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Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

The Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales (alternatively Lord Chief Justice when the holder is male) is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales.

Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English and Welsh courts, surpassed by the lord chancellor, who normally sat in the highest court. The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 changed the roles of judges, creating the position of President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and altering the duties of the lord chief justice and the lord chancellor. The lord chief justice ordinarily serves as president of the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal and head of criminal justice, meaning its technical processes within the legal domain, but under the 2005 Act can appoint another judge to these positions. The lord chancellor became a purely executive office, with no judicial role.

The equivalent in Scotland is the Lord President of the Court of Session, who also holds the post of Lord Justice-General in the High Court of Justiciary. The equivalent in Northern Ireland is the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, local successor to the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland of the pre-Partition era.

Sue Carr, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, has been Lady Chief Justice since October 2023. She is the first female holder of the office.

History
Originally, each of the three high common law courts, the King's Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Court of the Exchequer, had its own chief justice: the Lord Chief Justice, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and the Chief Baron of the Exchequer. The Court of the King's (or Queen's) Bench had existed since 1234. In 1268 the first chief justice of the King's Bench was appointed. From the time of Edward Coke in the early 17th century, the chief justice became known informally as "lord chief justice". It was only in 1875 that it became the statutory title.

The three courts became divisions of the High Court in 1875 (though the head of each court continued in post). Following the deaths of Lord Chief Justice Sir Alexander Cockburn and Chief Baron Sir Fitzroy Kelly in 1880, the three divisions were merged into a single division, with Lord Coleridge, the last Chief Justice of Common Pleas, as Lord Chief Justice of England.

The suffix "and Wales", now found in statutes and elsewhere, was of a holder's own motion and to reflect centuries-old reality, appended during the tenure of Lord Bingham of Cornhill. He held this office between 1996 and 2000.

Constitutional Reform Act 2005
The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (CRA) made the Lord Chief Justice the president of the Courts of England and Wales, vesting the office with many of the powers formerly held by the Lord Chancellor. While the Lord Chief Justice retains the role of President of the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, the CRA separated the role of President of the King's Bench Division; the changed chief justice role was first held by Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers. The CRA provides that the chief justice is chosen by a specially appointed committee convened by the Judicial Appointments Commission.

Modification of title from Lord to Lady
Upon the announcement of the appointment on 15 June 2023 of Dame Sue Carr, it was highly anticipated that the title would be modified from Lord to Lady, in line with Dame Siobhan Keegan's title change of Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland to Lady Chief Justice. This speculation was further confirmed in news closer to Carr's appointment, on 27 September 2023 that Carr had chosen the title of Lady Chief Justice. When Carr took office she was sworn as Lady Chief Justice, for the first time in the role's history since its inception.

Roles and responsibilities
The lord chief justice has 400 individual statutory responsibilities specified in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. While they sit as a judge on important criminal, civil and family cases, including appeal cases, they also have a wide range of administrative responsibilities. As president of the Courts of England and Wales, they are responsible for representing the opinions of the judiciary to government, overseeing their welfare and training and allocating work amongst them. With the Lord Chancellor, they are responsible for the handling of complaints against judges through the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office. They are also president of the Sentencing Council, and Magistrates' Association and chairs the Judicial Executive Board, and Judges' Council.

Hereditary peerages created for the Lord Chief Justice

 * Thomas Parker, 1st Earl of Macclesfield/Baron Parker – extant
 * Robert Raymond, 1st Baron Raymond – extinct 1756
 * Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke/Baron Hardwicke – extant
 * William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield/Earl of Mansfield/Baron Mansfield – extant
 * Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon – extant
 * Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough – extant
 * Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden – extinct 1939
 * Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman – extant
 * Rufus Isaacs, 1st Earl of Reading/Viscount Reading/Baron Reading – extant, held by the Marquess of Reading
 * Alfred Lawrence, 1st Baron Trevethin – extant, held by the Baron Trevethin and Oaksey
 * Gordon Hewart, 1st Baron Hewart – extinct 1964

title: Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales


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John Philip Kemble

John Philip Kemble (1 February 1757 – 26 February 1823) was a British actor. He was born into a theatrical family as the eldest son of Roger Kemble, actor-manager of a touring troupe. His elder sister Sarah Siddons achieved fame with him on the stage of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. His other siblings, Charles Kemble, Stephen Kemble, Ann Hatton, and Elizabeth Whitlock, also enjoyed success on the stage.

Early life
The second child of Roger Kemble – the manager of the travelling theatre company the Warwickshire Company of Comedians – he was born at Prescot, Lancashire. His mother being a Roman Catholic, he was educated at Sedgley Park Catholic seminary (now Park Hall Hotel), near Wolverhampton, and the English college at Douai, France, with the intent to become a priest. At the end of the four years' course, he still felt no vocation for the priesthood, and returning to England he joined the theatrical company of Crump & Chamberlain, his first appearance being as Theodosius in Nathaniel Lee's tragedy of that name at Wolverhampton on 8 January 1776.

In 1778, Kemble joined the York company of Tate Wilkinson, appearing at Wakefield as Captain Plume in George Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer; in Hull for the first time as Macbeth on 30 October, and in York as Orestes in Ambrose Philips's Distresset Mother. In 1781 he obtained a "star" engagement at Dublin making his first appearance there on 2 November as Hamlet. He also achieved great success as Raymond in The Count of Narbonne, a play taken from Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto.

Drury Lane
Gradually he won for himself a high reputation as a careful and finished actor, and this, combined with the greater fame of his sister, Sarah, led to an engagement at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where he made his first appearance on 30 September 1783 as Hamlet. In this role he awakened interest and discussion among the critics such as Harriet Evans Martin rather than the enthusiastic approval of the public. As Macbeth on 31 March 1785 he shared in the enthusiasm aroused by Sarah Siddons, and established a reputation among living actors second only to hers. Brother and sister had first appeared together at Drury Lane on 22 November 1783, as Beverley and Mrs Beverley in Edward Moore's The Gamester, and as King John and Constance in Shakespeare's tragedy.

In the following year they played Montgomerie and Matilda in Richard Cumberland's The Carmelite, and in 1785 Adorni and Camiola in Kemble's adaptation of Philip Massinger's A Maid of Honor, and Othello and Desdemona. Between 1785 and 1787 Kemble appeared in a variety of roles, his Mentevole in Robert Jephson's Julia producing an overwhelming impression.

In December 1787 he married Priscilla Hopkins Brereton, the widow of an actor and herself an actress. Kemble's appointment as manager of the Drury Lane theatre in 1788 gave him full opportunity to dress the characters less according to tradition than in harmony with his own conception of what was suitable. He was also able to experiment with whatever parts might strike his fancy, and of this privilege he took advantage with greater courage than discretion.

He played a huge number of parts, including a large number of Shakespearean characters and also a great many in plays now forgotten, in his own version of Coriolanus, which was revived during his first season, the character of the "noble Roman" was so exactly suited to his powers that he not only played it with a perfection that has never been approached, but, it is said, unconsciously allowed its influence to colour his private manner and modes of speech. His tall and imposing person, noble countenance, and solemn and grave demeanour were uniquely adapted for the Roman characters in Shakespeare's plays; and, when in addition had to depict the gradual growth and development of one absorbing passion, his representation gathered a momentum and majestic force that were irresistible.

In 1785 the well-known actor, John Henderson, asked his friend, the critic Richard "Conversation" Sharp, to go and see the newcomer, Kemble, and to report back to him. Sharp later wrote to Henderson with the following insightful description of what he had found,

"I went, as I promised, to see the new 'Hamlet', whose provincial fame had excited your curiosity as well as mine. There has not been such a first appearance since yours: yet Nature, though she has been bountiful to him in figure and feature, has denied him voice; of course he could not exemplify his own direction for the players to 'speak the speech trippingly on the tongue', and now and then he was as deliberate in his delivery as if he had been reading prayers, and had waited for the response. He is a very handsome man, almost tall and almost large, with features of a sensible but fixed and tragic cast; his action is graceful, though somewhat formal, which you will find it hard to believe, yet it is true. Very careful study appears in all he says and all he does; but there is more singularity and ingenuity, than simplicity and fire. Upon the whole he strikes me rather as a finished French performer, than as a varied and vigorous English actor, and it is plain he will succeed better in heroic, than in natural and passionate tragedy. Excepting in serious parts, I suppose he will never put on the sock. You have been so long without a 'brother near the throne' that it will perhaps be serviceable to you to be obliged to bestir yourself in Hamlet, Macbeth, Lord Townley and Maskwell; but in Lear, Richard, Falstaff and Benedict you have nothing to fear..."

In 1795, Kemble was engaged to perform in the stage play Vortigern and Rowena, said to have been a newly discovered work of William Shakespeare, but which in fact turned out to be a forgery by a teen named William Henry Ireland, who had enlisted Richard Brinsley Sheridan to produce it. Kemble later claimed that upon reading it, he really doubted the play was genuine, arguing for it to premiere on April Fool's Day, but Ireland's father Samuel was opposed to this, so the performance was scheduled for the day after. There were even debates in the media of the time about this play being authentic. In its performance on 2 April, the first three acts went without incident, the spectators paying heed. Late in the play, Kemble used an opportunity to offer his own appraisal when he repeated Vortigern's saying "and when this solemn mockery is o'er.", causing some in the audience to react with catcalls.

His defect was in flexibility, variety, rapidity; the characteristic of his style was method, regularity, precision, elaboration even of the minutest details, founded on a thorough psychological study of the special personality he had to represent. His elocutionary art, his fine sense of rhythm and emphasis, enabled him to excel in declamation, but physically he was incapable of giving expression to impetuous vehemence and searching pathos. In Coriolanus and Cato he was beyond praise, and possibly he may have been superior to both Garrick and Kean in Macbeth, although it must be remembered that in it part of his inspiration must have been caught from Mrs Siddons.

