Moldova

Official nameRepublic of Moldova
Name in local languageRepublica Moldova (ro)
ContinentEurope
SubcontinentEurope (outside the European Union)
Population (ranking: 146e)2,581,238 inhabitants (2023)
Population growth-0.87 % / year
Area33,847 km²
Density76.26 inhabitants / km²
GDP (ranking: 136e)13.679 billions $USD (2021)
GDP/capita (ranking)5,231 $USD (2021)
GDP growth13.90 % / year (2021)
Life expectancy (ranking)69.10 years (2021)
Birth rate12.00 ‰ (2019)
Fertility rate1.80 children / woman (2019)
Death rate (ranking)13.70 ‰ (2019)
Infant mortality rate (ranking)8.70 ‰ (2019)
Literacy rate99.36 % (2015)
Official languagesRomanian (Moldovan)
CurrencyLeu (MDL)
HDI (ranking: 108e)0.767 / 1 (2021)
EPI (ranking)42.70 (2022)
GovernmentUnitary parliamentary constitutional republic
Head of StatePresident Maia Sandu
National Day27 August (independence of 1991)
ISO CodesMD, MDA
DemonymMoldovan
Tourists (ranking)174,000 people (2019)
Moldavie – petite
Transnistria holds back the development of the country

Moldova is a small Eastern European state located between Romania and Ukraine. It is landlocked and has no access to the sea. It is one of the former republics of the USSR, which became independent on 27 August 1991. Transnistria (sometimes called Transdniestria) is a region of Moldova that lies east of the Dniester River on the Ukrainian border. The leaders of this small region have been seceding from Moldova since the early 1990s. The majority of its inhabitants are Russian or Ukrainian speaking, while the rest of Moldova is predominantly Romanian.

Paysage de Moldavie
Landscape of Moldova
Chisinau, capitale de la Moldavie
Chisinau, capitale of the Moldova. Photo: Alexei Alexandru
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Urban areas (2019)
Urban areasPopulation
Chisinau (Chișinău)779,304 inhabitants
Balti (Bălți)146,939 inhabitants
See all urban areas
Administrative divisions
RegionsPopulationArea
Centre731,543 inhabitants10,636 km²
Chișinău677,453 inhabitants572 km²
Gagauzia121,734 inhabitants1,832 km²
North718,696 inhabitants10,375 km²
South354,387 inhabitants7,379 km²
See all administrative divisions
See also