The Republic of Moldova occupies 33,846 square kilometers between Romania and Ukraine. The Prut River forms the western border with Romania. The Dniester River forms most of the eastern boundary. Chișinău sits in the center with approximately 700,000 residents. Bălți serves as the second city in the north. The Codru central plateau contains remnants of deciduous forests that once covered the region. The Bugeac steppe extends across the south. The Bălți Steppe spreads through northern plains.
The medieval Principality of Moldavia included this territory from the 14th century. Ottoman suzerainty over the principality began in the 16th century. The Russian Empire annexed the eastern half of Moldavia between the Prut and Dniester rivers in 1812, calling this region Bessarabia. Romania and Russia contested control multiple times. Bessarabia united with Romania in 1918. The Soviet Union occupied the territory in 1940 under the Molotov-Ribbentov Pact. Nazi Germany and Romania controlled the area from 1941 to 1944. Soviet forces retook Bessarabia in 1944. The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic existed from 1940 to 1991, excluding wartime years. Moldova declared independence on August 27, 1991.
War broke out in Transnistria in 1992. The conflict lasted from March to July. Russian forces stationed in the region participated alongside Transnistrian separatists. A ceasefire took effect in July 1992. Transnistria remains outside Moldovan government control. Russian troops remain stationed there. The region functions with separate governance, currency, and institutions, though no United Nations member state recognizes its independence.
Approximately 2.6 million people live within Moldova's internationally recognized borders, excluding Transnistria. Moldovans constitute roughly 75 percent of the population. Romanians and Moldovans share the same language, which belongs to the Eastern Romance language family. The Soviet period imposed the Cyrillic alphabet. Moldova switched to Latin script in 1989. Debate continues over whether Moldovan and Romanian constitute one language or two variants. The constitution refers to the official language as Moldovan. Many citizens and Romanian linguists call it Romanian. Mutual intelligibility is complete.
Ukrainians make up approximately 6.6 percent of the population. Russians constitute about 4.1 percent, concentrated in Chișinău and historically in Transnistria. Gagauz people, a Turkic-speaking Orthodox Christian group, number around 4.4 percent. They live primarily in the southern autonomous region of Gagauzia. Comrat serves as Gagauzia's capital. Bulgaria sits directly south across a narrow strip of Ukrainian territory. Bulgarians comprise roughly 1.9 percent. Romanian remains the working language even in Gagauzia's government, though Gagauz and Russian hold official regional status.
The Moldovan Orthodox Church operates under the Moscow Patriarchate jurisdiction. It separated administratively from the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1940. The Metropolis of Bessarabia, loyal to the Romanian Patriarchate, also functions in Moldova. Courts have addressed the property and recognition disputes between these institutions. A 2001 European Court of Human Rights decision required Moldova to recognize the Metropolis of Bessarabia. Orthodox Christianity claims approximately 90 percent of the population as nominal adherents. Practicing rates stand lower. Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, and Pentecostals form small communities. Chișinău contained a significant Jewish population before World War II. Deportations and the Holocaust decimated this community. A small Jewish population remains in Chișinău.
Căpriana Monastery dates to 1429, making it Moldova's oldest surviving monastery. Turkish forces destroyed it in 1695. Reconstruction occurred in the 18th century. The Soviets closed the monastery in 1960 and reopened it in 1989. Orheiul Vechi Cave Monastery sits carved into limestone cliffs above the Răut River valley near the town of Orhei. Monks inhabited these caves from at least the 13th century. The current church dates to the 1670s. Archaeological remains at Orheiul Vechi include Dacian settlements from the 6th century BC through the 1st century AD, a 14th-century Tatar fortification, and a Moldavian town from the 14th through 16th centuries. Țipova Monastery complex occupies three levels of caves in limestone cliffs above the Dniester. Evidence suggests monastic use from the 11th century. Churches and cells were carved between the 11th and 18th centuries. Saharna Monastery sits near Moldova's highest waterfall, which drops approximately 3.5 meters. Pilgrims visit on religious holidays. Hâncu Monastery dates to the 17th century and includes cave churches.