| Moldova |
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| Background: Formerly part of Romania, Moldova was incorporated into the Soviet Union at the close of World War II. Although independent from the USSR since 1991, Russian forces have remained on Moldovan territory east of the Dniester River supporting the Slavic majority population, mostly Ukrainians and Russians, who have proclaimed a "Transnistria" republic. The poorest nation in Europe, Moldova became the first former Soviet state to elect a Communist as its president in 2001. |
| Geography and Environmental |
Capital: name: Chisinau (Kishinev)
geographic coordinates: 47 00 N, 28 50 E
time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
| Area Total: 33,843 sq km |
| Area Land: 33,371 sq km |
| Area Water: 472 sq km |
| Area Comparative: slightly larger than Maryland |
| Coastline: 0 km (landlocked) |
| Climate: moderate winters, warm summers |
| Terrain: rolling steppe, gradual slope south to Black Sea |
| Elevation Extremes Lowest Point: Dniester River 2 m |
| Elevation Extremes Highest Point: Dealul Balanesti 430 m |
| Natural Resources: lignite, phosphorites, gypsum, arable land, limestone |
| Land Use Arable Land: 54.52% |
| Land Use Permanent Crops: 8.81% |
| Land Use Other: 36.67% (2005) |
| Irrigated Land: 3,000 sq km (2003) |
| Natural Hazards: landslides (57 cases in 1998) |
| Environment Current Issues: heavy use of agricultural chemicals, including banned pesticides such as DDT, has contaminated soil and groundwater; extensive soil erosion from poor farming methods |
| Geography Note: landlocked; well endowed with various sedimentary rocks and minerals including sand, gravel, gypsum, and limestone |
| Population |
| Population: 4,320,490 (July 2007 est.) |
| Age Structure 0 to 14 Years: 16.5% (male 365,733/female 347,305) |
| Age Structure 15 to 64 Years: 72.6% (male 1,520,094/female 1,616,014) |
| Age Structure 65 Years And Over: 10.9% (male 175,113/female 296,231) (2007 est.) |
| Median Age Total: 34 years |
| Median Age Male: 32.1 years |
| Median Age Female: 36.1 years (2007 est.) |
| Population Growth Rate: -0.11% (2007 est.) |
| Birth Rate: 10.88 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Death Rate: 10.85 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Sex Ratio At Birth: 1.06 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Under 15 Years: 1.053 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 15 to 64 Years: 0.941 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 65 Years And Over: 0.591 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Total Population: 0.912 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Infant Mortality Rate Total: 13.88 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Male: 15.35 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Female: 12.33 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Life Expectancy At BirthTotalPopulation: 70.2 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Male: 66.51 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Female: 74.11 years (2007 est.) |
| Total Fertility Rate: 1.25 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Adult Prevalence Rate: 0.2% (2001 est.) |
| HIV AIDS People Living With HIV AIDS: 5,500 (2001 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Deaths: less than 300 (2001 est.) |
| Religions: Eastern Orthodox 98%, Jewish 1.5%, Baptist and other 0.5% (2000) |
| Languages: Moldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian language), Russian, Gagauz (a Turkish dialect) |
| Literacy Definition: age 15 and over can read and write |
| Literacy Total Population: 99.1% |
| Literacy Male: 99.6% |
| Literacy Female: 98.7% (2003 est.) |
Administrative Divisions: 32 raions (raioane, singular - raionul), 3 municipalities (municipiul), 1 autonomous territorial unit (unitatea teritoriala autonoma), and 1 territorial unit (unitatea teritoriala)
raions: Anenii Noi, Basarabeasca, Briceni, Cahul, Cantemir, Calarasi, Causeni, Cimislia, Criuleni, Donduseni, Drochia, Dubasari, Edinet, Falesti, Floresti, Glodeni, Hincesti, Ialoveni, Leova, Nisporeni, Ocnita, Orhei, Rezina, Riscani, Singerei, Soldanesti, Soroca, Stefan-Voda, Straseni, Taraclia, Telenesti, Ungheni
municipalities: Balti, Bender, Chisinau
autonomous territorial unit: Gagauzia
territorial unit: Stinga Nistrului |
| Legal System: 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 |
