Location: Eastern Europe, northeast of Romania

Geographic coordinates: 47 00 N, 29 00 E

Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States

Area:
total: 33,700 sq km
land : 33,700 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly more than twice the size of Hawaii

Land boundaries:
total: 1,389 km
border countries: 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 : Nistru River 2 m
highest point: Mount Balaneshty 430 m

Natural resources: lignite, phosphorites, gypsum

Land use:
arable land: 53%
permanent crops: 14%
permanent pastures: 13%
forests and woodland: 13%
other : 7% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 3,110 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

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

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: landlocked

Population: 4,434,547 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 21.7% (male 490,414; female 472,912)
15-64 years: 68.2% (male 1,451,962; female 1,572,561)
65 years and over: 10.1% (male 165,860; female 280,838) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.09% (2002 est.)

Birth rate:13.82 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 12.64 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth : 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years:0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.59 male(s)/female
total population: 0.91 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 42.16 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 64.74 years
male : 60.39 years
female: 69.31 years (2002 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.71 children born/woman (2002 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Moldovan(s)
adjective: Moldovan

Ethnic groups: Moldavian/Romanian 64.5%, Ukrainian 13.8%, Russian 13%, Gagauz 3.5%, Jewish 1.5%, Bulgarian 2%, other 1.7% (1989 figures)
note : internal disputes with ethnic Russians and Ukrainians in the Nistru region and Gagauz Turks in the south

Religions: Eastern Orthodox 98.5%, Jewish 1.5%, Baptist (only about 1,000 members) (1991)
note: the large majority of churchgoers are ethnic Moldavian

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
total population: 96%
male: 99%
female: 94% (1989 est.)

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Moldova
conventional short form: Moldova
local long form: Republica Moldova
local short form : none
former: Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova; Moldavia

Data code: MD

Government type: republic

National capital: Chisinau

Administrative divisions: 9 counties (juletule, singular - juletul), 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 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: unicameral Parliament or Parlamentul (101 seats; parties and electoral blocs, as well as independent candidates, elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
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

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]

Political pressure groups and leaders: The Ecology Movement of Moldova or EMM [Alecu RENITSA, chairman]; The Christian Democratic League of Women of Moldova or CDLWM [Lidia ISTRATI, chairwoman]; National Christian Party of Moldova or NCPM [V. NIKU, leader]; The Peoples Movement Gagauz Khalky or GKh [S. GULGAR, leader]; The Democratic Party of Gagauzia or DPG [G. SAVOSTIN, chairman]; The Alliance of Working People of Moldova or AWPM [G. POLOGOV, president]; Liberal Convention of Moldova (now the Liberal Party); Association of Victims of Repression [Alexander USATIUC]; Christian Democratic Youth Organization [Valeriu BARBA]; National Youth League [Valeriu STRELETS]; Union of Youth of Moldova [Petru GAVTON]

International organization participation: BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, CIS, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ITU, NACC, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Mihai MANOLI
chancery: 2101 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 667-1130
FAX: [1] (202) 667-1204

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Pamela Hyde SMITH
embassy : Strada Alexei Mateevicie #103, Chisinau 277014
mailing address: use embassy street address; pouch address - American Embassy Chisinau, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-7080
telephone: [373] (2) 23-37-72, RNX (plus extension)
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 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. Yet these efforts could not offset the impact of political and economic difficulties, both internal and regional. In 1998, the economic troubles of Russia, by far Moldova's leading trade partner, were a major cause of the 8.6% drop in GDP. In 1999, GDP fell again, by 4.4%, the fifth drop in the past seven years; exports were down, and energy supplies continued to be erratic. Following the return to positive GDP growth in 2000 (1.9%), Moldova experienced strong 6.1% rise in GDP in 2001, driven by a marked improvement in industry and a 20% improvement in agriculture.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $11.3 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 6.1% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity -$2,550 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:28%
industry: 21%
services: 51% (2000)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 9.6% (2001 est.)

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

Unemployment rate:.9% (includes only officially registered unemployed; large numbers of underemployed workers; 25% of working age Moldovans are employed abroad) (November 2000)

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

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

Industrial production growth rate: 14.2% (2001 est.)

Electricity - capacity: 3.222 million kW (1995)

Electricity - production: 3.317 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 3.655 billion kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: vegetables, fruits, wine, grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, tobacco; meat, milk

Exports:
total value: $580 million (f.o.b., 2001)
commodities: foodstuffs, wine, tobacco, textiles and footwear, machinery
partners :Russia 45%, Romania 8%, Germany 8%, Ukraine 8%, Italy 8% (2000)

Imports:
total value: $865 million (f.o.b., 2001)
commodities: oil, gas, coal, steel, machinery, foodstuffs, automobiles, and other consumer durables
partners: Romania 16%, Ukraine 14%, Russia 13%, Germany 11%, Italy 6% (2000)

Debt - external: $700 million (2001)

Economic aid:
recipient: $100.8 million (1995); note - $547 million from the IMF and World Bank (1992-99)

Currency: the Moldovan leu (MDL) (plural lei) was introduced in late 1993

Exchange rates: llei per US dollar - 12.8579 (October 2001), 12.4342 (2000), 10.5158 (1999), 5.3707 (1998), 4.6236 (1997);

Fiscal year: calendar year

Telephones: 627,000 (1997)

Telephone system: 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

Radio broadcast stations: AM 7, FM 50, shortwave 3 (1998)

Radios: 3.22 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:1 (plus 30 repeaters) (1995)

Televisions: NA

Railways:
total: 1,328 km
broad gauge: 1,328 km 1.520-m gauge (2001)

Highways:
total: 20,000 km
paved:13,900 km (includes some all-weather gravel-surfaced roads)
unpaved: 6,100 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1990)

Waterways: 424 km (1994)

Pipelines: natural gas 310 km (1992)

Ports and harbors: none

Airports: 30 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 7
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
under 914 m : 1 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total:23
2,438 to 3,047 m: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m : 4
under 914 m: 14 (2001)

Military branches: Ground Forces (includes Air and Air Defense Forces), Republic Security Forces (includes paramilitary Internal Troops and Border Troops)

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 1,172,714 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males: 929,316 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 42,268 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $6 million (FY01)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 0.4% (FY01)

Disputes - international: Moldovan difficulties with break-away Transnistria region inhibit establishment of a joint customs regime with Ukraine to curtail 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 to Western Europe and Russia