Cultural Demography
Moldova is one of the most densely populated European countries. Its population grew from three million in 1961 to more than four million by 2000. Today, however, the population appears to have undergone some degree of decline and is approximately 3.5 million, according to recent estimates. The population is almost equally split between urban and rural dwellers.
Today, ethnic Moldovans make up almost 65 percent of Moldova's total population. Ethnically, there is a close linkage between Moldovans and Romanians. Ukrainians and Russians are the most sizable ethnic minorities; Gagauz (a Turkish ethnic group), Germans, Belarusians, Poles, Turks, Roma, Bulgarians, other Eastern Europeans and Jews are also present.
The official language (until 2013) was Moldovan*, as determined by the Constitution, which also declared Moldovan in its Latin script. Ethno-linguistically, Moldovan is closely related to Romanian. The Soviet legacy has also resulted in the fact that most Moldovans also speak Russian. In addition, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Romani (among the Roma), Gagauz (related to Turkish but without Arabic vocabulary), Eastern Yiddish (among Jews), German, are also languages spoken among certain populations. Note that in 2013, the official language of Moldova was changed to Romania to move past the country's Soviet legacy. See "Update" below for details.
In terms of religious affiliation, almost the entire population is Eastern Orthodox. Religious minorities include Jews and Baptists.
*Update on the official language of Moldova --
In December 2013, the Constitutional Court of Moldova ruled that the country's official language should be changed to "Romanian" from "Moldovan." As such, the official language of Moldova was declared to be Romanian. In actuality, the languages known as "Romanian" and "Moldovan" are linguistically similar; however, the decision to call the official language "Moldovan" was part of the nation-building strategies employed under Soviet rule and has been imbued by that particular political significance. The move to declare the official language to be Romanian appeared aimed at removing the last vestiges of the Soviet legacy and the communist past in Moldova, while re-affirming the Romanian culture and heritage of Moldova.
Perhaps as expected, Moldovan Communists opposed the move. Nevertheless, the change was made and Moldova was embracing its Romanian connections. Indeed, Moldova was part of Romania until 1940 when it was annexed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Moldova finally declared its independence in 1991 when the Soviet Union fell apart and eastern Europe went through its historic phase of fragmentation, resulting in declarations of independence from new nation states across the region as well as redefined notions of sovereignty. Since that time, Moldova -- like many former post-Soviet ruled entities -- has sought to embrace its European identity. To that end, December 2013 was also marked by the decision of the pro-European government in Moldova to move forward with an association agreement with the European Union.
Human Development
The United Nations Development Programme determined that Moldovans have an average life expectancy at birth of 67.8 years (63.8 years for males, 71.7 years for females). The infant mortality rate is 28 deaths per 1,000 live births. An estimated 98.6 percent of the total population, age 15 and older, can read and write (99.5 percent of males, 97.9 percent of females). Moldova has one of the lowest GDP per capita rates among the post-Soviet countries. About 9.6 percent of GDP is spent in the country on educational expenditures. About 11.9 percent of GDP is spent on health expenditures. Access to sanitation, water, and health care is considered to be moderately good.
One notable indicator used to measure a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a recent ranking of 169 countries, the HDI places Moldova in the medium human development category, at 99th place.
Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.