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Location: Eastern Europe, northeast of Romania
Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States - European States
Area:
total area: 33,700 sq km
land area: 33,700 sq km
comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of Hawaii
Land boundaries: total 1,389 km, Romania 450 km, Ukraine 939 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Climate: moderate winters, warm summers
Terrain: rolling steppe, gradual slope south to Black Sea
Natural resources: lignite, phosphorites, gypsum
Land use:
arable land: 50%
permanent crops: 13%
meadows and pastures: 9%
forest and woodland: 0%
other: 28%
Irrigated land: 2,920 sq km (1990)
Population: 4,489,657 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 27% (female 588,155; male 609,372)
15-64 years: 64% (female 1,487,170; male 1,386,293)
65 years and over: 9% (female 258,958; male 159,709) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.36% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 15.93 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 10.05 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: -2.25 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 29.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 68.22 years
male: 64.81 years
female: 71.8 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.16 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Moldovan(s)
adjective: Moldovan
Ethnic divisions: 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 Dniester
region and Gagauz Turks in the south
Religions: Eastern Orthodox 98.5%, Jewish1.5%, 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: age 15 and over can read and write (1989)
total population: 96%
male: 99%
female: 94%
Labor force: 2.03 million (January 1994)
by occupation: agriculture 34.4%, industry 20.1%, other 45.5% (1985 figures)
Names:
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
Digraph: MD
Type: republic
Capital: Chisinau
Administrative divisions: previously divided into 40 rayons; new districts possible under new constitution in 1994
Independence: 27 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
National holiday: Independence Day, 27 August 1991
Constitution: new constitution adopted NA July 1994; replaces old Soviet constitution of 1979
Legal system: based on civil law system; no judicial review of legislative acts; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction but accepts many UN and OSCE documents
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Overview: Moldova enjoys a favorable climate and good farmland but has no major mineral deposits. As a result, Moldova's economy is primarily based on agriculture, featuring fruits, vegetables, wine, and tobacco. Moldova must import all of its supplies of oil, coal, and natural gas, and energy shortages have contributed to sharp production declines since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Moldovan government is making steady progress on an ambitious economic reform agenda, and the IMF has called Moldova a model for the region. As part of its reform efforts, Chisinau has introduced a stable currency, freed all prices, stopped issuing preferential credits to state enterprises and backed their steady privatization, removed export controls, and freed interest rates. Chisinau appears strongly committed to continuing these reforms in 1995. Meanwhile, privatization of medium and large enterprises got underway in mid-1994 and is expected to pick up speed in 1995. To improve its precarious energy situation, Chisinau reached an agreement with Moscow in December 1994 on gas deliveries for 1995. Gazprom, Russia's national gas company, has agreed to reduce prices for natural gas deliveries to Moldova from the world market price of $80/thousand cubic meters (tcm) to $58/tcm in return for part ownership of the Moldovan pipeline system.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $11.9 billion (1994 estimate as extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1992)
National product real growth rate: -30% (1994 est.)
National product per capita: $2,670 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7.6% per month (1994)
Unemployment rate: 1% (includes only officially registered unemployed; large numbers of underemployed workers)
Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, includingcapital expenditures of $NA
note: budget deficit for 1993 approximately 6% of GDP
Exports: $144 million to outside the FSU countries (1994); over 70% of exports
go to FSU countries
commodities: foodstuffs, wine, tobacco, textiles and footwear, machinery, chemicals
(1991)
partners: Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Romania, Germany
Imports: $174 million from outside the FSU countries (1994); over 70% of imports
are from FSU countries
commodities: oil, gas, coal, steel, machinery, foodstuffs, automobiles, and other
consumer durables
partners: Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Romania, Germany
External debt: $300 million (as of 11 December 1994)
Industrial production: growth rate -30% (1994 est.)
Electricity:
capacity: 3,000,000 kW
production: 8.2 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 1,830 kWh (1994)
Industries: key products are canned food, agricultural machinery, foundry equipment, refrigerators and freezers, washing machines, hosiery, refined sugar, vegetable oil, shoes, textiles
Agriculture: accounts for about 40% of GDP; Moldova's principal economic activity; products are vegetables, fruits, wine, grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, meat, milk, tobacco
Economicaid:
recipient: joint EC-US loan (1993), $127 million; IMF STF credit (1993), $64 million;
IMF stand-by loan (1993), $72 million; US commitments (1992-93), $61 million
in humanitarian aid, $11 million in technical assistance; World Bank loan
(1993), $60 million; Russia (1993), 50 billion ruble credit; Romania (1993),
20 billion lei credit
Currency: the leu (plural lei) was introduced in late 1993
Fiscal year: calendar year
Railroads:
total: 1,150 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
broad gauge: 1,150 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)
Highways:
total: 20,000 km
paved or graveled: 13,900 km
unpaved: earth 6,100 km (1990)
Pipelines: natural gas 310 km (1992)
Ports: none
Airports:
total: 26
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 1
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
with paved runways under 914 m: 3
with unpaved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 2
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 5
with unpaved runways under 914 m: 8