Moldova

Moldova is a landlocked country located in Eastern Europe, northeast of Romania, covering an area of approximately 33,851 square kilometers. As of 2025, Moldova has a population of about 3.58 million, with Moldovan or Romanian as the official language spoken by 80.2%, alongside Russian, Gagauz, Ukrainian, and Bulgarian. The country features rolling steppe terrain with a gradual slope south to the Black Sea, experiencing moderate winters and warm summers. Chisinau serves as the capital, and the government operates as a parliamentary republic.

Moldova has an upper-middle-income economy with a GDP of $18.20 billion and a GDP per capita of $16,500, driven by sugar processing, vegetable oil, food processing, agricultural machinery, foundry equipment, refrigerators and freezers, washing machines, hosiery, shoes, and textiles. Key agricultural products include wheat, maize, sunflower seeds, grapes, apples, and sugar beets, while natural resources include lignite, phosphorites, gypsum, limestone, and arable land. The unemployment rate is just 1.5% as of 2025, though 31.1% of the population lives below the poverty line. Moldova faces challenges including a declining workforce due to emigration, Russian energy dependence, and significant reliance on remittances.