The Republic of Moldova is located in south-eastern Europe.
It is located between Ukraine on
the north, east and south, and Romania on the west. The
current border between Moldova and Romania is the Prut
River. The Ukrainian border follows or parallels the
Dniester River on the east, and follows a line between
the Dniester estuary and the Danube inland from the Black
Sea. The capital of Moldova is Chisinau. The total area
is 3,843 square kilometers. Moldova is slightly larger
than the state of Maryland.
Moldova was formerly the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR), which joined the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1940. Moldova proclaimed its independence from the USSR in 1991. It was one of the countries which signed the declaration establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), of which it remains a member. Russian troops are still stationed on Moldovan territory east of the Dniester River. Its current government has a president, a prime minister, a Council of Ministers, and a unicameral legislature.
Moldova contains the eastern part of the historic area known as Moldavia. This part of historic Moldavia, east of the Prut River, was known as Bessarabia. Bessarabia is a region which has been in dispute between countries and empires for centuries, most recently between Romania and Russia.
The part of historic Moldavia west of the Prut River is part of present-day Romania. In addition, the current border between Moldova and Russia in the Dniester area is unsettled today, due to challenges by the Slavic minorities in the area, which is known as Transdniestria. These nationalist border issues are of concern to European Union leaders, who are in discussion with Moldova’s Communist President about Moldova’s eligibility to join the European Union.
The population of Moldova is estimated at 4,320,490 as of July 2007. The majority of the population is of Moldovan/Romanian ethnicity (78.2 percent), followed by Ukrainian, Russian, Gagauz (Turkish), Bulgarian, and other ethnic groups. The primary and official language is Moldovan, which is basically identical to the Romanian language, and is written in the Latin script. Other languages spoken are Russian and Gagauz.
The majority religion is Eastern Orthodox (98 percent), followed by Jewish, Baptist and other.
Web Sites
Catalog
Search the library's catalog for Moldova or Romania.
Databases
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