Rybnitsa, Transnistria

Something I received from a swap with Jaroslav in Moldova recently...



Rybnitsa is a city in Transnistria, Moldova. According to the 2004 Census in Transnistria, it has a population of 53,648. Rybnitsa is situated in the northern half of Transnistria, on the left bank of the Dniester, and separated from the river by a concrete dam. The city is the seat of the Rîbniţa sub-district.

Rybnitsa was founded in 1628 as a Moldavian village. As early as 1657, Rybnitsa was mentioned in documents as an important town, at the time part of the Kingdom of Poland. Strong Western European influences can be seen in this formerly Polish town. In 1793, Rybnitsa passed from Poland to Russia.

Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine. Since its declaration of independence in 1990, and especially after the War of Transnistria in 1992, it is governed de facto as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR, also known as "Pridnestrovie"), an unrecognized state which claims the territory to the east of the river Dniester, the city of Bender and its surrounding localities located on the west bank. The Republic of Moldova does not recognize the secession and considers territories controlled by the PMR to be part of Moldova's autonomous region of Stînga Nistrului ("Left Bank of the Dniester"). Transnistria's sovereignty is unrecognized by any United Nations member state and it has no diplomatic relations with them.



Transnistria has its own stamps but they are only used within Transnistria so Moldovan stamps have to be used for mail sent elsewhere. Shame, because it would've been interesting to see some local stamps. Anyway, the ones Jaroslav used are very pretty as well. The one on the right is from a set of 4 stamps issued in 1998, depicting Costumes. The other stamp is from a set of 2 from 2008 showing Deer, and also a joint issue with Kazakhstan.