Transnistria
- Unrecognized states
- Independence declared 2 September 1990
- Capital Tiraspol
- Population 475,373 (2015 census)
- Area 4,163 km²
Transnistria (officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic) is a small strip of land located between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border with Ukraine. It declared independence in 1990, but has only been recognized as a sovereign entity by — the also unrecognized — South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The United Nations still legally considers Transnistria a part of the Republic of Moldova. The most well known company in Transnistria is called Sheriff — it owns a chain of petrol stations, a chain of supermarkets, a TV channel, a publishing house, a construction company, a Mercedes-Benz dealership, an advertising agency, a spirits factory, two bread factories, a mobile phone network, the football club FC Sheriff Tiraspol and its newly built Sheriff Stadium.
People, Power and Influence
The development of both Donetsk and Transnistria have a strong tendency to be seen as vessels for Russia’s search for influence in a Post-Soviet world. Yet these states are just as much the result of local context and the geopolitical storm that surrounds them. However, whatever the causes of their tribulations, the burden of international abandonment falls on the people in these nations.
Jonathan Casewell | 20 Oct 2021
