What is "transnistria"

Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR; ; ; ); also called Transdniester, Trans-Dniestr or Transdniestria is a republic on a strip of land between the River Dniester and the eastern Moldovan border with Ukraine recognised only by three non-United Nations (UN) states. The region is considered by the UN to be part of Moldova. PMR controls most of the territory to the east of the River Dniester, and also the city of Bender and its surrounding localities on the west bank, in the historical region of Bessarabia.

Unrecognised by any United Nations member state, Transnistria is designated by the Republic of Moldova as the Transnistria autonomous territorial unit with special legal status , or Stînga Nistrului ("Left Bank of the Dniester").

After the dissolution of the USSR, tensions between Moldova and the breakaway Transnistrian territory escalated into a military conflict that started in March 1992 and was concluded by a ceasefire in July of the same year. As part of that agreement, a three-party (Russia, Moldova, Transnistria) Joint Control Commission supervises the security arrangements in the demilitarized zone, comprising twenty localities on both sides of the river. Although the ceasefire has held, the territory's political status remains unresolved: Transnistria is an unrecognized but de facto independent presidential republic with its own government, parliament, military, police, postal system, and currency. Its authorities have adopted a constitution, flag, national anthem, and coat of arms. However, after a 2005 agreement between Moldova and Ukraine, all Transnistrian companies that seek to export goods through the Ukrainian border must be registered with the Moldovan authorities. This agreement was implemented after the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) took force in 2005. Most Transnistrians also have Moldovan citizenship, but many Transnistrians also have Russian and Ukrainian citizenship. The largest ethnic group is Moldovan (32.1%), who historically had a higher share of the population, up to 49.4% in 1926.

Transnistria, Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia are post-Soviet " frozen conflict" zones. These four partially recognized states maintain friendly relations with each other and form the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations.

Transnistria may refer to:

• Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic or Trans-Dniester, a de facto independent state in eastern Europe, internationally recognised as part of the Republic of Moldova
• Transnistria autonomous territorial unit with special legal status - administrative unit of the Republic of Moldova
• Transnistria Governorate during World War II, a larger region that included present-day Transnistria. It was briefly annexed by Romania during the maximum eastward expansion of the Axis Powers.