| Overview: Moldova remains one of the poorest countries in Europe despite recent progress from its small economic base. It enjoys a favorable climate and good farmland but has no major mineral deposits. As a result, the economy depends heavily on agriculture, featuring fruits, vegetables, wine, and tobacco. Moldova must import almost all of its energy supplies. Moldova's dependence on Russian energy was underscored at the end of 2005, when a Russian-owned electrical station in Moldova's separatist Transnistria region cut off power to Moldova and Russia's Gazprom cut off natural gas to Moldova in disputes over pricing. The economy achieved 6% or more GDP growth every year from 2000-05, though this was based largely on consumption fueled by remittances received from Moldovans working abroad. Russia's decision to ban Moldovan wine and agricultural products, coupled with its decision to double the price Moldova paid for Russian natural gas, slowed GDP growth in 2006 and greatly exacerbated Moldova's economic troubles. Economic reforms have been slow because of corruption and strong political forces backing government controls; nevertheless, the government's primary goal of EU integration has resulted in some market-oriented progress. The economy remains vulnerable to higher fuel prices, poor agricultural weather, and the skepticism of foreign investors. Also, the presence of an illegal separatist regime in Moldova's Transnistria region continues to be a drag on the Moldovan economy. |
| GDP Purchasing Power Parity: $8.971 billion (2006 est.) |
| GDP Real Growth Rate: 4.6% (2006 est.) |
| GDP Composition By Sector Agriculture: 21.5% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Industry: 22% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Services: 56.5% (2006 est.) |
| Labor Force: 1.339 million (2006 est.) |
Labor Force By Occupation: agriculture: 40.7%
industry: 12.1%
services: 47.2% (2005 est.) |
| Unemployment Rate: 7.3%; note - roughly 25% of working age Moldovans are employed abroad (2005 est.) |
Household Income Or Consumption By Percentage Share: lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 26.4% (2003) |
| Inflation Rate Consumer Prices: 14.1% (2006 est.) |
| Industries: sugar, vegetable oil, food processing, agricultural machinery; foundry equipment, refrigerators and freezers, washing machines; hosiery, shoes, textiles |
| Industrial Production Growth Rate: 6.9% (2006 est.) |
| Energy |
| Electricity Production: 1.229 billion kWh (2005) |
| Electricity Production By Source Fossil Fuel: 90.6% |
| Electricity Production By Source Hydro: 9.4% |
| Electricity Production By Source Nuclear: 0% |
| Electricity Production By Source Other: 0% (2001) |
| Electricity Consumption: 4.203 billion kWh (2005) |
| Electricity Exports: 130 million kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Imports: 2.9 billion kWh (2005) |
| Oil Production: 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Oil Consumption: 14,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Production: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Consumption: 2.17 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Imports: 2.17 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Exports: $1.02 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Exports Commodities: foodstuffs, textiles, machinery |
| Exports Partners: Russia 32.9%, Italy 12.7%, Romania 10.6%, Ukraine 9.5%, Belarus 6.7%, Germany 4.5% (2005) |
| Imports: $2.65 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Imports Commodities: mineral products and fuel, machinery and equipment, chemicals, textiles |
| Imports Partners: Ukraine 20.9%, Russia 11.7%, Romania 11.2%, Germany 8.3%, Italy 6.6%, Turkey 4.1% (2005) |
| Debt External: $2.142 billion (30 June 2006 est.) |
| Economic Aid Recipient: $6.376 billion (2003) |
| Communications |
| Telephones Main Lines In Use: 929,400 (2005) |
| TelephonesMobileCellular: 1.09 million (2005) |
| Telephone System General Assessment: inadequate, outmoded, poor service outside Chisinau; some modernization is under way |
| Telephone System Domestic: depending on location, new subscribers may face long wait for service; 2 private operators of GSM mobile cellular telephone service are operating; GPRS system is being introduced; license for 1 CDMA mobile telephone network currently being tendered |
| Telephone System International: country code - 373; service through Romania and Russia via landline; satellite earth stations - Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik |
| Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 2, FM 29, shortwave NA (2004) |
| Radios: 3.22 million (1997) |
| Television Broadcast Stations: 40 (2004) |
| Televisions: 1.26 million (1997) |
| Internet Service Providers-ISPs: 2 (1999) |
| Internet Users: 406,000 (2005) |
| Transportation |
| Railways Total: 1,138 km |
| Railways Broad Gauge: 1,124 km 1.520-m gauge |
| Railways Standard Gauge: 14 km 1.435-m gauge (2005) |
| Waterways: 424 km (on Dniester River) (2005) |
| Airports: 12 (2006) |
| Military Expenditures Percent Of GDP: 0.4% (2005 est.) |
| Disputes International: Moldova and Ukraine operate joint customs posts to monitor the transit of people and commodities through Moldova's break-away Transnistria region, which remains under OSCE supervision |
| IllicitDrugs: limited cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis, mostly for CIS consumption; transshipment point for illicit drugs from Southwest Asia via Central Asia to Russia, Western Europe, and possibly the US; widespread crime and underground economic activity |