Population of the Republic of Moldova

Moldova has a population of about 4 440 000. Although it is the most densely populated (132 person per sq km) of the former Soviet
Republics it has very few large cities, the most valuable of which is Chisinau, the capital of the Republic. Chisinau is located on Byk River in
the central part of the country. Other important cities are Tiraspol, Tighina (also known as Bender) and Balti.
In Moldova live people of different ethnic groups. Ethnic Moldavians constitute about 64,5% of local population. Their number is greater in
the center and north of the Republic than in south. Other large ethnic groups are Ukrainians (13,8%) and Russians (13%). They migrated to
Moldova in large numbers after World War II and settled mainly in the cities. Nearly all other people belong to such ethnic groups like
Gagauz (3.5%), Bulgarians (2%) and Jews (1.5%). Gagauz are Turkic and Christian people who came to Moldova in the late 18th century.
Bulgarians also came to the Republic at the end of 18th century. These 2 groups live mainly in rural area on the south of Moldova. Jews are
overwhelmingly urban. They started settling in Bessarabia after 1800. However their number has been greatly reduced by World War II.
As there live several ethnic groups in Moldova thats logical that there also several languages spoken in the country. Official language of
Moldova is called Moldovan. It is essentially dialect of Romanian. It is Romance language which derived from Latin. In 1938 Soviet
government mandated Cyrillic alphabet to be used for Moldovan language. More than 50 years Moldavians used Cyrillic letters for writing in
Moldovan. In 1989 there was reintroduced Latin alphabet. Other language widely spoken in Moldova is Russian. That is explained by longlasting influence of Soviet Union when people had to learn Russian. Gagauz people speak Gagauz, a Turkic language. Many of them are also
fluent
in
Russian.
Predominant religion of Moldova is Christianity. About 96 percent of the population belongs to the Eastern Orthodox Church. Even Gagauz,
unlike
other
Turkic
people,
who
are
traditionally
Muslims,
are
adherents
of
Orthodox
Christianity.
Moldova has an adult literacy rate of 100%. Education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 15 when people pass through the first cycle
of education. Then follows the second cycle, which isnt compulsory. It lasts 3 years. After that people are able to enter the University.
Moldova has rich folk culture which flourished during Soviet period. An ancient folk ballade Miorita holds special significance in
Moldovan folk culture. They are also folk traditions such as ceramics and weaving. Nowadays they are almost forgotten in the cities however
they continue to be practiced in rural areas.
The internet has forever changed the way we live
Over the past few decades, technology for entertainment (think iPads, mobile phones and GPS) has seen unprecedented development
changing human behaviour forever. Rosalind Scutt looks at other ways technology has changed the way we live, think and play.
When parents of the baby boom era describe their childhoods they might talk about the iceman, telephone calls using an operator, and
grooving out to gramophones. When contemporary parents discuss their childhoods, we will most likely describe a world bereft of tech toys
with back lighting and touch screen technology.
Such living conditions will seem incomprehensible to our children who will quickly
process this information to arrive at the obvious conclusion; parents were born in an era somewhere on the spectrum of time near
'prehistoric'.
Our children will never fully understand the world as we knew it just as we might never fully understand theirs. So before another ubertablet hits the shelves or another social media platform rises from the deep of some young geek's mind to mesmerise the masses, let us recall
(the old fashioned way using memory and not a Google search) the ways in which technology has changed the way we live.
For more on how the internet has changed the way we think, including consumer behaviour, communications, information, business and
entertainment .
Over the years technology has grown and advanced in many ways. One can define technology as the practical application of knowledge
especially in a particular area. In other words, technology makes it easier for people to satisfy their needs and desires. Technology ranges
from cellular phones to nuclear weapons, there are millions of things in the world that have had their share of attention and evolved into more
useful tools. Mostly any and every improvement made regarding technology effects the world. The question at hand is whether or not these
advancements in technology better or worsen society.
One area of technology that has greatly changed society is the Internet. Not only
has the Internet changed the way we live, it has changed the way we communicate.
Communication The way we communicate is forever changed. Email is much faster than the snail-mail letters that were being sent and
received before the advent of the internet.
Instant messaging has all but replaced the telephone. There are people who claim that they IM
more than twice as often as they talk on the phone.
Text messaging, although it is done using a phone, basically uses internet type technology as well. This is a quick way to send a short
message when there isn?t time to have a long conversation via phone or otherwise. It is used by professionals and everyday people alike.
Lifestyle and Culture
The internet has also generally changed our lifestyle and culture. The way that we communicate off-line has
been impacted by IM lingo. You may have already heard someone say ?lol? or ?brb? in person. If you haven?t, you probably will soon.
There was even a national ad campaign where someone asked another person what they were doing, and they said ?Idk, talking to my bff.?
These abbreviations are out of control! Who would have thought that we would start saying abbreviated phrases in our everyday lives,
verbally!?
When people meet new friends, they often give out an email address instead of a phone number. People might even say ?myspace me?
(meaning to message them on their myspace page).
The internet itself has not only become an extension of everything we do, it has also become the part of the very fiber of our society.