Moldavia/Romania/Bessarabia [was: Sarah Gorby]

[Robert A. Rothstein <rar...>]

Joel Bresler wrote:

> (Can someone on the list explain Moldavia vs. Rumania vs. Bessarabia?)

        Somewhat simplified (and with diacritics omitted for e-mail): Romania
(the current official spelling) was formed out of the principalities of 
Wallachia
(chief city -- Bucharest) and Moldavia (chief city -- Iasi).  To the east,
between the Prut and Dniester Rivers, was the Russian province of Bessarabia
(chief city -- Kishinev, now offiically spelled Chisinau).  The Soviet republic
of Moldavia (now the independent state of Moldova) corresponded roughly to
tsarist Bessarabia.
        For the full historical details and excellent maps, see Paul Robert
Magocsi, _Historical Atlas of Central Europe_, revised and expanded edition,
Seatle: University of Washington Press, 2002.
        Alternatively there's the perhaps apocryphal  response of the student
who, when asked on an examination to identify Bessarabia, defined it as "the 
best
part of Arabia."
        Bob Rothstein

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