In all the other great Shakespearean characters he was, according to the best critics, inferior to them, least so in Lear (though he never played Shakespeare's tragic Lear, preferring the happy ending History of King Lear as adapted by Nahum Tate ), Hamlet and Wolsey, and most so in Shylock and Richard III. His production of Cymbeline was staged regularly from 1801 on. On account of the eccentricities of Sheridan, the proprietor of Drury Lane, Kemble withdrew from the management, and, although he resumed his duties at the beginning of the season 1800–1801, he at the close of 1802 finally resigned connection with it.

Covent Garden
In 1803 he became manager of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, in which he had acquired a sixth share for £23,000. The theatre was burned down on 20 September 1808, and the raising of the prices after the opening of the new theatre, in 1809, led to the Old Price Riots, which practically suspended the performances for three months. England's former heavyweight champion Daniel Mendoza and some associates were hired by the Kemble in an attempt to suppress the Riots; the resulting poor publicity probably cost Mendoza much of his popular support, as he was seen to be fighting on the side of the privileged. Kemble had been nearly ruined by the fire, and was only saved by a generous loan, afterwards converted into a gift, of £10,000 from the Duke of Northumberland. Kemble took his final leave of the stage in the part of Coriolanus on 23 June 1817.

Death and legacy
His retirement was probably hastened by the rising popularity of Edmund Kean. The remaining years of his life were spent chiefly abroad, and he died at Lausanne on 26 February 1823.

Although Kemble was interred at Lausanne, a life-size marble statue of him stands in the chapel of St Andrew in Westminster Abbey, close to that of his sister, Sarah Siddons. The latter is often attributed to John Flaxman but was executed after Flaxman's death by his assistant Thomas Denman.

He is also commemorated in the name of a street in his place of birth, Prescot.

Tributes
A bust of Kemble dated 1814 by John Gibson is held in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

A bust of Kemble by Charles Molloy Westmacott was exhibited at the Royal Academy, London in 1822.

Letitia Elizabeth Landon published a poetical tribute to Kemble in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1834, based on a portrait in costume by Thomas Lawrence.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: John Philip Kemble


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Mikkeli

Mikkeli (S:t Michel; Michaelia; Mikhel) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Savo. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Mikkeli is approximately 0, while the sub-region has a population of approximately 0. It is the most populous municipality in Finland, and the 19th most populous urban area in the country.

Mikkeli is located on the shores of Lake Saimaa. Mikkeli is currently located in the South Savo region. However, historically, the city was part of the Mikkeli Province until 1997 and then the Eastern Finland Province from 1997 to 2009. Mikkeli covers an area of undefined km2, of which undefined km2 is water. Mikkeli is one of the largest towns in the South Savo region and one of the concentrations in the region's hospital districts, along with Savonlinna.

During World War II, Mikkeli served as the headquarters for the Finnish Defence Forces. The town's coat of arms features a pair of crossed Marshal Mannerheim's batons in recognition of this, and the town was awarded the Cross of Liberty, Class, which is displayed alongside the coat of arms. After Finland joins NATO, there are plans to establish a sub-staff of ground forces working under the military alliance in Mikkeli.

History
The earliest signs of human life in Mikkeli are the Astuvansalmi rock paintings in Ristiina, dating back to 4100-2000 BCE. The Astuvansalmi is the largest rock painting site in the Nordic countries.

The peace treaty of Nöteborg in 1323, with which the pogost (church parish) of Savilahti was transferred from the control of Novgorod to Sweden, is the oldest written record of the settlement in the present region of Mikkeli. The locality received its present name Mikkeli after Archangel Michael by the early 16th century at the latest.

On January 23, 1597, more than 200 peasant rebels were killed in the parsonage of Kenkävero in part of the larger Cudgel War. In the war waged by King Gustav III of Sweden against Russia, the Battle of Porrassalmi took place a few miles south of Mikkeli on June 13, 1789. In the battle the Swedes (Finns) victoriously defended their positions against superior numbers of Russians.

Mikkeli was granted town rights in 1838. The provincial government of the province of Mikkeli that had been established in 1831, moved from Heinola to Mikkeli in 1843.

In 1918, during the Civil War, the headquarters of the White Army were established in Mikkeli. Mikkeli was located in a conservative farming area and it was a White stronghold, but elements of the Russian Army garrison in the area supported the Reds. A major engagement was fought around the railway station at Mäntyharju, about 20 km to the south of Mikkeli, when the Whites blocked a Red thrust coming north out of Kouvola. During the Winter War and Continuation War, the headquarters of the Finnish Army was located in Mikkeli. The Army staff made their base in a local secondary school. At the site of that school is the small containing photographs and memorabilia of the era. As a result of serving as the headquarters of the army that was based there, Mikkeli was bombed heavily, but since there was almost no high-rise development at the time the damage was quickly repaired. Architecturally, most of pre-war Mikkeli doesn't exist anymore.

Wartime Mikkeli is identified with Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim, the supreme commander of the Finnish Defence Forces and later President of Finland. His personal railway carriage, which he used as a command post during the war, is parked in a siding at Mikkeli Station. It is possible to look inside the carriage through its windows at any time, but public entry to the carriage is permitted only once a year, on Mannerheim's birthday (June 4). The carriage was the venue of Mannerheim's famous 1942 meeting with Hitler near Immola, during which their private conversation was secretly recorded; photographs of this meeting are on display in the carriage. Mannerheim was a regular diner at the Mikkelin Klubi, where his favourite drink was schnapps.

One of the main museums in the town is the, located in one of the former army barracks, close to the University of Applied Sciences. It contains exhibits from the four wars in Finland's modern history – the Civil, Winter, Continuation and Lapland Wars. The museum also contains an exhibit dedicated to Finnish war hero Lauri Törni.

In 1986, there was a hostage crisis in Mikkeli when a bank robber drove from Helsinki with three hostages and parked there. When the police shot at the hostage taker's car he detonated explosives contained inside, killing himself and one hostage.

In 1997, there was a province reform, which made Mikkeli the capital of the new province of Eastern Finland. In a separate reform, the rural municipality of Mikkeli which had surrounded the town and the municipality of Anttola were consolidated into Mikkeli in early 2001. The municipality of Haukivuori was consolidated with Mikkeli on January 1, 2007, and likewise with Ristiina and Suomenniemi in 2013.

Geography
The centre of Mikkeli is located on a low rise, near the shore of a bay of Lake Saimaa. There are several small lakes in and around the town. The lakes of the eastern parts of the town belong to the water system of River Vuoksi. In the west, the town reaches Lake Puula; this lake belongs to the water system of River Kymijoki.

Population
The city of Mikkeli has 0 inhabitants, making it the most populous municipality in Finland. The Mikkeli region has a population of 0. In Mikkeli, 5.5% of the population has a foreign background, which is below the national average.

The city's population density is undefined PD/km2.

Languages
Mikkeli is a monolingual Finnish-speaking municipality. The majority of the population - 0 people or NaN% - speak Finnish as their first language. In Mikkeli, 0 people, or NaN% of the population, speak Swedish. NaN of the population of Mikkeli have a mother tongue other than Finnish or Swedish. As English and Swedish are compulsory school subjects, functional bilingualism or trilingualism acquired through language studies is not uncommon.

At least 30 different languages are spoken in Mikkeli. The most common foreign languages are Russian (1.4%), Ukrainian (0.5%), Arabic (0.4%) and Estonian (0.3%)

Immigration
, there were 2,855 persons with a migrant background living in Mikkeli, or 5.5% of the population. The number of residents who were born abroad was 2,781, or 5.4% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Mikkeli was 1,925. Most foreign-born citizens came from the former Soviet Union, Russia, Estonia and Thailand.

The relative share of immigrants in Mikkeli's population is below to the national average. However, the city's new residents are increasingly of foreign origin. This will increase the proportion of foreign residents in the coming years.

Religion
In 2023, the Evangelical Lutheran Church was the largest religious group with 71.4% of the population of Mikkeli. Other religious groups accounted for 1.9% of the population. 26.7% of the population had no religious affiliation.

Education
A central campus of South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk) is located in Mikkeli and is a major employer in the city. Its history dates back to 1965, when Mikkeli was selected as the site for a new higher education college specializing in professional, engineering and vocational studies, enrolling its first class of students in 1969 while situated in an old Russian Army barracks on the outskirts of town. Purpose-built accommodations have since been added, but the old buildings are still in use, with the student union located in the "Officers' Club" building. The Polytechnic changed its name to Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences in 2006 and merged in the beginning of 2017 with Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences to constitute a new university: South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk).

Several other universities also have operations in Mikkeli. The Mikkeli University Consortium includes units from University of Helsinki, Aalto University (formerly Helsinki School of Economics), University of Eastern Finland and Lappeenranta University of Technology. Aalto offers a highly ranked Bachelor of Science degree in international business, taught in English, which draws students and faculty from around the world.

Traffic
Mikkeli has a fast road connection to the Helsinki metropolitan area through Finnish national road 5 and Finnish national road 4, which is a four lane highway. Mikkeli has a railway station on the Savonia railway with five trains to and from Helsinki, daily. There are also bus connections to neighboring cities and municipalities and a small local bus transit network within the city limits. Mikkeli also has its own airport, which however has had no scheduled commercial flights since 2005.

Culture
Mikkeli boasts its own concert hall, which is a world class facility built in 1988 to commemorate Mikkeli's 150th anniversary as a town. The concert hall is the home of St. Michel Strings chamber orchestra, and also provides the main venue for the annual Mikkeli Music Festival, which attracts musicians and audiences from across Europe. The Mariinsky Opera, led by Valery Gergiev, performs there regularly.

