Moldova - Country information


		Moldova	Population Government Economy Geography Communication Transportation

Population		Top of page

Inhabitants		Life expectancy
4,320,490 (July 2007 est.)		total population: 70.2 years male: 66.51 years female: 74.11 years (2007 est.)

Ethnic groups		Religions
Moldovan/Romanian 78.2%, Ukrainian 8.4%, Russian 5.8%, Gagauz 4.4%, Bulgarian 1.9%, other 1.3% (2004 census)		Eastern Orthodox 98%, Jewish 1.5%, Baptist and other 0.5% (2000)

Languages		Literacy
Moldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian language), Russian, Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)		definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.1% male: 99.6% female: 98.7% (2003 est.)

Government		Top of page

Government type		Capital
republic		Chisinau (Kishinev)

Independance		National day
27 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)		Independence Day, 27 August (1991)

Constitution		Legal system
new constitution adopted 29 July 1994, effective 27 August 1994; replaced old Soviet constitution of 1979		based on civil law system; Constitutional Court reviews legality of legislative acts and governmental decisions of resolution; accepts many UN and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) documents

Economy		Top of page

GDP (purchasing power parity)		Growth rate
$2.588 billion (2006 est.)		4.6% (2006 est.)

GDP per inhabitant		Unemployment rate
$2,000 (2006 est.)		7.3%; note - roughly 25% of working age Moldovans are employed abroad (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line		Inflation rate
29.5% (2005)		14.1% (2006 est.)

Exports		Imports
$1.02 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)		$2.65 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold		Currency
$680 million (2006 est.)		Moldovan leu (MDL)

Military expenditures
0.4% (2005 est.)

Geography		Top of page

Location		Area
Eastern Europe, northeast of Romania		33,843 sq km

Climate		Natural resources
moderate winters, warm summers		lignite, phosphorites, gypsum, arable land, limestone

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