1143 (Kingdom of Portugal recognized); 5 October 1910 (republic proclaimed)
Religions
Eastern Orthodox 98%, Jewish 1.5%, Baptist and other 0.5% (2000)
Roman Catholic 84.5%, other Christian 2.2%, other 0.3%, unknown 9%, none 3.9% (2001 census)
Languages
Moldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian language), Russian, Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)
Portuguese (official), Mirandese (official - but locally used)
Exports
foodstuffs, textiles, machinery
agricultural products, food products, oil products, chemical products, plastics and rubber, skins and leather, wood and cork, wood pulp and paper, textile materials, clothing, footwear, minerals and mineral products, base metals, machinery and tools, vehicles and other transport material, and optical and precision
External Debt
$5,200,000,000 $
$548,300,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Moldovan lei (MDL) per US dollar - 10.326 (2008 est.), 12.177 (2007), 13.131 (2006), 12.6 (2005), 12.33 (2004)
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6734 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
0.400%
2.300%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
1
2
Location
Eastern Europe, northeast of Romania
Southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain
Area
33,851 km sq
92,090 km sq
Coastline
0 km
1,793 km
Climate
moderate winters, warm summers
maritime temperate; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in south
