Glossary: Bessarabia (Basarabia in Romanian)

DEFINITION:
Former principality, originally composed of lands owned by the Basarab Dynasty of Walachia (q.v.), extending inland from the Black Sea coast and bounded on the west by the Prut River and on the east by the Nistru River. In 1812 the name was extended to all the land between the Prut and Nistru rivers by the Russian Empire (q.v.), to which Bessarabia was awarded by the Treaty of Bucharest. The bulk of Bessarabia makes up most of the present-day Republic of Moldova.

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