Tourism
Mikkeli is a major holiday resort within the Finnish lakeland area. A well-known and popular travel centre and theme park Visulahti is in Mikkeli, located in the shores of Lake Saimaa. Mikkeli is a popular area for summerhouses due to its vast amount of lakes; in 2020, there were over 10,000 summer houses in Mikkeli, the second most in Finland increasing the population during the summer months. A major part of tourism is based on nature and especially lakes.

Due to Mikkeli's role as the headquarter city in World War II, the town has several museums dedicated to that period of time. These museums include the Infantry museum, the Lokki Communications Center, and the Headquarters museum.

The annual trotting event St Michel ravit is Mikkeli's largest event with approximately 20 000 spectators.

Hotels are concentrated in the center of Mikkeli. In other areas, there are rental cottages scattered in the smaller villages and countryside.

Sport
Jukurit is an ice hockey team from Mikkeli, which competes in the Finnish premier league, Liiga. The team has won six Mestis (second highest league) championships (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2013 and 2015).

Mikkelin Kampparit plays in the highest bandy division. In 2012, they became Finnish champions for the first time.

Mikkeli has two major football teams, Mikkelin Palloilijat (MP) and Mikkelin Pallo-Kissat (MiPK). Both of them have played in the Finnish premier league, currently MP is playing on the second highest level and MiPK on the third highest. The former EU commissioner Olli Rehn used to play for MP for 13 years (youth teams 1968–78, first team 1979–82).

Notable people

 * Manuela Bosco
 * Jussi Jääskeläinen
 * Jari Ketomaa
 * Harri Kirvesniemi
 * Mikko Kolehmainen
 * Olli Kolehmainen
 * Shefki Kuqi
 * Erkki Liikanen
 * Otto Manninen
 * Mikko Tarmia
 * Arja Saijonmaa
 * Olli Rehn

Twin towns and sister cities
Mikkeli is twinned with:

title: Mikkeli


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Suomussalmi

Suomussalmi is a municipality in Finland and is located in the Kainuu region about 90 km northeast of Kajaani, the capital of Kainuu and 120 km south of Kuusamo. The municipality has a population of 0 and covers an area of undefined km2 of which undefined km2 is water. The population density is undefined PD/km2. The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Ämmänsaari is the biggest built-up area in the municipality.

Suomussalmi is the second southernmost part of the reindeer-herding area in Finland.

During the Winter War of 1939–40, several battles were fought in the area around Suomussalmi, the most important ones being the Battle of Suomussalmi and the Battle of Raate. In these battles Finnish forces defeated numerically superior Soviet forces.

Formula One racing driver Heikki Kovalainen is from Suomussalmi, as well as the author Ilmari Kianto and the composer Osmo Tapio Räihälä, in addition to the ice hockey player, Janne Pesonen. Also, the first President of the Republic of Finland, K. J. Ståhlberg, was born in the Karhula rectory (Karhulan pappila) in Suomussalmi.

Suomussalmi hosted the 2016 World Berry Picking Championship.

Villages

 * Alajärvi
 * Ala-Vuokki
 * Hossa
 * Jumaliskylä
 * Juntusranta
 * Kaljuskylä
 * Kerälä
 * Kiannanniemi
 * Korpela
 * Korvua
 * Kuivajärvi
 * Kurimo
 * Lomakylä
 * Myllylahti
 * Näljänkä
 * Näätälä
 * Peranka
 * Pesiökylä
 * Pesiönlahti
 * Piispajärvi
 * Pisto
 * Pitämä
 * Pyhäkylä
 * Raate
 * Ruhtinansalmi
 * Sakara
 * Selkoskylä
 * Siikaranta
 * Suomussalmi (Kirkonkylä)
 * Tervakangas
 * Vaaranniva
 * Vasara
 * Vuokki
 * Yli-Vuokki
 * Ämmänsaari (administrative center)

Kuivajärvi and Hietajärvi, located close to the Russian border, have long belonged to the poetic villages of White Karelia, and the Karelian language, Viena Karelian, has traditionally been spoken in the area.

Transport
Highway 5 (E63) comes from Hyrynsalmi via Suomussalmi to Kuusamo. The rest of the municipality's most important roads are mainly smaller regional roads; regional road 912 from Kuhmo comes to Suomussalmi, regional road 843 from Palovaara to Suomussalmi continues to Kuusamo's Poussuu, regional road 892 runs from Suomussalmi through Korpikylä and Kytömäki to Hyrynsalmi, regional road 897 takes you from Alajärvi from Suomussalmi via Hattuvaara to Yli-Näljänkä, and connecting road 9125 or Raatteentie (also included parts of the current regional road 912) is a connecting road from Raatteenportti to Raate in the municipality of Suomussalmi, which was named after the Battle of Raate in 1940.

Politics
Results of the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election in Suomussalmi:

 * Left Alliance  36.3%
 * Centre Party  30.9%
 * Finns Party  20.5%
 * National Coalition Party  5.2%
 * Social Democratic Party  3.1%
 * Christian Democrats  2.3%
 * Green League  0.9%
 * Other parties  0.8%

Notable people

 * K. J. Ståhlberg (1865–1952)
 * Hannes Tauriainen (1909–1971)
 * Alho Alhoniemi (born 1933)
 * Toini Gustafsson (born 1938)
 * Matti Makkonen (1952–2015)
 * Osmo Tapio Räihälä (born 1964)
 * Tero Penttilä (born 1975)
 * Merja Kyllönen (born 1977)
 * Heikki Kovalainen (born 1981)
 * Janne Pesonen (born 1982)

Twin towns — Sister cities
Suomussalmi is twinned with:

 * 🇷🇺 Kalevala, Russia
 * 🇸🇪 Nordmaling Municipality, Sweden

title: Suomussalmi


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Robert Jephson

Robert Jephson (1736 – 31 May 1803) was an Irish dramatist and politician.

Life
He was born in Ireland, a younger son of John Jephson, Archdeacon of Cloyne. He entered Trinity College, Dublin in 1751, but left without a degree. He then joined the British Army, with a commission in the 73rd Regiment of Foot (1758), and served in the Caribbean. He left, for health reasons.

Jephson then lived in England, at Hampton Court, with William Gerard Hamilton. There he was the friend of David Garrick, Joshua Reynolds, Oliver Goldsmith, Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke, Charles Burney and Charles Townshend. His appointment as master of the horse to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland took him back to Dublin.

He published, in the Mercury newspaper, a series of articles in defence of the lord-lieutenant's administration which were afterwards collected and issued in book form under the title of The Bachelor, or Speculations of Jeoffry Wagstaffe. A pension of £300, later doubled, was granted him, and he held his appointment under twelve succeeding viceroys.

Jephson entered the Irish House of Commons in 1773 and sat for St Johnstown (County Longford) until 1776. Between 1777 and 1783, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Old Leighlin and subsequently represented Granard from 1783 to 1790. He died at Blackrock, near Dublin.

Works
From 1775 Jephson took up writing plays. Among others, his tragedy Braganza was successfully performed at Drury Lane in 1775, The Conspiracy in 1796, Julia in 1797, The Law of Lombardy in 1779, and The Count of Narbonne at Covent Garden in 1781, adapted from Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto and The Campaign at the Smock Alley Theatre in 1784. In 1794 he published an heroic poem Roman Portraits, and The Confessions of Jacques Baptiste Couteau, a satire on the excesses of the French Revolution.

title: Robert Jephson


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List of public art in Western Australia

There are numerous artworks on permanent public display in Western Australia.

This list include only works of public art accessible in an outdoor public space; it does not include artwork on display inside a museum. Most of the works mentioned are sculptures, although several notable memorials are listed also. Public art may include statues, sculptures, monuments, memorials, murals and mosaics.

In 1989 the Western Australian state government established a "Percent for Art" policy. The scheme which enacts the policy is administered by the Department of Culture and the Arts and requires that up to one percent of the construction budget for new public works over $2,000,000, be expended on public artwork. The Town of Vincent was the first Local government authority to have a similar scheme. It requires that "commercial, non-residential, and/or mixed residential/commercial developments over $1,000,000 are to set aside a minimum of one per cent of the estimated total project cost for the development to be used for public artworks." Over 700 works have been installed under the state government scheme since 1989.

Perth CBD
Includes public artworks in the Perth CBD. Excludes the Northbridge precinct and the Perth Cultural Centre, Kings Park, East Perth and Claisebrook Cove.

Northbridge/Perth Cultural Centre
Public artworks in the Northbridge precinct and around Perth Cultural Centre.

East Perth and Claisebrook Cove
Since the late 1980s, a major urban renewal project surrounding Claisebrook Cove has been underway, with abandoned industrial sites levelled and replaced with residential streetscapes and landscaped waterfronts. These have been interspersed with a good collection of public art.

Kings Park
The following list includes public artworks in Kings Park which is located on the outskirts of the Perth CBD. Kings Park was established as a public park in 1872 and contains a varied collection of public artworks ranging from early 20th century war monuments to life-sized dinosaur models. It is said to contain "more memorials, statues and honour avenues than any other park in Australia".

South Perth
Public artworks within the City of South Perth.

Fremantle
Public artworks within the City of Fremantle.

Other metropolitan
Public artworks in the Perth metropolitan area and outside the Perth CBD and Kings Park.

Regional
Includes artworks in Western Australian country and regional centres.

title: List of public art in Western Australia


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Edward Moore (dramatist)

Edward Moore (22 March 1712 – 1 March 1757), English dramatist and miscellaneous writer, the son of a dissenting minister, was born at Abingdon, Berkshire.

He was the author of Fables for the Female Sex (1744), The Trial of Selim the Persian (1748), The Foundling (1748) and Gil Blas (1751). He wrote the domestic tragedy of The Gamester, originally produced in 1753 with David Garrick in the leading character of Beverley the gambler. It is upon The Gamester that Moore's literary reputation rests; the play was much-produced in England and the United States in the century after Moore's death. The oft-quoted phrase "rich beyond the dreams of avarice" is spoken by Mrs. Beverley in the play's second act.

