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Moldova
Location of Moldova
LocationEastern Europe

Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, on the northeastern corner of the Balkans. The country spans a total of 33,483 km2 (12,928 sq mi) and has a population of approximately 2.42 million as of January 2024. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria lies across the Dniester river on the country's eastern border with Ukraine. Moldova is a unitary parliamentary representative democratic republic with its capital in Chișinău, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre.

Most of Moldovan territory was a part of the Principality of Moldavia from the 14th century until 1812, when it was ceded to the Russian Empire by the Ottoman Empire (to which Moldavia was a vassal state) and became known as Bessarabia. In 1856, southern Bessarabia was returned to Moldavia, which three years later united with Wallachia to form Romania, but Russian rule was restored over the whole of the region in 1878. During the 1917 Russian Revolution, Bessarabia briefly became an autonomous state within the Russian Republic. In February 1918, it declared independence and then integrated into Romania later that year following a vote of its assembly. The decision was disputed by Soviet Russia, which in 1924 established, within the Ukrainian SSR, a so-called Moldavian autonomous republic on partially Moldovan-inhabited territories to the east of Bessarabia. In 1940, as a consequence of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Romania was compelled to cede Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union, leading to the creation of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (Moldavian SSR).

On 27 August 1991, as the dissolution of the Soviet Union was underway, the Moldavian SSR declared independence and took the name Moldova. However, the strip of Moldovan territory on the east bank of the Dniester has been under the de facto control of the breakaway government of Transnistria since 1990. The constitution of Moldova was adopted in 1994, and the country became a parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government. Under the presidency of Maia Sandu, elected in 2020 on a pro-Western and anti-corruption ticket, Moldova has pursued membership of the European Union, and was granted candidate status in June 2022. Accession talks to the EU began on 13 December 2023. Sandu has also suggested an end to Moldova's constitutional commitment to military neutrality in favour of a closer alliance with NATO and strongly condemned Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. (Full article...)

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The COVID-19 pandemic in Moldova was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have reached the Republic of Moldova on 7 March 2020, when a Moldovan woman who returned from Italy tested positive for the novel coronavirus. As the number of infected people started to rise during the next days, the Parliament declared a state of emergency on 17 March 2020 for the entire territory of the Republic of Moldova for a period of 60 days (17 March to 15 May 2020).

On 15 May 2020, the last day of the state of emergency declared by the Parliament on 17 March 2020, the Extraordinary National Commission of Public Health declared the state of emergency in public health for the entire territory of Moldova for the period of 16 May to 30 June 2020. On 9 June 2020, the total number of confirmed cases surpassed 10,000. On 1 September 2020, the number of deaths surpassed 1,000. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

... that The "Golden Collection" from the State Enterprise Quality Wines Industrial Complex "Mileştii Mici" was recognized by the Guinness World Records as "the biggest wine collection in the world" on the 19th of August 2005. It contains over 1,5 million bottles of different types of wine – dry wines, dessert and sparkling wines.

...that according to the legend, voivode Dragoş founded Moldova as the result of an aurochs hunt. This is the popular explanation of aurochs head depicted on the coat of arms of Moldova.

...that only five of twelve stanzas of the original poem by Alexei Mateevici are included in the national anthem of Moldova.

...that Moldavian SSR had population density 128.2 people/km² and was the most densely populated republic of the Soviet Union.

...that Christian Orthodox is the predominant religion in Moldova. 98% of believers belong to the Orthodox Church, and its traditions are tightly entwined with the culture and patrimony of the country.

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Largest cities

 
Largest cities in Moldova
Source: Moldovan Census (2004); Note: 1. World Gazetteer. Moldova: largest cities 2004. 2. Pridnestrovie.net 2004 Census 2004. 3. National Bureau of Statistics of Moldova
Rank Pop. Rank Pop.
Chișinău
Chișinău
Tiraspol
Tiraspol
1 Chișinău 644,204 11 Comrat 20,113 Bălți
Bălți
Bender
Bender
2 Tiraspol 129,500 12 Strășeni 18,376
3 Bălți 102,457 13 Durlești 17,210
4 Bender 91,000 14 Ceadîr-Lunga 16,605
5 Rîbnița 46,000 15 Căușeni 15,939
6 Ungheni 30,804 16 Codru 15,934
7 Cahul 30,018 17 Edineț 15,520
8 Soroca 22,196 18 Drochia 13,150
9 Orhei 21,065 19 Ialoveni 12,515
10 Dubăsari 25,700 20 Hîncești 12,491

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  1. ^ "Largest wine cellar by number of bottles". Guinness World Records. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
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