35 Facts About Moldova

Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova (Romanian: Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe consisting primarily of hilly plains between the Prut and Dniester rivers.

Chișinău's capital features Soviet-style architecture and the National Museum of History, which houses art and ethnographic collections reflecting cultural ties with neighbouring Romania.

The Moldovan flag is made up of vertical blue, yellow, and red stripes with the Moldova coat of arms in the centre. The obverse is a mirror image of the reverse, with a flag ratio of 1:2.

Moldova's coat of arms consists of a shield divided into two horizontal parts, one with red chromatics and the other with blue chromatics, with an imposed auroch's head between the two.

Formally, Moldova is a unitary parliamentary representative democratic republic governed by the Moldovan Constitution of 1994.

The country has a total area of 13,068 square miles (33,843 square kilometres), the majority of which is made up of fertile lands. Bălăneşti Hill is the highest point at 1,411 feet, while Nistru is the lowest at 6.6 feet.

Agricultural landscape covers roughly three-quarters of the country's territory, with the remainder made up of forestland (around 15%) and wetlands (around 4%).

Sugar, wine, vegetable oil, food processing, textiles, refrigerators, washing machines, and agricultural machinery are Moldova's main industries. It's not surprising given that agricultural lands cover roughly ¾ of the country's land area.

Moldova's primary natural resources are lignite, gypsum, limestone, phosphorites, and, of course, arable land.

Moldova's currency is the Leu. Don't confuse this with the Romanian Leu, which has the same name but is worth roughly four times as much at the time of writing. One euro equals approximately 20 Moldovan Leu ($1 USD equals approximately 18 Moldovan Leu).

The majority of Moldovans (roughly 94%) are Orthodox Christians. Unspecified (2%), Catholics (1.2%), Baptists (1%), other (0.8%), and none/atheists (+-1%) make up the remainder.

Moldova has 9,359 kilometres of roadway, 1,157 kilometres of railway, 410 kilometres of waterways, and one airport in Chisinau.

Moldova is clearly the least visited country in Europe, and one of the least visited countries in the world, with 150,000-180,000 international arrivals per year.

Moldova has more than 112,000 hectares (276,000 acres) of vineyards planted across the country. Codru (central Moldova), Stefan Voda (southeast Moldova), Valuj luj Trajan (southwest Moldova), and Balti are the four historical wine regions (northern Moldova). Moldovans are proud of their winemaking heritage, which dates back to 3,000 B.C.

The Cricova Underground City represents Moldovan winemaking. Cricova's galleries stretch for over 70 kilometres. There are numerous streets in Cricova named after different types of wine, such as Dionis, Cabernet-Sauvignon, Feteasca, and so on. This city is about 10 kilometres from the capital, Chisinau. Thousands of litres of wine are stored inside, under ideal conditions of 12-14 C and 97-98% humidity.

Milestii Mici of Moldova holds the Guinness World Record for the world's largest wine cellar. This wine cellar houses nearly two million bottles of wine in its vaults. The collection's most valuable tipples sell for as much as €480 per piece. The bottles are kept in 55 kilometres of underground galleries that were excavated during previous lime mining operations in Moldova when it was a part of the USSR. Since 1968, these facilities have been used to store wine, with new vintages being added to the collection each year.  

Every year on the 3rd and 4th of October, winemakers from all over the country open their homes and vineyards to guests in a nationwide celebration of local booze. On these two days, there are free buses that transport visitors from one winery to the next, and many wine tastings are up to 50% off their regular price.

According to the WHO, Moldova has the world's second highest per capita alcohol consumption. Depending on the year, the average Moldovan consumes 16-17 litres of alcohol (this excludes children under the age of 15).

The world's largest bottle-shaped building can be found in Tirnauca, Moldova. The 28-meter-tall structure houses the local Strong Drinks Museum, which is dedicated to hard liquors.

Orheiul Vechi is one of Moldova's most important historical sites, and it is rumoured to be Europe's oldest monastery. This monastery is an open-air monastic complex that dates back over 2,000 years.

The Tipova Cave Monastery, located along the rocky shore of the Nistru River, is Eastern Europe's largest monastery. The monastery dates back to the sixth century AD, but it was long abandoned before being restored in 1756.

Moldova has a number of significant archaeological sites (Orheiul Vechi, Trajan's Wall, etc.) where excavations have revealed relics dating back as far as 1.2 million years.

Moldovan, which is nearly identical to Romanian, is the official language. In addition, the majority of Moldovans speak Russian, Gagauz, or both.

There are approximately 180,000 Gagauz people left in the world, with 120,000 living in Moldova. UNESCO has classified their language as critically endangered. This language is spoken in Gagauzia's Autonomous Region.

Moldova's national dish is Mămăligă, a porridge made of yellow maize flour. Traditionally, it's garnished with cottage cheese, pork rind, or sour cream and served alongside meat, fish, or hearty stews.

An auroch is a large extinct cattle species that can grow to be 180 cm (71 in) tall in bulls and 155 cm (61 in) tall in cows. The arouch is Moldova's national animal, and it appears on the country's coat of arms.

Moldova has an unusually diverse wildlife. Boars, badgers, wolves, deer, hare, muskrats, deer, wildcats, foxes, and over 300 bird species can be found in Moldova.

Almost 5% of Moldova's total territory is under protection. The majority of this is protected by the country's five nature reserves: Codru Natural Reserve, Lagoric Reserve, Padurea Domneasca (Royal Forest) Natural Reserve, Plaiul Fagului (Land Of Beeches) Natural Reserve, and Prutul De Jos (Lower Prut) Natural Reserve.

The Royal Forest (Padurea Domneasca), Romania's largest nature reserve, covers 6,032 hectares (14,905 acres) and is home to one of Europe's oldest oak trees. The tree, which is over 600 years old, can be found in the reserve's eastern section.

Close to 60% of Moldova's land is arable, ranking the country fourth in terms of arable land as a percentage of total territory.

Moldova is the poorest country in Europe, trailing only Ukraine and Kosovo in terms of GDP per capita.

Nearly 20% of Moldova's rural population is impoverished. In urban areas, the percentage is much lower; only 5% of people in urban areas are poor.

Moldova's main economic opportunities are primarily in agriculture.

National poverty has fallen from 68% in 2000 to 12% in 2020.

Moldova has the world's third-best superfast internet coverage. Approximately 90% of Moldovans have access to superfast gigabit internet (meaning a speed of 1 GB per second).