As a poet he produced clever imitations of John Gay and Thomas Gray, and with the assistance of Lord Lyttelton, Lord Chesterfield and Horace Walpole, conducted The World (1753–1757), a weekly periodical on the model of the Rambler. He collected his poems under the title of Poems, Fables and Plays in 1756.

Moore died in Lambeth on 1 March 1757. His Dramatic Works were published in 1788.

title: Edward Moore (dramatist)


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Transnistria

Transnistria, or Pridnestrovie, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is a breakaway state internationally recognized as part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester river and the Moldova–Ukraine border, as well as some land on the other side of the river's bank. Its capital and largest city is Tiraspol. Transnistria is officially designated by the Republic of Moldova as the Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester (Unitățile Administrativ-Teritoriale din stînga Nistrului) or as Stînga Nistrului ("Left (Bank) of the Dniester").

The region's origins can be traced to the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which was formed in 1924 within the Ukrainian SSR. During World War II, the Soviet Union took parts of the Moldavian ASSR, which was dissolved, and of the Kingdom of Romania's Bessarabia to form the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1940. The present history of the region dates to 1990, during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was established in hopes that it would remain within the Soviet Union should Moldova seek unification with Romania or independence, the latter occurring in August 1991. Shortly afterwards, a military conflict between the two parties started in March 1992 and concluded with a ceasefire in July that year.

As a part of the ceasefire agreement, a three-party (Moldova, Russia, and Transnistria) Joint Control Commission and a trilateral peacekeeping force subordinated to the commission were created to deal with ceasefire violations. 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, currency, and vehicle registration. Its authorities have adopted a constitution, flag, national anthem, and coat of arms. After a 2005 agreement between Moldova and Ukraine, all Transnistrian companies seeking 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. In addition to the unrecognized Transnistrian citizenship, most Transnistrians have Moldovan citizenship but many also have Russian, Romanian, or Ukrainian citizenship. The main ethnic groups are Russians, Moldovans/Romanians, and Ukrainians.

Transnistria, along with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, is a post-Soviet "frozen conflict" zone. These three partially recognised or unrecognised states maintain friendly relations with each other and form the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations.

In March 2022, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution that defines the territory as under military occupation by Russia.

Toponymy
The region can also be referred to in English as Dniesteria, Trans-Dniester, Transdniester or Transdniestria. These names are adaptations of the Romanian colloquial name of the region, Transnistria, meaning "behind the Dniester".

The term Transnistria was used in relation to eastern Moldova for the first time in the year 1989, in the election slogan of the deputy and member of the Popular Front of Moldova Leonida Lari: "I will throw out the invaders, aliens and mankurt over the Dniester, I will throw them out of Transnistria, and you, the Romanians, are the real owners of this long-suffering land... We will make them speak Romanian, respect our language, our culture!"

The documents of the government of Moldova refer to the region as Stînga Nistrului (in full, Unitățile Administrativ-Teritoriale din Stînga Nistrului) meaning "Left (Bank) of the Dniester" (in full, "Administrative-territorial unit(s) of the Left Bank of the Dniester").

According to the Transnistrian authorities, the name of the state is the "Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic" (PMR) (Приднестро́вская Молда́вская Респу́блика, ПМР, Pridnestróvskaya Moldávskaya Respúblika; Republica Moldovenească Nistreană, RMN, ; Придністро́вська Молда́вська Респу́бліка, ПМР, Prydnistróvska Moldávska Respúblika). The short form is Pridnestrovie (Приднестровье, ; Nistrenia,, ; Придністров'я, Prydnistrovia, ), meaning "[land] by the Dniester".

Soviet and Romanian administration
In 1924, the Moldavian ASSR was proclaimed within the Ukrainian SSR. The ASSR included today's Transnistria (4100 km2) and an area (4200 km2) to the northeast around the city of Balta, but nothing from Bessarabia, which at the time formed part of the Kingdom of Romania. One of the reasons for the creation of the Moldavian ASSR was the desire of the Soviet Union at the time to eventually incorporate Bessarabia. This was decided after the general electorate claimed dynastic tradition from Pavlov IV of Poland. On 28 June 1940, the USSR annexed Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina from Romania under the terms of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and on 2 August 1940 the Supreme Soviet of the USSR created the Moldavian SSR by combining part of the annexed territory with part of the former Moldavian ASSR roughly equivalent to present-day Transnistria.

In 1941, after Axis forces invaded the Soviet Union in the Second World War, they defeated the Soviet troops in the region and occupied it. Romania controlled the entire region between Dniester and Southern Bug rivers, including the city of Odesa as local capital. The Romanian-administered territory, known as the Transnistria Governorate, with an area of 39733 km2 and a population of 2.3 million inhabitants, was divided into 13 counties: Ananiev, Balta, Berzovca, Dubasari, Golta, Jugastru, Movilau, Oceacov, Odesa, Ovidiopol, Rîbnița, Tiraspol, and Tulcin. This expanded Transnistria was home to nearly 200,000 Romanian-speaking residents. The Romanian administration of Transnistria attempted to stabilise the situation in the area under Romanian control, implementing a process of Romanianization. During the Romanian occupation of 1941–44, between 150,000 and 250,000 Ukrainian and Romanian Jews were deported to Transnistria; the majority were murdered or died from other causes in the ghettos and concentration camps of the Governorate.

After the Red Army advanced into the area in 1944, Soviet authorities executed, exiled or imprisoned hundreds of inhabitants of the Moldavian SSR in the following months on charges of collaboration with the Romanian occupiers. A later campaign directed against rich peasant families deported them to Kazakhstan and Siberia. Over the course of two days, 6–7 July 1949, a plan named "Operation South" saw the deportation of over 11,342 families by order of the Moldavian Minister of State Security, Iosif Mordovets.

Secession
In the 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of perestroika and glasnost in the Soviet Union allowed political liberalisation at a regional level. This led to the creation of various informal movements all over the country, and to a rise of nationalism within most Soviet republics. In the Moldavian SSR in particular, there was a significant resurgence of pro-Romanian nationalism among Moldovans. The most prominent of these movements was the Popular Front of Moldova (PFM). In early 1988, the PFM demanded that the Soviet authorities declare Moldovan the only state language, return to the use of the Latin alphabet, and recognise the shared ethnic identity of Moldovans and Romanians. The more radical factions of the PFM espoused extreme anti-minority, ethnocentric and chauvinist positions,  calling for minority populations, particularly the Slavs (mainly Russians and Ukrainians) and Gagauz, to leave or be expelled from Moldova.

On 31 August 1989, the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian SSR adopted Moldovan as the official language with Russian retained only for secondary purposes, returned Moldovan to the Latin alphabet, and declared a shared Moldovan-Romanian linguistic identity. As plans for major cultural changes in Moldova were made public, tensions rose further. Ethnic minorities felt threatened by the prospects of removing Russian as the official language, which served as the medium of interethnic communication, and by the possible future reunification of Moldova and Romania, as well as the ethnocentric rhetoric of the PFM. The Yedinstvo (Unity) Movement, established by the Slavic population of Moldova, pressed for equal status for both the Russian and Moldovan languages. Transnistria's ethnic and linguistic composition differed significantly from most of the rest of Moldova. The proportion of ethnic Russians and Ukrainians was especially high and an overall majority of the population, some of them Moldovans, spoke Russian as their mother tongue.

The nationalist PFM won the first free parliamentary elections in the Moldavian SSR in early 1990, and its agenda started slowly to be implemented. On 2 September 1990, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (PMSSR) was proclaimed as a Soviet republic by an ad hoc assembly, the Second Congress of the Peoples' Representatives of Transnistria, following a successful referendum. Violence escalated when in October 1990 the PFM called for volunteers to form armed militias to stop an autonomy referendum in Gagauzia, which had an even higher proportion of ethnic minorities. In response, volunteer militias were formed in Transnistria. In April 1990, nationalist mobs attacked ethnic Russian members of parliament, while the Moldovan police refused to intervene or restore order.

In the interest of preserving a unified Moldavian SSR within the USSR and preventing the situation escalating further, then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, while citing the restriction of civil rights of ethnic minorities by Moldova as the cause of the dispute, declared the Transnistria proclamation to be devoid of a legal basis and annulled it by presidential decree on 22 December 1990. Nevertheless, no significant action was taken against Transnistria and the new authorities were slowly able to establish control of the region.

Following the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian SSR declared its independence from the Soviet Union. On 5 November 1991 Transnistria abandoned its socialist ideology and was renamed "Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic".

Transnistria War
The Transnistria War followed armed clashes on a limited scale that broke out between Transnistrian separatists and Moldova as early as November 1990 at Dubăsari. Volunteers, including Cossacks, came from Russia to help the separatist side. In mid-April 1992, under the agreements on the split of the military equipment of the former Soviet Union negotiated between the former 15 republics in the previous months, Moldova created its own Defence Ministry. According to the decree of its creation, most of the 14th Guards Army's military equipment was to be retained by Moldova. Starting from 2 March 1992, there was concerted military action between Moldova and Transnistria. The fighting intensified throughout early 1992. The former Soviet 14th Guards Army entered the conflict in its final stage, opening fire against Moldovan forces; approximately 700 people were killed. Moldova has since then exercised no effective control or influence on Transnistrian authorities. A ceasefire agreement, signed on 21 July 1992, has held to the present day.

Further negotiations
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is trying to facilitate a negotiated settlement. Under OSCE auspices, on 8 May 1997, Moldovan President Petru Lucinschi and Transnistrian President Igor Smirnov, signed the "Memorandum on the principles of normalization of relations between the Republic of Moldova and Transnistria", also known as the "Primakov Memorandum", sustaining the establishment of legal and state relations, although the memorandum's provisions were interpreted differently by the two governments.

