Moldova
Article
May 28, 2022

Moldova (Republic of Moldova, Romanian Republic of Moldova, Ukrainian Молдова, Russian Молдавия / Молдова), the full name of the Republic of Moldova, is an Eastern European inland state located between Ukraine and Romania. Approximately 3 million people live here. Its capital is Chișinău. The official language is Romanian, formerly called Moldovan. Russian, Ukrainian and Gagauz are also used. The current Republic of Moldova was established in 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It follows the tradition of the Principality of Moldova, which has its roots in the 14th century. The northern part of the principality was known as Bukovina after the occupation by Austria in 1775. After 1812, the remaining territory was divided by the Russians and the Ottomans and was then known as Bessarabia. After the First World War, an independent Democratic Republic of Moldova existed briefly, but in 1918 it was incorporated into Romania. From the second part of the territory, controlled by the Soviets, the Moldovan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was established. In 1940, the Soviets and the rest of Moldova occupied and incorporated it into the USSR, as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic. After the collapse of the USSR, it declared independence. The Moldovans rejected the reunification of Romania in a referendum. Moldova is sometimes called Moldova, but occupies only a part of the historic country of Moldova. In the south of Moldova there is the autonomous region of Gagauz, where the population of Turkish origin lives, and in the east there is an autonomous region and the internationally unrecognized state of Transnistria, inhabited mainly by ethnic Moldovans, Russians and Ukrainians. Transnistria, unlike Moldova, does not form a historical part of Moldova or pre-war "Greater Romania". Moldova is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, but is also seeking to join the European Union. Moldova's economy is the smallest in Europe (GDP per capita) and Moldova also has the lowest human development index on the continent. It is the least visited country in Europe.