Chişinău

Chişinău (IPA /ki.ʃi.'nəu/), formerly known as Kishinev (or Kishinov (Russian: Кишинёв)), is the capital city and industrial and commercial centre of the Republic of Moldova. It is also largest city of Moldova. Chişinău is considered one of the greenest cities in Europe. It is located in the center of the country, on the river Bîc. Economically, the city is by far the most prosperous in Moldova and is one of the main industrial centres and transportation hubs of the region. As the most important city in Moldova, Chişinău has a broad range of educational facilities.

The city is considered the largest Romanian urban concentration in the world after Bucharest.

Name

According to some historians, the name comes from the old Romanian word chişla ("spring" - source of water, the word is not used anymore, it was replaced by cişmea, which has the same meaning) ^* and nouă ("new"), because it was built around a small spring. Nowadays, the spring is located at the corner of Pushkin Street and Albişoara Street. Chişinău is known in Russian as Кишинёв (Kishinyov), which passed with small modification into English as Kishinev. It remains a common English-language name for the city, especially in historical contexts. The Russian name gained international currency because of Russification during periods when the city was under Russian control (first by Imperial Russia and then for over four decades by the Soviet Union) and because of Russian speakers throughout the world, including many Russian Jews in the English-speaking world. The English Kishinev comes from the Russian with the ё ("yo") incorrectly transliterated as e.

Another possible etymology is "kesene", a Cuman word for "crypt".

There is another city named Chişineu /alternative spelling: Chişinău/ in Western Romania, near the border with Hungary, but its relation to Chişinău is disputed. Its Hungarian language name is Kisjenő /kis: "small" + the ethnonim "Jenő", spelled: yenou/, from which the Romanian name originates. Jenő was one of the seven Hungarian tribes who entered the Carpathian basin in 896. The diminutive "small" was used in contrast with the nearby town of Jenő (in Romanian Ineu/. Hungarian linguists and historians believe that Romanian place names containing Ineu/Inău had a connection with the Jenő tribe.

Geography and climate

Geography

The city is located on the river Bîc, a tributary of the Nistru (Dniestr), at , and is divided into five administrative districts. Chişinău has an area of 120 km² and its whole municipality has 635 km².

Climate

Chişinău has a continental climate, characterised by hot dry summers and cold windy winters. Winter temperatures are often below 0°C, even though they rarely drop below -10°C. In summer, the average temperature is approximately 25°C, despite the fact that temperatures sometimes reach 35-40°C in mid-summer in the city centre. Although average precipitation and humidity during summer is low, there are infrequent yet heavy storms. During spring and autumn, temperatures vary between 18-22°C, and precipitation during this time tends to be higher than in summer, with more frequent yet milder periods of rain.

History

Founded in 1436 as a monastery town, the city was part of the Moldavian Principality, which, starting with the 16th century fell under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. At the beginning of the 19th century it was a small village of 7,000 inhabitants. In 1812 it was occupied by Russia, who made it the centre of Bessarabia. Its population had grown to 92,000 by 1862 and to 125,787 by 1900.

The town played an important part in the war between Russia and Turkey (1877–78), as the chief centre of the Russian invasion.

In the late 19th century, especially due to growing anti-semitic sentiment in Russia and Poland and better economic conditions, many Jews chose to settle in Chişinău, so in the year 1900 43% of the population of Chişinău was Jewish.

Chişinău was the site of two major pogroms April 6–7, 1903, and October 19–20, 1905 which were among the reasons for the large emigration of Eastern European Jews to Western Europe and the United States in the years immediately following. (See Kishinev pogrom)

Romania held the city from 1918 to 1940, when it was seized by the USSR.

In Chisinau, a lot of streets are named after historic persons, places or events.

Economy

Chişinău is the most economically-developed and industrialised city in Moldova. Chişinău is a major industrial and services centre; its main industries include consumer and electrical goods, building materials, machinery, plastics, rubber, and textiles. The main service fields are banking and shopping/commerce. Chişinău's economy is mainly centred on industry and services, with services particularly growing in importance in the last ten years.

Transport

There are three bus terminals, an international airport (Chişinău International Airport), and an international railway terminal. In addition, there is a private taxi and minibus system.

Education

The city is home to thirty-six universities, and to the Academy of Sciences of Moldova.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the city has become a relatively lively and well-appointed capital, with a much higher standard of living than most rural areas.

Population

Total population - 707,700 (As of 2004).

Census held in 2004 reports the following ethnic composition:2004 census results in Moldova

Moldovans/Romanians* - 72.8%
Russians - 13.7%
Ukrainians - 8.4%
Bulgarians - 1.2%
Gagauzians - 0.9%
Others - 2.9%

Official census data showed 68.4% Moldovans and 4.4% Romanians, however due to the contested status of the Moldovan ethnicity and OSCE objections over procedure, most organizations present them together. According to the "Moldova Azi" news agency, Experts Offering to Consult the National Statistics Bureau in Evaluation of the Census Data, Moldova Azi, May 19, 2005, story attributed to AP Flux. Retrieved October 11, 2005. a group of international census experts described the 2004 Moldovan census as "generally conducted in a professional manner", while remarking that that "a few topics… were potentially more problematic", in particular,

The census includes at least some Moldovans who had been living abroad over one year at the time of the census.
The precision of numbers about nationality/ethnicity and language was questioned. Some enumerators apparently encouraged respondents to declare that they were "Moldovan" rather than "Romanian", and even within a single family there may have been confusion about these terms. Also it is unclear how many respondents consider the term "Moldovan" to signify an ethnic identity other then "Romanian".

Music and nightlife

Chişinău is home to Moldova's largest recording labels, and is often the residence of Moldovan, and more recently Ukrainian, musicians. The city's music scene is quite eclectic. Many Moldovan rock bands of the 1970s and 1980s continue to be popular, particularly with the middle-aged, while since the 1990s there has been growth in the boy band and hip hop genres.

Sister cities

Bucharest, (Romania)
Sacramento, California, USA (designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI))
Grenoble, France
Mannheim, Germany
Kiev, Ukraine
Odessa, Ukraine
Reggio nell'Emilia, Italy

Notes

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