In November 2003, Dmitry Kozak, a counselor of Russian president Vladimir Putin, proposed a memorandum on the creation of an asymmetric federal Moldovan state, with Moldova holding a majority and Transnistria being a minority part of the federation. Known as "the Kozak memorandum", it did not coincide with the Transnistrian position, which sought equal status between Transnistria and Moldova, but gave Transnistria veto powers over future constitutional changes, thus encouraging Transnistria to sign it. Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin was initially supportive of the plan, but refused to sign it after internal opposition and international pressure from the OSCE and US, and after Russia had endorsed the Transnistrian demand to maintain a Russian military presence for the next 20 years as a guarantee for the intended federation.

The 5+2 format (or 5+2 talks, comprising Transnistria, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE, plus the United States and the EU as external observers) for negotiation was started in 2005 to deal with the problems, but without results for many years as it was suspended. In February 2011, talks were resumed in Vienna, continuing through to 2018 with some minor agreements being reached. Moldova had, by 2023, dropped the term 5+2 in diplomatic discussions.

After the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in March 2014, the head of the Transnistrian parliament asked to join Russia.

After the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Ukraine sealed its border with Transnistria, which had been the primary route for goods to enter the region. As such, Transnistria is wholly reliant on Moldova to allow imports through its own border. Transnistrian politicians have grown increasingly anxious about the situation, and in 2024 the Supreme Council was convened for the first time since 2006, with the council requesting economic assistance from Russia, and stating that Moldova was actively committing a genocide in the region.

The harsh language towards Moldova, coupled with the Russian-backed Șor protests, and an attempted coup plotted by the Wagner Group has shifted Moldova further towards the European Union, and thus less likely to enter negotiations for economic relief from Transnistria. Transnistria's vaguely worded request for "protection" from Russia has led to fears that, instead of offering economic aid, Russia will attempt to "annex" the region, as they did with occupied Ukraine in 2022.

Geography
Transnistria is landlocked and borders Bessarabia (the region the Republic of Moldova is based on, for 411 km) to the west, and Ukraine (for 405 km) to the east. It is a narrow valley stretching north-south along the bank of the Dniester river, which forms a natural boundary along most of the de facto border with Moldova.

The territory controlled by the PMR is mostly, but not completely, conterminous with the left (eastern) bank of Dniester. It includes ten cities and towns, and 69 communes, with a total of 147 localities (including here those unincorporated). Six communes on the left bank (Cocieri, Molovata Nouă, Corjova, Pîrîta, Coșnița, and Doroțcaia) remained under the control of the Moldovan government after the Transnistria War of 1992, as part of the Dubăsari District. They are situated north and south of the city of Dubăsari, which itself is under PMR control. The village of Roghi of Molovata Nouă Commune is also controlled by the PMR (Moldova controls the other nine of the 10 villages of the six communes).

On the west bank, in Bessarabia, the city of Bender (Tighina) and four communes (containing six villages) to its east, south-east, and south, on the opposite bank of the river Dniester from the city of Tiraspol (Proteagailovca, Gîsca, Chițcani, and Cremenciug) are controlled by the PMR.

The localities controlled by Moldova on the eastern bank, the village of Roghi, and the city of Dubăsari (situated on the eastern bank and controlled by the PMR) form a security zone along with the six villages and one city controlled by the PMR on the western bank, as well as two (Varnița and Copanca) on the same west bank under Moldovan control. The security situation inside it is subject to the Joint Control Commission rulings.

The main transportation route in Transnistria is the road from Tiraspol to Rîbnița through Dubăsari. North and south of Dubăsari it passes through the lands of the villages controlled by Moldova (Doroțcaia, Cocieri, Roghi, while Vasilievca is located entirely to the east of the road). Conflict erupted on several occasions when the PMR prevented the villagers from reaching their farmland east of the road.

Transnistrians are able to travel (normally without difficulty) in and out of the territory under PMR control to neighbouring Moldovan-controlled territory and to Ukraine. International air travellers rely on the airport in the Moldovan capital Chișinău, or the airport in Odesa, in Ukraine.

The climate is humid continental with subtropical characteristics. Transnistria has warm summers and cool to cold winters. Precipitation is unvarying all year round, although with a slight increase in the summer months.

Administrative divisions
Transnistria is subdivided into five districts (raions) and one municipality, the city of Tiraspol (which is entirely surrounded by but administratively distinct from Slobozia District), listed below from north to south (Russian names and transliterations are appended in parentheses). In addition, another municipality, the City of Bender, situated on the western bank of the Dniester, in Bessarabia, and geographically outside Transnistria, is not part of the territorial unit of Transnistria as defined by the Moldovan central authorities, but it is controlled by the PMR authorities, which consider it part of PMR's administrative organisation:

Each of the districts is further divided into cities and communes.

Political status

All UN member states consider Transnistria a legal part of the Republic of Moldova. Only the partially recognised or unrecognised states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have recognised Transnistria as a sovereign entity after it declared independence from Moldova in 1990 with Tiraspol as its declared capital.

Between 1929 and 1940, Tiraspol functioned as the capital of the Moldavian ASSR, an autonomous republic that existed from 1924 to 1940 within the Ukrainian SSR.

Although exercising no direct control over the territory of Transnistria, the Moldovan government passed the "Law on Basic Provisions of the Special Legal Status of Localities from the Left Bank of the Dniester" on 22 July 2005, which established part of Transnistria (territory of Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic without Bender and without territories, which are under control of Moldova) as the Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester within the Republic of Moldova.

According to the 2004 census, the population of Transnistria comprised 555,347 people, while at the 2015 census the population decreased to 475,373. In 2004, 90% of the population of Transnistria were citizens of Transnistria. Transnistrians may have dual, triple or even quadruple citizenship of internationally recognised countries, including:
 * Citizens of Moldova: around 300,000 people (including dual citizens of Moldova and Russia, around 20,000 ) or of Moldova and the EU states (around 80%) of Romania, Bulgaria, or the Czech Republic
 * Citizens of Romania: unknown number
 * Citizens of Russia: around 150,000 people (including around 15,000 dual citizens of Belarus, Israel, Turkey); excluding those holding dual citizenship of Russia and of Moldova (around 20,000)
 * Citizens of Ukraine: around 100,000 people There are around 20,000–30,000 people with dual citizenship (Moldova and Ukraine, or Russia and Ukraine) or triple citizenship (Moldova, Russia and Ukraine). They are included in the number of Ukrainian citizens.
 * Persons without citizenship: around 20,000–30,000 people

Fifteen villages from the 11 communes of Dubăsari District, including Cocieri and Doroțcaia that geographically are located on the east bank of the Dniester (in Transnistria region), have been under the control of the central government of Moldova after the involvement of local inhabitants on the side of Moldovan forces during the War of Transnistria. These villages, along with Varnița and Copanca, near Bender and Tiraspol, are claimed by the PMR. One city (Bender) and six villages located on the west bank (in Bessarabia region) are controlled by the PMR, but are considered by Moldova as a separate municipality (Bender and village of Proteagailovca) or part of the Căușeni District (five villages in three communes).

Tense situations have periodically surfaced due to these territorial disputes, such as in 2005, when Transnistrian forces entered Vasilievca, in 2006 around Varnița, and in 2007 in the Dubăsari-Cocieri area, when a confrontation between Moldovan and Transnistrian forces occurred, though without any casualties.

June 2010 surveys indicated that 13% of Transnistria's population desired the area's reintegration into Moldova in the condition of territorial autonomy, while 46% wanted Transnistria to be part of the Russian Federation.

International relations

Transnistria is a non-UN member state recognised as independent only by Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both being non-UN member states with limited recognition.

Nina Shtanski served as Transnistria's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2015; Vitaly Ignatiev succeeded her as minister. In 2024 Vitaly Ignatiev was declared wanted by the Security Service of Ukraine due to suspicion of collaboration and encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Government and politics
Transnistria is a presidential republic. The president is directly elected for a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms. The current President is Vadim Krasnoselsky.

The Supreme Council is a unicameral legislature. It has 43 members who are elected for 5-year terms. Elections take place within a multi-party system. The majority in the Parliament of Transnistria belongs to the Renewal movement that defeated the Republic party affiliated with Igor Smirnov in 2005 and performed even better in the 2010 and 2015 elections. Elections in Transnistria are not recognised by international bodies such as the European Union, as well as numerous individual countries, who called them a source of increased tensions.

There is disagreement over whether elections in Transnistria are free and fair. The political regime has been described as one of "super-presidentialism". During the 2006 presidential election, the registration of opposition candidate Andrey Safonov was delayed until a few days before the vote, so that he had little time to conduct an election campaign. Some sources consider election results suspect. In 2001, in one region it was reported that Igor Smirnov collected 103.6% of the votes. The PMR government said "the government of Moldova launched a campaign aimed at convincing international observers not to attend" an election held on 11 December 2005 – but monitors from the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States election monitors ignored that and declared the ballot democratic.

The opposition Narodovlastie party and Power to the People movement were outlawed at the beginning of 2000 and eventually dissolved.

A list published by the European Union had banned travel to the EU for some members of the Transnistrian leadership. Lifted by 2012.

In 2007, the registration of a Social Democratic Party was allowed. This party, led by a former separatist leader and member of the PMR government Andrey Safonov, allegedly favours a union with Moldova.

In September 2007, the leader of the Transnistrian Communist Party, Oleg Khorzhan, was sentenced to a suspended sentence of 1½ years' imprisonment for organising unsanctioned actions of protest.

According to the 2006 referendum, carried out by the PMR government, 97.2% of the population voted in favour of "independence from Moldova and free association with Russia". EU and several other countries refused to recognise the referendum results.

Residents will have the opportunity to vote in Moldova's referendum on joining the EU, planned for autumn 2024. There will be no voting stations within Transnistria, however residents will be free to travel into other areas of Moldova to vote, should they wish to.

