created for the following purposes: flood prevention; irrigation; fishing; recreation; industrial and communal water supply. The two biggest water reservoirs created on the Dniester and Prut rivers (Dubasari and Costesti-Stinca, respectively) also serve for hydropower generation.

Groundwater. The Moldavian groundwater resources are rather limited. The shallow groundwater is largely used by the rural population for drinking water supply. Its quality is often a matter of concern since the shallow water layers are not very well protected from pollution from the surface. The deep groundwatersare better protected but sometimes have high natural content of sulphate, chloride, methane, etc. Moldova has a number of prospected sources of curative mineral waters.

Vegetation. The geographical position, climate and landscape of the Republic of Moldova provided conditions for the development of a rich flora. Human activities also contributed to the development and distribution of plant species.

The vegetation of the Republic of Moldova belongs to two zonal types namely steppe and forest steppe vegetation. Generally, the steppe zone covers the plains and highlands situated south and east from the Codrii Plateau and the Tigheci Hillocks. Besides, it also appears in the North of the country (the Balti Steppe). Almost all former steppes are now used for agriculture so that only small spots of natural steppe communities can be found on steep hillsides or landslide areas.

The forest steppe zone includes forest communities, mostly located on hills, alternating with steppe vegetation areas. The dominant forest species is English oak, sometimes in association with beech. In the South, pubescent oak groves are present on the hillsides. Paludal forests, made of willow and poplar are spread in the river valleys.

Fauna. The animal world is strongly associated to the vegetal communities. The most common animals living in forests are: fallow deer, wild boar, fox, badger, squirrel, marten, wild cat. The bird species comprise the oriole, magpie, hoopoo, nightingale, blackbird, etc. The steppe animal communities comprise several species of rodents and birds (skylark, quail, partridge, etc). The lakes, wetlands and marshes provide shelter and food to many birds, including migratory species. A number of rare and/or endangered animal species are protected by law.

Soils. The soils may also follow a zonal classification related to various combinations of the bedrock, climate, landscape, vegetation, etc. The steppe soils (chernozems) are most fertile and they cover 75% of Moldavian territory. The forest soils (grey and brown) are present in areas higher than 200-300 m, covered - presently or in the past - by oak, beech and hornbeam woods. Besides, there also are spots of non-zonal soils (e.g. alluvial floodplain soils, salty soils).

The soils are the main natural resource of the Republic of Moldova. The very high degree of land-use, involving 86% of the territory, calls for special attention to be paid to measures for sustainable use, protection and improvement of soils.

The share of arable soils is high (54.4% from the total land) and the areas of settlements (4.4%) and roads (2.6%) are continuously increasing. Consequently, the areas having an important stabilizing role from the environmental point of view (forested areas, 12.5%; pastures, 11.3%; wetlands, 2.9%) are too small. The natural state protected areas are also quite limited (1.97% of the territory).