Country Facts - Moldava

The People

Ethnic Composition

Moldvan/Romanian	64.5%
Ukrainian	13.8%
Russian	13.0%
Jewish	1.5%
Bulgarian	2%
Gagauz and other	5.2%

Religious Composition

Eastern Orthodox	98.5%
Jewish	1.5%

Note: internal disputes with ethnic Slavs in the Transnistrian region

Nationality

Moldovan(s)

Languages Spoken

Moldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian language), Russian, Gagauz (a Turkish dialect).

Education and Literacy

96 percent of the total population over the age of 15 can read (99 percent of men, and 94 percent of women).

Labor Force

Total: 1.7 million (1998)

By occupation:

Agriculture	40%
Industry	14%
Services	46%

Geography

Land Mass Total

13,066 sq mi (33,843 sq km)

Land

12,884 sq mi (33,371 sq km)

Water

182 sq mi (472 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 863 mi (1,389 km)
Border countries: Romania 279 mi (450 km), Ukraine 583 mi (939 km)

Climate/Weather

Moderate winters, warm summers.

Terrain

Rolling steppe, gradual slope south to Black Sea.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Nistru River 6 ft (2 m)
Highest: Dealul Balanesti 1,410 ft (430 m)

Natural Resources

Lignite, phosphorites, gypsum, arable land.

Land use

Arable land	54%
Permanent crops	12%
Other	34%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Landslides (57 cases in 1998).

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.

Geography Note

Landlocked; well endowed with various sedimentary rocks and minerals including sand, gravel, gypsum, and limestone.

Demographics

Population

4,434,547 (July 2002)

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)

Growth Rate

0.09% (2002)

Life Expectancy

64.74 years (2002)
Female: 69.31 years
Male: 60.39 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$2,550 (2001)

Infant Mortality

42.16 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

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)

Net migration rate

-0.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

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-percent drop in GDP. In 1999, GDP fell again, by 4.4 percent, the fifth drop in the previous seven years; exports were down, and energy supplies continued to be erratic. Following the return to positive GDP growth in 2000 (2.1%), Moldova experienced strong 6.1 percent rise in GDP in 2001, driven by a marked improvement in industry and a 20 percent improvement in agriculture. The next year brought even better growth at 7.2 percent, and predictions for 2003 and 2004 are in the 5-percent range. For all of the good statistical news, Moldova still faces the problem of having an economy based in agriculture, thus making it subject to the often volatile commodities markets.

Unemployment

1.9% (includes only officially registered unemployed; large numbers of underemployed workers; 25% of working age Moldovans are employed abroad) (November 2000)

Inflation Rate

9.6% (2001)

Industries

Food processing, agricultural machinery, foundry equipment, refrigerators and freezers, washing machines, hosiery, sugar, vegetable oil, shoes, textiles.

Exports

US$580 million (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$865 million (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$11.3 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

Russia 45%, Romania 8%, Germany 8%, Ukraine 8%, Italy 8% (2000)

Top Import Partners

Romania 16%, Ukraine 14%, Russia 13%, Germany 11%, Italy 6% (2000)

Top Exports

Foodstuffs 42%, textiles and footwear, machinery (2000)

Top Imports

Mineral products and fuel 32%, machinery and equipment, chemicals, textiles (2000)

Debt - external

US$700 million (2001)

Economic aid

US$100.8 million (1995); US$547 million from the IMF and World Bank (1992-1999).

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	9a.m. to 6p.m.	Closed
Retail	9a.m. to 7p.m.	Saturday 10a.m. to 4p.m.
Banks	9a.m. to 5p.m.	Closed
Government	8a.m. to 5p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Christmas (Orthodox)¹	January 7	January 7	January 7
Second Day of Christmas	January 8	January 8	January 8
Women's Day	March 8	March 8	March 8
Easter²	April 20	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 21	April 12	March 28
Labor Day	May 1	May1	May 1
Victory Day	May 9	May 9	May 9
Independence Day	August 27	August 27	August 27
National Language Day (Limba Nostra)	August 31	August 31	August 31

Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press