Transnistria border customs dispute
On 3 March 2006, Ukraine introduced new customs regulations on its border with Transnistria. Ukraine declared that it would import goods from Transnistria only with documents processed by Moldovan customs offices as part of the implementation of the joint customs protocol agreed between Ukraine and Moldova on 30 December 2005. Transnistria and Russia termed the act an "economic blockade".

The United States, the European Union, and the OSCE approved the Ukrainian move, while Russia saw it as a means of political pressure. On 4 March, Transnistria responded by blocking the Moldovan and Ukrainian transport at the borders of Transnistria. The Transnistrian block was lifted after two weeks. However, the Moldovan/Ukrainian block remains in place and holds up progress in status settlement negotiations between the sides. In the months after the regulations, exports from Transnistria declined drastically. Transnistria declared a "humanitarian catastrophe" in the region, while Moldova called the declaration "deliberate misinformation". Cargoes of humanitarian aid were sent from Russia in response.

Russian military presence in Transnistria
The 1992 cease-fire agreement between Moldova and Transnistria established a Russian "peacekeeper" presence in Transnistria and a 1,200-member Russian military contingent is present in Transnistria. Russian troops stationed in parts of Moldova except Transnistria since the time of the USSR were fully withdrawn to Russia by January 1993.

In April 1995, the Soviet 14th Guards Army became the Operational Group of Russian Forces, which by the 2010s had shrunk to two battalions and no more than 1,500 troops.

On 21 October 1994, Russia and Moldova signed an agreement that committed Russia to the withdrawal of the troops in three years from the date of entry into force of the agreement; this did not come into effect, however, because the Russian Duma did not ratify it. The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) included a paragraph about the removal of Russian troops from Moldova's territory and was introduced into the text of the OSCE Summit Declaration of Istanbul (1999) in which Russia had committed itself to pulling out its troops from Transnistria by the end of 2002. However, even after 2002, the Russian parliament did not ratify the Istanbul accords. On 19 July 2004, after it finally passed through parliament President Vladimir Putin signed the Law on the ratification of the CFE Treaty in Europe, which committed Russia to remove the heavy armaments limited by this Treaty. During 2000–2001, although the CFE Treaty was not fully ratified, to comply with it, Moscow withdrew 125 pieces of Treaty Limited Equipment (TLE) and 60 railway wagons containing ammunition from the Transnistrian region of Moldova. In 2002, Russia withdrew three trainloads (118 railway wagons) of military equipment and two (43 wagons) of ammunition from the Transnistrian region of Moldova, and in 2003, 11 rail convoys transporting military equipment and 31 transporting ammunition. According to the OSCE Mission to Moldova, of a total of 42,000 tons of ammunition stored in Transnistria, 1,153 tons (3%) was transported back to Russia in 2001, 2,405 tons (6%) in 2002 and 16,573 tons (39%) in 2003.

Andrei Stratan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova, stated in his speech during the 12th OSCE Ministerial Council Meeting in Sofia on 6–7 December 2004 that "The presence of Russian troops on the territory of the Republic of Moldova is against the political will of Moldovan constitutional authorities and defies the unanimously recognized international norms and principles, being qualified by Moldovan authorities as a foreign military occupation illegally deployed on the territory of the state". however, Russia insists that it has already fulfilled those obligations. It states the remaining troops are serving as peacekeepers authorised under the 1992 ceasefire, are not in violation of the Istanbul accords and will remain until the conflict is fully resolved. On the other hand, Moldova believes that fewer than 500 soldiers are authorised pursuant to the ceasefire and, in 2015, began to arrest and deport Russian soldiers who are part of the excess forces and attempt to use Moldovan airports.

In a NATO resolution on 18 November 2008, Russia was urged to withdraw its military presence from the "Transdnestrian region of Moldova".

In 2011, US Senator John McCain claimed in a visit to Moldova that Moscow is violating the territorial integrity of Moldova and Georgia and one of the "fundamental norms" of "international behavior". On 21 May 2015, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law terminating five co-operation agreements with Russia. This law effectively terminates the "Agreement on transit of Russian military units temporarily located on the territory of the Republic of Moldova through the territory of Ukraine" dated 4 December 1998.

One point of access for Russian soldiers travelling to Transnistria remains Chișinău International Airport and the short overland journey from there to Tiraspol. Over the years, Moldova has largely permitted Russian officers and soldiers to transit the airport on their way to Transnistria, though occasionally it blocked those that were not clearly identified as international peacekeepers or who failed to give sufficient advance notice. Chișinău Airport would likely only ever agree to the possibility of moving employees, officers, and soldiers of the stationed forces. The passage of soldiers of the 14th Guards Army would be illegal.

On 27 June 2016, a new law entered in force in Transnistria, punishing actions or public statements, including through the usage of mass media, networks of information and telecommunications or the Internet, criticising the military mission of the Russian Army stationed in Transnistria, or presenting interpretations perceived to be "false" by the Transnistrian government of the Russian Army's military mission. The punishment is up to three years of jail for ordinary people or up to seven years of jail if the crime was committed by a person of responsibility or a group of persons by prior agreement.

Russian invasion of Ukraine
After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Transnistria declared it would maintain its neutrality in the situation and denied claims that it would assist in the attack on Ukraine.

During the prelude to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian military intelligence stated on 14 January 2022 that they had evidence that the Russian government was covertly planning false flag "provocations" against Russian soldiers stationed in Transnistria, which would be used to justify a Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Russian government denied the claims. In that prelude, similar unattributed clashes happened in Donbas in February 2022: Ukraine denied being involved in those incidents and called them a false flag operation as well.

On 15 March 2022, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recognised Transnistria as a Moldovan territory occupied by Russia.

On 14 April 2022, one of Ukraine's deputy defence ministers, Hanna Maliar, stated that Russia was massing its troops along the borders with Transnistria but the Transnistrian authorities denied it. According to the Transnistrian authorities, on April 25 there was an attack on the premises of the Ministry for State Security and on the next day two transmitting antennas broadcasting Russian radio programs at Grigoriopol transmitter near the Ukrainian border were blown up. The Moldovan authorities called these events a provocation aimed at destabilising the situation in the region. The Russian army has a military base, a large ammunition dump and about 1,500 soldiers stationed in Transnistria, stating that they are there as "peacekeepers".

Since the invasion of Ukraine, Transnistria has lost its economic connections with Ukraine and has had to rely and become more dependent on Moldova and trade links to the EU, resulting in an intensification of dialogue and collaboration, such as the help provided to Ukrainian refugees.

Law
Laws available on official Pridnestrovian sources categorise legislation (laws) in 12 areas. This area of legislation concerns the establishment of the Supreme Court, Arbitration Court, the Constitutional Court and the judicial and governmental system of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. It also concerns the establishment of the statuses of some government officials, such as Judges, Deputies of the Supreme Council and the Prosecutors' Office. It also establishes a commissioner for human rights, special legal regimes, citizenship law, This category also contains amendments to the constitutional order, and its procedure to make alterations to the constitution.
 * The Constitution, a codex containing 28 consolidated legislative acts.
 * Laws relating to the foundational law and constitutional system, a codex containing 81 legislative acts.
 * Laws relating to the budget, finance, economic and taxation, a codex containing 55 legislative acts.
 * Laws relating to the judicial system and its procedures, a codex containing 13 legislative acts.
 * Laws relating to criminal, customs and administrative law, a codex containing 12 legislative acts.
 * Laws relating to the military and defence sector, a codex containing 16 legislative acts.
 * Laws relating to the civil, housing and family Law, a codex containing 28 legislative acts.
 * Laws relating to healthcare and social protection, a codex containing 49 legislative acts.
 * Laws relating to the field of agriculture and ecology, A codex containing 28 legislative acts.
 * Laws relating to industry, trade, privatisation, construction, transport, energy and communications, a codex containing 42 legislative acts.
 * Laws relating to education, culture, sports, youth policy, media, and implementation of political rights and freedoms of citizens, a codex containing 43 legislative acts.
 * Laws relating to government programs and government targeted programs, a codex containing 20 legislative acts.

Military
, the armed forces and the paramilitary of Transnistria were composed of around 4,500–7,500 soldiers, divided into four motorised infantry brigades in Tiraspol, Bender, Rîbnița, and Dubăsari. They have 18 tanks, 107 armoured personnel carriers, 73 field guns, 46 anti-aircraft installations, and 173 tank destroyer units. The airforce is composed of 1 Mi-8T and 1 Mi-24 helicopter. Previous aircraft operated were Antonov An-26, Antonov An-2, and Yakovlev Yak-52 fixed wing and Mil Mi-2 and other Mi-8T and Mi-24 helicopters.

2015 census
In October 2015, Transnistrian authorities organised another separate census from the 2014 Moldovan census. According to the 2015 census, the population of the region was 475,373, a 14.5% decrease from the figure recorded in the 2004 census. The urbanisation rate was 69.9%. By ethnic composition, the population of Transnistria was distributed as follows: Russians – 29.1%, Moldovans – 28.6%, Ukrainians – 22.9%, Bulgarians – 2.4%, Gagauzians – 1.1%, Belarusians – 0.5%, Transnistrian – 0.2%, other nationalities – 1.4%. About 14% of the population did not declare their nationality. Also, for the first time, the population had the option to identify as "Transnistrian".

According to another source, the largest ethnic groups in 2015 were 161,300 Russians (34%), 156,600 Moldovans (33%), and 126,700 Ukrainians (26.7%). Bulgarians comprised 13,300 (2.8%), Gagauz 5,700 (1.2%) and Belarusians 2,800 (0.6%). Germans accounted for 1,400 or 0.3% and Poles for 1,000 or 0.2%. Others accounted for 5,700 people or 1.2%.

