About Moldova

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.

Population
4,466,706 (July 2006)

Age structure
0-14 years: 20% (male 455,673/female 438,934)
15-64 years: 69.7% (male 1,498,078/female 1,613,489)
65 years and over: 10.3% (male 170,456/female 290,076) (2006)

Population growth rate
0.28% (2006)

Birth rate
15.7 births/1,000 population (2006)

Net migration rate
-0.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006)

Infant morality rate
total: 38.38 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 41.44 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 35.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2006)

Total fertility rate
1.85 children born/woman (2006)

Ethnic groups
Moldovan/Romanian 78.2%, Ukrainian 8.4%, Russian 5.8%, Gagauz 4.4%, Bulgarian 1.9%, other 1.3% (2004 census)
note: internal disputes with ethnic Slavs in the Transnistrian region

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)

GDP - real growth rate
7.1% (2005)

GDP - per capita
$1,900 (2005)

Unemployment rate
8%; note - roughly 25% of working age Moldovans are employed abroad (2002)

Population below poverty line
80% (2001)