Population and Demographics

Ethnic Composition

One of Moldova's characteristic traits is its ethnic diversity. As early as the beginning of the eighteenth century, Moldovan prince and scholar Dimitrie Cantemir observed that he "didn't believe that there [existed] a single country of the size of Moldavia in which so many and such diverse peoples meet."

In the early 1990s, there was significant emigration from the republic, primarily from urban areas and primarily by Moldovan minorities. In 1990 persons emigrating accounted for 6.8% of the population. This figure rose to 10% in 1991 before dropping sharply to 2% in 1992.

Ethnic Moldovans made up a sizable proportion of the urban population in 1989 (about half the population of Chisinau, for example), as well as a large proportion of the rural population (80%), but only 23% of the ethnic Moldovans lived in the republic's ten largest cities. Many had emigrated to Romania at the end of World War II, and others had lost their lives during the war and in postwar Soviet purges. As a consequence of industrial growth and the Soviet government's policy of diluting and Russifying ethnic Moldovans, there was significant immigration to the Moldavian SSR by other nationalities, especially ethnic Russians and Ukrainians.

Unlike ethnic Moldovans, ethnic Russians tend to be urban dwellers in Moldova; more than 72% of them lived in the ten largest cities in 1989. Many of them came to the Moldavian SSR after it was annexed by the Soviet government in 1940; more arrived after World War II. Ostensibly, they came to alleviate the Moldavian SSR's postwar labor shortage (although thousands of ethnic Moldovans were being deported to Central Asia at the time) and to fill leadership positions in industry and the government. The Russians settled mainly in Chisinau and Bender and in the Transnistrian cities of Tiraspol and Dubasari (Dubossary, in Russian). Only about 25% of Moldova's Russians lived in Transnistria in the early 1990s.

Cities

Although Moldova is by far the most densely populated of the former Soviet republics (111 inhabitants per square kilometre, compared with 13 inhabitants per square kilometre for the Soviet Union as a whole), it has few large cities. The largest and most important of these is Chisinau, the country's capital and its most important industrial centre. Founded in 1420, Chisinau is located in the centre of the republic, on the Bîc River, and in 1990 had a population of 676,000. The city's population was slightly more than 50% ethnic Moldovans, with ethnic Russians constituting approximately 25% and Ukrainians 13%. The proportion of ethnic Russians and Ukrainians in the capital's population decreased in the years immediately after 1989 because of the emigration resulting from Moldova's changing political situation and civil unrest.

In 2004, the city had 647,000 people. Due to a large emigration of Russians and Ukrainains in the early nineties, Moldovans (Romanians) have become a decisive majority, comprising over 70% of the total population of the city. Russians come second with 13.7%. Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Jews, Gagauzians and others comprise the rest.

The second largest city in the republic, Tiraspol, had a population of 184,000 in 1990 (159,163 in 2005). It is located in Transnistria and served as the capital of the Moldavian ASSR from 1929 to 1940. It has remained an important centre of administration, transportation and manufacturing. In contrast to Chisinau, Tiraspol had a population of only some 18% ethnic Moldovans, with most of the remainder being ethnic Russians (41%) and Ukrainians (32%).

Other important cities include Balti (Bel'tsy, in Russian), with a population of 162,000 in 1990 (127,600 in 2005), and Bender (or Tighina in Moldovan), with a population of 132,000 in 1990 (97,027 in. As in Tiraspol, ethnic Moldovans used to be a minority in this city as well.

Facts and Figures

• Population: 4,320,490
• Age Structure:
  • 0-14 years: 16.5% (male 365,733/female 347,305)
  • 15-64 years: 72.6% (male 1,520,094/female 1,616,014)
  • 65 years and over: 10.9% (male 175,113/female 296,231)
• Median Age:
  • Total: 34 years
  • Male: 32.1 years
  • Female: 36.1 years
• Population Growth Rate: -0.11%
• Birth Rate: 10.88 births/1,000 population
• Death Rate: 10.85 deaths/1,000 population
• Net Migration Rate: -1.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population
• Sex Ratio:
  • At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
  • Under 15 years: 1.053 male(s)/female
  • 15-64 years: 0.941 male(s)/female
  • 65 years and over: 0.591 male(s)/female
  • Total population: 0.912 male(s)/female
• Infant mortality rate:
  • Total: 13.88 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Male: 15.35 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Female: 12.33 deaths/1,000 live births
• Life Expectancy at Birth:
  • Total population: 70.2 years
  • Male: 66.51 years
  • Female: 74.11 years
• Total Fertility Rate: 1.25 children born/woman
• HIV/AIDS:
  • Adult prevalence rate: 0.2%
  • People living with HIV/AIDS: 5,500
• Ethnic Groups:
  • Moldovan/Romanian 78.2%
  • Ukrainian 8.4%
  • Russian 5.8%
  • Gagauz 4.4%
  • Bulgarian 1.9%
  • Other 1.3%
• Religions:
  • Eastern Orthodox 98%
  • Jewish 1.5%
  • Baptist and other 0.5%
• Languages:
  • Moldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian language)
  • Russian
  • Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)
• Literacy:
  • Total population: 99.1%
  • Male: 99.7%
  • Female: 98.6%