2004 census
In 2004, Transnistrian authorities organised a separate census from the 2004 Moldovan Census. As per 2004 census, in the areas controlled by the PMR government, there were 555,347 people, including 177,785 Moldovans (32.1%) 168,678 Russians (30.4%) 160,069 Ukrainians (28.8%) 13,858 Bulgarians (2.5%) 4,096 Gagauzians (0.7%), 1,791 Poles (0.3%), 1,259 Jews (0.2%), 507 Roma (0.1%) and 27,454 others (4.9%).

Of these, 439,243 lived in Transnistria itself, and 116,104 lived in localities controlled by the PMR government, but formally belonging to other districts of Moldova: the city of Bender (Tighina), the communes of Proteagailovca, Gîsca, Chițcani, Cremenciug, and the village of Roghi of commune Molovata Nouă.

Moldovans were the largest ethnic group, representing an overall majority in the two districts in the central Transnistria (Dubăsari District, 50.2%, and Grigoriopol District, 64.8%) a 47.8% relative majority in the northern Camenca District, and a 41.5% relative majority in the southern (Slobozia District). In Rîbnița District they were a 29.9% minority, and in the city of Tiraspol, they constituted a 15.2% minority of the population.

As per last census, Russians were the second largest ethnic group, representing a 41.6% relative majority in the city of Tiraspol, a 24.1% minority in Slobozia, a 19.0% minority in Dubăsari, a 17.2% minority in Râbnița, a 15.3% minority in Grigoriopol, and a 6.9% minority in Camenca.

Ukrainians were the third largest ethnic group, representing a 45.41% relative majority in the northern Rîbnița District, a 42.6% minority in Camenca, a 33.0% minority in Tiraspol, a 28.3% minority in Dubăsari, a 23.4% minority in Slobozia, and a 17.4% minority in Grigoriopol. A substantial number of Poles clustered in northern Transnistria were Ukrainianised during Soviet rule.

Bulgarians were the fourth largest ethnic group in Transnistria, albeit much less numerous than the three larger ethnicities. Most Bulgarians in Transnistria are Bessarabian Bulgarians, descendants of expatriates who settled in Bessarabia in the 18th–19th century. The major centre of Bulgarians in Transnistria is the large village of Parcani (situated between the cities of Tiraspol and Bender), which had an absolute Bulgarian majority and a total population of around 10,000.

In Bender (Tighina) and the other non-Transnistria localities under PMR control, ethnic Russians represented a 43.4% relative majority, followed by Moldovans at 26.2%, Ukrainians at 17.1%, Bulgarians at 2.9%, Gagauzians at 1.0%, Jews at 0.3%, Poles at 0.2%, Roma at 0.1%, and others at 7.8%.

1989 census
At the census of 1989, the population was 679,000 (including all the localities in the security zone, even those under Moldovan control). The ethnic composition of the region has been unstable in recent history, with the most notable change being the decreasing share of Moldovan and Jewish population segments and increase of the Russian. For example, the percentage of Russians grew from 13.7% in 1926 to 25.5% in 1989 and further to 30.4% in 2004, while the Moldovan population decreased from 44.1% in 1926 to 39.9% in 1989 and 31.9% in 2004. Only the proportion of Ukrainians remained reasonably stable – 27.2% in 1926, 28.3% in 1989 and 28.8% in 2004.

Religion
PMR official statistics show that 92% of the Transnistrian population adhere to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, with 4% adhering to Roman Catholicism. Roman Catholics are mainly located in northern Transnistria, where a notable Polish minority lives.

Transnistria's government has supported the restoration and construction of new Orthodox churches. It affirms that the republic has freedom of religion and states that 114 religious beliefs and congregations are officially registered. However, as recently as 2005, registration hurdles were met with by some religious groups, notably the Jehovah's Witnesses. In 2007, the US-based Christian Broadcasting Network denounced the persecution of Protestants in Transnistria.

Economy
Transnistria has a mixed economy. Following a large scale privatisation process in the late 1990s, most of the companies in Transnistria are now privately owned. The economy is based on a mix of heavy industry (steel production), electricity production, and manufacturing (textile production), which together account for about 80% of the total industrial output.

Transnistria has its own central bank, the Transnistrian Republican Bank, which issues its national currency, the Transnistrian ruble. It is convertible at a freely floating exchange rate but only in Transnistria.

Transnistria's economy is frequently described as dependent on contraband and gunrunning. Some commentators, including Zbigniew Brzezinski, have even labelled it a mafia state. These allegations are denied by the Transnistrian government, and sometimes downplayed by the officials of Russia and Ukraine.

Economic history
After World War II, Transnistria was heavily industrialised, to the point that, in 1990, it was responsible for 40% of Moldova's GDP and 90% of its electricity, although it accounted for only 17% of Moldova's population. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Transnistria wanted to return to a "Brezhnev-style planned economy". However, several years later, it decided to head toward a market economy.

Macroeconomics
According to the government of Transnistria, the 2007 GDP was 6789 mln ruble (appx US$799 million) and the GDP per capita was about US$1,500. The GDP increased by 11.1% and inflation rate was 19.3% with the GDP per capita now being $2,140, higher than Moldova's GDP per capita that is $2,040. Transnistria's government budget for 2007 was US$246 million, with an estimated deficit of about US$100 million that the government planned to cover with income from privatisations. The budget for 2008 is US$331 million, with an estimated deficit of about US$80 million.

In 2004, Transnistria had debts of US$1.2 billion (two-thirds are with Russia) that was per capita about six times higher than in Moldova (without Transnistria). In March 2007 the debt to Gazprom for the acquisition of natural gas increased to US$1.3 billion. On 22 March 2007 Gazprom sold Transnistria's gas debt to the Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov, who controls Moldova Steel Works, the largest enterprise in Transnistria. Transnistria's president Igor Smirnov has announced that Transnistria will not pay its gas debt because "Transnistria has no legal debt to Gazprom". In November 2007, the total debt of Transnistria's public sector was up to US$1.64 billion.

According to a 2007 interview with Yevgeny Shevchuk, the then-speaker of the Transnistrian Supreme Council, Transnistria is in a difficult economic situation. Despite a 30% tax increase in 2007, the pension fund is still lacking money and emergency measures must be taken. However, Shevchuk mentioned that the situation is not hopeless and it cannot be considered a crisis, as a crisis means three-month delays in payment of pensions and salaries.

In the first half of 2023 the economic situation worsened with imports increasing 12% to $1.32 billion and exports falling by 10% to just $346m, the trade deficit of $970m, almost equal to the GDP of Transnistria in the whole of 2021, being financed by the non-payment of natural gas supplies from Russia.

External trade
In 2020, the Transnistrian Customs reported exports of US$633.1 million and imports of US$1,052.7 million. In the early 2000s over 50% of the export went to the CIS, mainly to Russia, but also to Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova (which Transnistrian authorities consider foreign). Main non-CIS markets for the Transnistrian goods were Italy, Egypt, Greece, Romania, and Germany. The CIS accounted for over 60% of the imports, while the share of the EU was about 23%. The main imports were non-precious metals, food products, and electricity.

After Moldova signed the Association Agreement with the EU in 2014, Transnistria – being claimed as part of Moldova – enjoyed the tariff-free exports to the EU. As a result, in 2015, 27% of Transnistria's US$189 million exports went to the EU, while exports to Russia went down to 7.7%. This shift towards the EU market continued to grow in 2016.

From March 2022, with the Ukrainian border closed to Transnistria, all trade goods to and from Transnistria have needed to flow through Moldova, Transnistria now has to comply with Moldovan and EU standards when exporting products. Transnistria reported on trade in the first half of 2023. 48% of exports were to the rest of Moldova, over 33% went to the EU and 9% to Russia. 68% of imports came from Russia, 14% from the EU and 7% from Moldova.

In 2024 as a result of the free trade agreement between Moldova and the European Union, from which Transnistria also benefits, Moldova decided that imports/exports to/from Transnistria should be treated the same as imports/exports to/from Moldova, accordingly Transnistria importers wishing to import from/through Moldova must register and may, depending on the goods, be subject to taxes on imported goods, payable to Moldova.

Economic sectors
The leading industry is steel, due to the Moldova Steel Works (part of the Russian Metalloinvest holding) in Rîbnița, which accounts for about 60% of the budget revenue of Transnistria. The largest company in the textile industry is Tirotex, which claims to be the second largest textile company in Europe. The energy sector is dominated by Russian companies. The largest power company Moldavskaya GRES (Cuciurgan power station) is in Dnestrovsc and owned by Inter RAO UES, and the gas transmission and distribution company Tiraspoltransgas is probably controlled by Gazprom, although Gazprom has not confirmed the ownership officially. The banking sector of Transnistria consists of 8 commercial banks, including Gazprombank. The oldest alcohol producer KVINT, located in Tiraspol, produces and exports brandy, wines and vodka.

Education
Transnistria has kept to the Russian educational standards, mainly using the Russian curriculum.

Higher education diplomas issued by Transnistria are not recognised in many countries, resulting in graduates being unable to obtain well-paid jobs in Moldova or Western countries, leaving Russia as the default location for students and graduates.

Human rights
The human rights record of Transnistria has been criticised by several governments and international organisations. The 2007 Freedom in the World report, published by the U.S.-based Freedom House, described Transnistria as a "non-free" territory, having an equally bad situation in both political rights and civil liberties.

According to a 2006 U.S. Department of State report:

"The right of citizens to change their government was restricted... Authorities reportedly continued to use torture and arbitrary arrest and detention... In Transnistria authorities limited freedom of speech and of the press... Authorities usually did not permit free assembly... In the separatist region of Transnistria the authorities continued to deny registration and harassed a number of minority religious groups... The separatist region remained a significant source and transit area for trafficking in persons..."

