Q: Where is Moldova?
A: Moldova is a small country  landlocked between Romania and Ukraine. It is about the size of Maryland, or half the size of West Virginia.

Q: Did it use to be part of the Soviet Union like Ukraine?
A: Yes, it is a former soviet republic and declared its independence from the USSR in 1991.

Q: What language do they speak there?
A: The majority speak Romanian, although they are likely to call it Moldovan. Sort of like saying I speak American instead of English. However, most Moldovans speak Russian as their second native language and there are places in Moldova where Russian is used as the primary language for education and everyday life.

Q: Is it a stable country?
A: It has been an independent country for only 20 years so it does have some instability. A small sliver of land along the Ukraine border, home to people with a different ethnic background from most Moldovans, declared independence and governs itself with help from Russian forces. The country recently ran into some trouble in 2009 when the communist party lost its majority and competing opposition parties failed to elect a president. After nearly three years without a president, one was finally elected in 2011.

Q: What about the economy?
A: Moldova, like the rest of the world has been hurt by the current world financial crisis. As a good percentage of Moldovan's live abroad and the country's economy relies heavily on remittances the current economic downturn has caused jobs in other countries to be harder to find and less money is being sent back to family still living in Moldova. In Moldova itself agriculture and the service industries share about half of Moldovan jobs. Industrial jobs form only about 10 percent.  Primary exports include vegetables, fruits-especially grapes, grain, and wine with most of Moldovan agricultural products being sent to Russia. While Moldovan's pride themselves on their wine they have had little luck on marketing it to the western world though Moldovan wine is held in high esteem in Russia.

Information and pictures taken from the CIA World Factbook.

QUESTIONS??? Leave a comment on my last blog post.