Finding Yourself in a Country That Isn't

When Trans-Dniester voted that it would rather become part of a revived U.S.S.R. than a newly independent Moldova, months of fighting erupted. A cease-fire was declared in 1992, and thus was born Trans-Dniester, 85 miles long and, at its widest, 30 miles across. If it were to appear on an official map, it would look like a sardine sandwiched between Ukraine in the east and Moldova to the west.