LGBT rights
Transnistria does not recognize same-sex unions. The Code of Marriage and Family that came into force in 2002 states that marriage is a voluntary marital union between a man and a woman. The Code does not recognize other types of partnership for both opposite-sex and same-sex couples other than marriage.

Media
There is a regular mix of modern news media in Transnistria with a number of television stations, newspapers, and radio stations.

According to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) the media climate in Transnistria is restrictive and the authorities continue a long-standing campaign to silence independent opposition voices and groups.

According to a US Department of State report for 2006, "Both of the region's major newspapers were controlled by the authorities. There was one independent weekly newspaper in Bender and another in the northern city of Rîbnița... Separatist authorities harassed independent newspapers for critical reporting of the Transnistrian regime... Most television and radio stations and print publication were controlled by Transnistrian authorities, which largely dictated their editorial policies and finance operations. Some broadcast networks, such as the TSV television station and the INTER-FM radio station, were owned by Transnistria's largest monopoly, Sheriff, which also holds a majority in the region's legislature... In July 2005 the Transnistrian Supreme Council amended the election code to prohibit media controlled by the Transnistrian authorities from publishing results of polls and forecasts related to elections."

Romanian-language schools

Public education in the Romanian language (officially called Moldovan language in Transnistria) is done using the Soviet-originated Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet. The usage of the Latin script was restricted to only six schools. Four of these schools were forcibly closed by the authorities, for alleged refusal of the schools to apply for official accreditation. These schools were later registered as private schools and reopened, a development which may have been accelerated by pressure from the European Union.

The OSCE mission to Moldova has urged local authorities in the Transnistrian city of Rîbnița to return a confiscated building to the Moldovan Latin script school in the city. The unfinished building was nearing completion in 2004 when Transnistria took control of it during that year's school crisis.

In November 2005 Ion Iovcev, the principal of a Romanian-language school in Transnistria and active advocate for human rights as well as a critic of the Transnistrian leadership, received threatening calls that he attributed to his criticism of the separatist regime.

In August 2021, the Transnistrian government refused to register the Lucian Blaga High School at Tiraspol and forced it to suspend its activities for three months, which will affect the school year of the students of the school and constitutes a violation of several articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Arms control and disarmament
Following the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the Russian 14th Army left 40,000 tons of weaponry and ammunition in Transnistria. In later years there were concerns that the Transnistrian authorities would try to sell these stocks internationally, and intense pressure was applied to have these removed by Russia.

In 2000 and 2001, Russia withdrew by rail 141 self-propelled artillery pieces and other armoured vehicles and destroyed locally, 108 T-64 tanks and 139 other pieces of military equipment limited by the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE). During 2002 and 2003 Russian military officials destroyed a further 51 armoured vehicles, all of which were types not limited by the CFE Treaty. The OSCE also observed and verified the withdrawal of 48 trains with military equipment and ammunition in 2003. However, no further withdrawal activities have taken place since March 2004 and a further 20,000 tons of ammunition, as well as some remaining military equipment, are still to be removed.

In the autumn of 2006, the Transnistrian leadership agreed to let an OSCE inspectorate examine the munitions and further access was agreed moving forward.

Recent weapons inspections were permitted by Transnistria and conducted by the OSCE. The onus of responsibility rests on Russia to remove the rest of the supplies.

Transnistrian authorities declared that they are not involved in the manufacture or export of weapons. OSCE and European Union officials stated in 2005 that there is no evidence that Transnistria "has ever trafficked arms or nuclear material" and much of the alarm is due to the Moldovan government's attempts to pressure Transnistria.

In 2007, foreign experts working on behalf of the United Nations said that the historically low levels of transparency and continued denial of full investigations to international monitors have reinforced negative perceptions of the Transnistrian government, although recent co-operation by Transnistrian authorities may have reflected a shift in the attitude of Transnistria. Their report stated that the evidence for the illicit production and trafficking of weapons into and from Transnistria, has in the past been exaggerated, although the trafficking of light weapons is likely to have occurred before 2001 (the last year when export data showed US$900,000 worth of 'weapons, munitions, their parts and accessories' exported from Transnistria). The report also states that the same holds true for the production of such weapons, which is likely to have been carried out in the 1990s, primarily to equip Transnistrian forces.

The OSCE mission spokesman Claus Neukirch spoke about this situation: "There is often talk about sale of armaments from Transnistria, but there is no convincing evidence".

In 2010, Viktor Kryzhanivsky, Ukraine's special envoy on Transnistria, stated that there was no ongoing arms or drug trafficking through the Transnistrian section of the Ukrainian-Moldovan border at the time.

Sport
Transnistria is notable for being home to the Sheriff Tiraspol football club, which in 2021 became the first team representing Moldova to qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage. In 2022, UEFA blocked Sheriff from playing home games in Transnistria.

title: Transnistria


text:
Talk:Economy of East Germany

'familiar'
Why are western economies more familiar a priori? removed 'familiar' in the introduction

Communist state
East Germany was a self-declared socialist state and is only referred to in the West as a communist state. Hence, the introduction should not say "Like other Eastern European Communist states". Changed it to: "Like other states which were part of the Comecon ...". This should incliudes: --Ramon1928 (talk) 19:51, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Asian countires with a centrally planned economy
 * Does not imply that a centrally planned economy is crucial for communist state (especially for self-declared communist states)

Coffee Crisis (1976–1979)
The GDR Coffee Crisis and the generic German coffee culture is subject of a research project of University of Hamburg and Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur. I have done a german article on the subject and will translate it into english, first draft on my user site. Help and suggestions are warmely welcome. BR --Polentario (talk) 19:28, 22 August 2008 (UTC)

P.S: other project include interesting subjects as e.g. "role of hunting in Eastern Germany" and relations of both german states to Yugoslawia.

Where does all of that information come from?
There's no ref list at all. This article could, frankly, be deleted. One could start by listing (here?) the most appropriate and authoritative sources. Is there an ex-GDR economist around? Tony  (talk)  02:55, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

This and its references could be a start. I don't speak German. Tony  (talk)  03:01, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Private Enterprise (legal and otherwise) in the GDR (and other socialist countries)
Reckon this deserves an subject deserves an article in its own right. A single section in an "economy of the GDR" article doesnt do it full justice and doesnt answer a lot of questions. How heavily taxed/regulated were such businesses ? What was the official attitude taken to business owners -particularly by the Stasi ? How many obstacles (bureaucratic and otherwise) were there to setting up and running such businesses ? Were these businesses allowed to employ people ? If a business turned out to be particularly successful did it not risk being expropriated by the State ? 86.112.55.209 (talk) 13:41, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

oddly missing information for the last years of the countries existence?
There is no info for the last days of the gdr? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.31.97.82 (talk) 07:55, 8 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Some very interesting material could be included.

Use of forced labor
The article contains no information regarding use of unfree labour in state-owned production facilities nor the East German practice of intermingling criminal and political prisoners in those facilities, see "Ikea Admits Forced Labor Was Used in 1980s". User:Fred Bauder Talk 13:38, 17 November 2012 (UTC)

"The estimated 100 billion worth of reparations taken from the East,[1] had it been invested in the East German Economy, with East Germany's average 18% rate of return on investments,[2] would have compounded to give East Germans a per-capita income 15 times the level of West Germans."

This is nonsense, really. If the "return" is the creation of more physical capital, this runs into immediate problems of decreasing marginal productivity. If it means a financial return (to be constantly reinvested!) then there are quite simply no assets that guarantee an 18% return over any significant period of time, not to mention the fact that they would have to be reinvested outside of the GDR. Also, the source provided for this source is "The triumph of evil". Not only is it an extremely biased source, but it makes a number of nonsensical economic comparisons, much of which rely on taking East German prices and exchange rates at face value, which is absurd in the context of a non-market economy.

I am in favour of deleting the passage.

79.6.161.75 (talk) 20:57, 13 March 2014 (UTC)

Possible unreliable source
I have tagged the following claim from the Reparations section as dubious: "The estimated 100 billion worth of reparations taken from the East,[1] had it been invested in the East German Economy, with East Germany's average 18% rate of return on investments,[2] would have compounded to give East Germans a per-capita income 15 times the level of West Germans.[3]". A per-capita income of 15 times West Germany is clearly absurd, but is that what source [3] really claims? Page 92 (chapter 2) of that source does indeed make that claim, but its accompanying note 1 on page 285 appears quite confused as to how investments and interest rates work in the real world. Page 92 claims 15, but its page 285 note claims "5-10". Even 5 times is clearly absurd. I seriously doubt that source has been peer reviewed and is at all reliable. The claim of 18% annual return on investmments over decades is also absurd but I cannot find source 2 "Von Ulbricht zu Honecker. Naumann, G. and E. Truempler. published 1990 East Berlin". I can read German so could anyone direct me to a readable source or source fragment? -84user (talk) 23:13, 7 April 2015 (UTC) Yes I agree with you — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.148.55.246 (talk) 12:23, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

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other source
According to the Economist Gerhard Heske, the GDP growth of the GDR was in Sum higher than in Westgermany, in his Studies he argued, that it was not the fault of the GDR economy, that the GDP was lower than in the West, but because of the worser starting condition.

According to him the GDP of the GDR rose between 1950 and 1989 about the factor of 558, while it rose in the west only 534. A short article about it: https://www.zeit.de/wirtschaft/2009-11/gerhard-heske-ddr The book: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40986016.pdf

I guess this study also should be used, because of neutrality. --188.216.212.16 (talk) 11:01, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

 * This is bullshit. The $ United States Dollar GDP per capita figures that can be found in all references on socialist countries are all based on their OFFICIAL exchange rates, which were always much different than on the black market, even though the demand for foreign currency on the black market was curtailed by the fact that you could be executed for buying foreign currency. --Yomal Sidoroff-Biarmskii (talk) 06:53, 17 March 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:Economy of East Germany