Eastern Europe · MDA
Moldova
The story · 10 chapters
How it was drawn
The eastern half of the medieval principality of Moldavia, annexed by Russia as Bessarabia in 1812, joined to Romania in 1918 and Soviet from 1940 to 1991.
Play the story Take the first lessonThrough the ages
Rivals in history
The kingdoms, empires and states Moldova fought or stood against, from the first to today.
- Golden Horde1241 to 1360
The Mongols overrun the region in 1241 and the Golden Horde rules the steppe for a century. Hungarian campaigns in the 1340s push the Tatars back, opening the way for the Moldavian state.
- Kingdom of Hungary1359 to 1467
Bogdan I rebels against King Louis I of Hungary and founds an independent Moldavia around 1359. Hungary's later attempt to subdue it ends when Stephen the Great defeats Matthias Corvinus at Baia in 1467.
- Ottoman Empire1475 to 1812
Stephen the Great defeats an Ottoman army at Vaslui in 1475, but the Ottomans take the ports of Kilia and Cetatea Alba in 1484 and impose their suzerainty, tightened in 1538. They hold it until Russia takes Bessarabia in 1812.
King John Albert of Poland invades Moldavia in 1497 and besieges Suceava. Stephen the Great ambushes his retreating army in the Cosmin forest.
- Russian Empire1806 to 1917
Russia occupies Moldavia in the war of 1806 to 1812 and keeps its eastern half as Bessarabia. A century of Russian rule follows, with Russian imposed in schools and administration.
- Soviet Union1918 to 1991
Soviet Russia never accepts Bessarabia's union with Romania. In June 1940 an ultimatum forces Romania out; Soviet rule brings deportations in 1941 and 1949 and a famine in 1946 and 1947.
Transnistria breaks away in 1990. Fighting in 1992, in which Russia's 14th Army backs the separatists, ends in a July ceasefire. Russian troops remain and the region is still outside Moldova's control.
Today
Moldova now
A large portion of present-day Moldovan territory became a province of the Russian Empire in 1812 and then unified with Romania in 1918 in the aftermath of World War I. This territory was then incorporated into the Soviet Union at the close of World War II. Although Moldova has been independent from the Soviet Union since 1991, Russian forces have remained on Moldovan territory east of the Nistru River in the breakaway region of Transnistria.
- Capital
- Chișinău
- Government
- parliamentary republic
- Head of government
- Vasile Tofan
- Head of state
- Maia Sandu
- Languages
- Romanian
- Area
- 33,849 km²
Through time
Then and now
- Population3.1 million2023 · 2.5 million in 1950
- Life expectancy71.2 years2023 · 54.0 years in 1950
- GDP per person$6,6742022
- Living in cities44%2025 · 17% in 1950
- Literacy99%2014
- Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
- Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
- Military spending0.6% of GDP2025
- War deathsNone2025
Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.
Relations
Close partners and tensions
Close partners
- Romania
- Ukraine
- France
- United States
- United Kingdom
Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.