25 May 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)
27 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Religions
Sunni Muslim 92%, Christian 6% (majority Greek Orthodox, but some Greek and Roman Catholics, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Protestant denominations), other 2% (several small Shia Muslim and Druze populations) (2001 est.)
Eastern Orthodox 98%, Jewish 1.5%, Baptist and other 0.5% (2000)
Languages
Arabic (official), English widely understood among upper and middle classes
Moldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian language), Russian, Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)
