Background: Formerly ruled by Romania Moldova became part of 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. One of the poorest nations in Europe Moldova became the first former Soviet state to elect a Communist as its president in 2001.

Geographic coordinates: 47 00 N 29 00 E

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 33,843 km²
Water: 472 km²
Land: 33,371 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than Maryland

Land boundaries
Total: 1,389 km
Border countries: (2) Romania 450 km; , Ukraine 939 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: moderate winters warm summers

Terrain: rolling steppe gradual slope south to Black Sea

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Dniester River 2 m
Extremes highest point: Dealul Balanesti 430 m

Natural resources: lignite phosphorites gypsum arable land: limestone

Land use
Arable land: 54.08%
Permanent crops: 12.1%
Other: 33.82% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 3,070 km² (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: landslides (57 cases in 1998)

Geography
Note: landlocked; well endowed with various sedimentary rocks and minerals including sand gravel gypsum and limestone

Population: 4,439,502 (July 2003 est.)
Growth rate: 0.13% (2003 est.)
Below poverty line: 80% (2001 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Moldovan
Adjective: Moldovan

Ethnic groups
Note: internal disputes with ethnic Slavs in the Transnistrian region

Languages: Moldovan (official virtually the same as the Romanian language) Russian Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)

Religions: Eastern Orthodox 98% Jewish 1.5% Baptist and other 0.5% (2000)

Age structure
0-14 years: 21.1% (male 477,063; female 459,992)
15-64 years: 68.7% (male 1,465,248; female 1,584,402)
65 years and over: 10.2% (male 168,068; female 284,729) (2003 est.)

Median age
Total: 32 years
Male: 29.8 years
Female: 34.2 years (2002)

Population growth rate: 0.13% (2003 est.)

Birth rate: 14.31 births/1000 population (2003 est.)

Death rate: 12.7 deaths/1000 population (2003 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.27 migrant(s)/1000 population (2003 est.)

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
International agreements party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male/female
65 years and over: 0.59 male/female
Total population: 0.91 male/female (2003 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 41.58 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 38.19 deaths/1000 live births (2003 est.)
Male: 44.81 deaths/1000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 64.88 years
Male: 60.63 years
Female: 69.35 years (2003 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.74 children born/woman (2003 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2001 est.)
People living with hivaids: 5,500 (2001 est.)
Deaths: less than 300 (2001 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 99.1%
Male: 99.6%
Female: 98.7% (2003 est.)

Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Moldova
Conventional short form: Moldova
Local short form: none
Former: Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova; Moldavia
Local long form: Republica Moldova

Government type: republic

Capital: Chisinau

Administrative divisions: 9 counties (judetele singular - judetul) 1 municipality* (municipiul) 1 autonomous territorial unit** (unitate teritoriala autonoma) and 1 territorial unit*** (unitate teritoriala); Balti Cahul Chisinau Chisinau* Edinet Gagauzia** Lapusna Orhei Soroca Stinga Nistrului*** Tighina Ungheni

Independence: 27 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day 27 August (1991)

Constitution: new constitution adopted 28 July 1994; replaces old Soviet constitution of 1979

Legal system: based on civil law system; Constitutional Court reviews legality of legislative acts and governmental decisions of resolution; it is unclear if Moldova accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction but accepts many UN and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) documents

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Vladimir VORONIN (since 4 April 2001)
Head of government: Prime Minister Vasile TARLEV (since 15 April 2001), First Deputy Prime Minister Vasile IOVV (since NA 2002), Deputy Prime Minister Stefan ODAGIU (since NA 2002)
Cabinet: selected by prime minister, subject to approval of Parliament
Elections: president elected by Parliament for a four-year term; election last held 4 April 2001 (next to be held NA 2005); note - presidential elections were scheduled for December 2000, but in July 2000, Parliament canceled direct, popular elections; Parliament's failure to chose a new president in December 2000 led to early parliamentary elections in February 2001; prime minister designated by the president, upon consultation with Parliament; note - within 15 days from designation, the prime minister-designate must request a vote of confidence from the Parliament regarding his/her work program and entire cabinet; prime minister designated 15 April 2001, cabinet received a vote of confidence 19 April 2001
Election results: Vladimir VORONIN elected president; parliamentary votes - Vladimir VORONIN 71, Dumitru BRAGHIS 15, Valerian CHRISTEA 3; Vasile TARLEV designated prime minister; parliamentary votes of confidence - 75 of 101

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 25 February 2001 (next to be held NA 2005)
Election results: percent of vote by party - PCM 50.1%, Braghis Alliance 13.4%, PPCD 8.2%, other parties 28.3%; seats by party - PCM 71, Braghis Alliance 19, PPCD 11

Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Constitutional Court (the sole authority for constitutional judicature)

