Moldova 

(/mɒlˈdoʊvə/ ( listen), sometimes UK: /ˈmɒldəvə/; Romanian pronunciation: [molˈdova]),[14][15]

[16]
 officially the Republic of Moldova (Romanian: Republica Moldova), is a landlocked
country in Eastern Europe.[17] It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north,
east, and south.[18] Additionally, the unrecognised state of Transnistria lies across the Dniester on
the country's eastern border with Ukraine. The capital and largest city is Chișinău.
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, known as the Moldavian
Democratic Republic. In February 1918, the Moldavian Democratic Republic 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 Moldavian autonomous republic (MASSR) 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), which included the greater part of Bessarabia and
the westernmost strip of the former MASSR (east of the Dniester River). On 27 August 1991, as
the dissolution of the Soviet Union was underway, the Moldavian SSR declared
independence and took the name Moldova.[19] The constitution of Moldova was adopted in 1994.
The strip of the Moldovan territory on the east bank of the Dniester has been under the de
facto control of the breakaway government of Transnistria since 1990.
Due to a decrease in industrial and agricultural output following the dissolution of the Soviet
Union, the service sector has grown to dominate Moldova's economy and is over 60% of the
nation's GDP. It is the second poorest country in Europe by GDP per capita.[20] Although Moldova
has a relatively high Human Development Index, it is the lowest in the continent, ranking 90th in
the world.
Moldova is a parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and a prime
minister as head of government. It is a member state of the United Nations, the Council of
Europe, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE), the GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development,
the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and the Organization of the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation (BSEC).

Contents

 1Etymology
 2History
o 2.1Prehistory
o 2.2Antiquity and the early Middle Ages
o 2.3Founding of the Principality of Moldavia
o 2.4Between Poland and Hungary
 2.4.1The Polish influence grows
o 2.5Increasing Ottoman influence
 2.5.1The Age of Invasions
 2.5.2Transnistria
o 2.6The Russian Empire
 2.6.1Union with Romania and the return of the Russians
 2.6.2A multiethnic colonization
  2.6.3The Russian Revolution and Greater Romania
o 2.7World War II and Soviet era
 2.7.1Annexation by the USSR
 2.7.2Reincorporation into Romania, the Holocaust, and the Soviet
occupation
 2.7.3Moldova in the USSR after World War II
 2.7.4Glasnost and Perestroika
o 2.8Independence and aftermath
 2.8.1Transnistria breaks away (1990 to present)
 2.8.2Market economy (1992)
 2.8.3Elections: 1994-2010
 2.8.4Banking crisis
 2.8.5Pavel Filip's government (2016)
 2.8.62019 constitutional crisis
 2.8.7COVID-19 pandemic
 2.8.8Presidency of Maia Sandu since 2020
 3Government
o 3.1Internal affairs
o 3.2Foreign relations
o 3.3Military
o 3.4Human rights
o 3.5Administrative divisions
 4Geography
o 4.1Climate
o 4.2Biodiversity
 5Economy
o 5.1Energy
o 5.2Wine industry
o 5.3Agriculture
o 5.4Transport
 6Telecommunications
 7Demographics
o 7.1Ethnic composition
o 7.2Languages
o 7.3Religion
o 7.4Education
o 7.5Crime
o 7.6Health and fertility
o 7.7Emigration
 8Culture
o 8.1Media
o 8.2Food and beverage
o 8.3Music
o 8.4Holidays
o 8.5Sports
 9See also
 10Notes
 11References
 12External links