It is a breakaway state in the narrow strip between the Dniester River and the Ukrainian border, and is currently internationally recognized as part of Moldova. Its capital is Tiraspol. Transnistria has been recognized by three other, mostly unrecognized, states: Abkhazia, Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), and South Ossetia. Transnistria was designated by the Transnistrian Autonomous Territory. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, tensions between Moldova and the breakaway Transnistrian territories escalated into a military conflict that began in March 1992 and ended with a ceasefire in July of the same year. As part of that agreement, a tripartite Joint Monitoring Commission (Russia, Moldova, and Transnistria) oversees security arrangements in the demilitarized zone, which includes twenty areas on both sides of the river. Despite the ceasefire, the political status of the region remains unresolved: Transnistria is an unrecognized but de facto independent semi-presidential republic with its own government, parliament, army, police, postal system, currency and vehicle registration. Its authorities have adopted a constitution, flag, national anthem and coat of arms.