Political parties and leaders: Braghis Alliance [Dumitru BRAGHIS]; Communist Party or PCM [Vladimir VORONIN first chairman]; Popular Christian Democratic Party or PPCD [Iurie ROSCA]; Social Democratic Union (composed of Braghis Alliance and the Democratic Party of Moldova) [leader NA]

International organization participation: ACCT BIS BSEC CE CEI CIS EAPC EBRD ECE FAO GUUAM IAEA IBRD ICAO ICCt (signatory) ICFTU IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOC IOM (observer) ISO (correspondent) ITU OPCW OSCE PFP UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WCO WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Mihail MANOLI
In the us fax: [1] (202) 667-1204
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 667-1130
In the us chancery: 2,101 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20,008
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Pamela Hyde SMITH
From the us embassy: 103 Alexei Mateevici Street, Chisinau MD-2009
From the us mailing address: use embassy street address
From the us telephone: [373] (2) 23-37-72
From the us fax: [373] (2) 23-30-44

Flag description: same color scheme as Romania - three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side) yellow and red; emblem in center of flag is of a Roman eagle of gold outlined in black with a red beak and talons carrying a yellow cross in its beak and a green olive branch in its right talons and a yellow scepter in its left talons; on its breast is a shield divided horizontally red over blue with a stylized ox head star rose and crescent all in black-outlined yellow

Economy overview: Moldova remains a very poor country 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 all of its supplies of oil coal and natural gas largely from Russia. Energy shortages contributed to sharp production declines after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. As part of an ambitious reform effort Moldova introduced a convertible currency freed all prices stopped issuing preferential credits to state enterprises backed steady land privatization removed export controls and freed interest rates. The government entered into agreements with the World Bank and the IMF to promote growth and reduce poverty. The economy returned to positive growth of 2.1% in 2000 6.1% in 2001 7.2% in 2002 and 5.3% in 2003. Further reforms will come slowly because of strong political forces backing government controls. The economy remains vulnerable to higher fuel prices poor agricultural weather and the skepticism of foreign investors.

Real gdp growth rate: 6.5% (2002 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,600 (2002 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 28%
Industry: 23%
Services: 49% (2000)

Agriculture products: vegetables fruits wine grain sugar beets sunflower seed tobacco; beef milk

Industries: food processing agricultural machinery foundry equipment refrigerators and freezers washing machines hosiery sugar vegetable oil shoes textiles

Industrial production growth rate: 9% (2002 est.)

Labor force: 1.7 million (1998)
By occupation agriculture: 40%
By occupation industry: 14%
By occupation services: 46% (1998)

Unemployment rate: 8% (roughly 25% of working age Moldovans are employed abroad) (2002 est.)

Population below poverty line: 80% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2.2%
Highest 10: 30.7% (1997)

Distribution of family income gini index: 40.6 (1997)

Budget
Revenues: $536 million
Expenditures: $594 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 5.5% (2002 est.)

Exports: $590 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Commodities: foodstuffs textiles machinery
Partners: Russia 35% Italy 11.7% Germany 8.8% Ukraine 8.5% Romania 5.7% US 5.2% Belarus 4.5% Spain 4.1% (2002)

Imports: $980 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Commodities: mineral products and fuel 32% machinery and equipment chemicals textiles (2000)
Partners: Russia 23.9% Ukraine 13.4% Germany 12.6% Italy 8.3% Romania 8.2% (2002)

Debt external: $1.3 billion (2002)

Exchange rates: lei per US dollar - NA (2002) 12.87 (2001) 12.43 (2000) 10.52 (1999) 5.37 (1998)

Electricity
Production: 3.394 billion kWh (2001)
Production by source fossil fuel: 90.6%
Production by source hydro: 9.4%
Production by source other: 0% (2001)
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Consumption: 3.216 billion kWh (2001)
Exports: 0 kWh (2001)
Imports: 60 million kWh (2001)

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Consumption: 2.05 billion m³ (2001 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Imports: 2.05 billion m³ (2001 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 627,000 (1997)
Mobile cellular: 2,200 (1997)

Telephone system
General assessment: inadequate, outmoded, poor service outside Chisinau; some effort to modernize is under way
Domestic: new subscribers face long wait for service; mobile cellular telephone service being introduced
International: service through Romania and Russia via landline; satellite earth stations - Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik

Internet
Country code: .md
Service providers isps: 2 (1999)
Users: 15,000 (2000)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $6.4 million (FY02)
Percent of gdp: 0.4% (FY02)

Airports: 36 (2002)
With paved runways total: 8
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 2
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 3
With paved runways under 914 m: 2 (2002)
With unpaved runways total: 28
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 2
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 11
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 12 (2002)

Pipelines: gas 606 km (2003)

Railways
Total: 1,300 km
Broad gauge: 1,300 km 1.520-m gauge (2002)

Waterways: 424 km (1994)

Disputes international: difficulties with the Transnistria region complicate border crossing and customs with Ukraine facilitating smuggling arms transfers and other illegal activities

Illicit drugs: 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