Transnistria

The Block

Transnistria is a breakaway territory from Moldova that is not recognized as an independent state by any UN-member country. This is in spite of the country having its own legislature, currency, and even military. As a result, a block was never created for Transnistria on the Quilt of Belonging. The Cultural Profile section below includes details about the distinct identity of Transnistria.

Cultural Profile

Transnistria broke away from the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1990. As the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics broke up in 1991, the polity named itself the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. Due to heavy settlement of this area by Russians during the Soviet era, Transnistria’s identity as an independent but unrecognized state has been heavily entwined with nostalgia for the former superpower with Soviet imagery remaining prominent in official symbolism. Even the flag of this breakaway stage utilizes the hammer and sickle on the red background from the old Soviet Union. After a brief conflict with Moldova to the west, Transnistria has maintained its status as an autonomous region that every other country in the world sees as part of Moldova.

Transnistria’s official languages are Russian, Romanian (officially called Moldavian), and Ukrainian. Its total population is around 360000. Its ethnic makeup based on the 2015 census is as follows: 29.1% Russians, 28.6% Moldovans/Romanians, 22.9% Ukrainians, 2.4% Bulgarians, 1.1% Gagauz, 0.5% Belarussians, and a remainder who belong to other groups or didn’t specify. They use their own currency called the Transnistrian ruble. Around 92% of the population is Orthodox Christian.

The economy of Transnistria is based on a mix of heavy industry (steel production), electricity production, and manufacturing (textile production), which together account for about 80% of the total industrial output. In spite of its strong symbolic affiliation with Russia, most of its trade in recent years have been with Moldova and the European Union more broadly.