The Ancient times of Moldova comprises the Roman occupation (A.D. 105-270) when Moldova was populated by Dacians (inhabitants of Dacia - present day Romania and parts of Moesia, mostly in northern Bulgaria).The local population was romanized, taking from the conquerors their language and advanced culture of the Roman Empire. After the evacuation of the Roman legions from these territories (in 271, in the reign of Aurelian), there began the “migrating nations” epoch (Goths, Huns, Avars, Slavs), which ended up with the formation of the Moldovan feudal state in 1359. Bogdan I (Voivode Bogdan I) is considered to be its founder. In those times Moldova was called Bogdania.  
In 1387 Moldova became a vassal of Poland.

In 1457 Stefan the Great (also called "Stephen the Great and Holy") took the throne and then came to an agreement with Kazimierz IV of Poland in 1457 (14th century). This leader successfully ruled Moldova from 1457 till 1504. Stefan the Great had 47 battles and all of them were successful; he has also constructed 47 churches in the memory of those battles in the locations they took place. (Stefan the Great is considered a national hero of Moldova)

In the 16th century Moldova came under Ottoman Turkish rule. This Ottoman domination continued for almost 300 years.  After the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-12, the eastern half of Moldavia (Bessarabia) between the Prut and the Dniester Rivers is ceded to Russia, while Moldavia west of the Prut (part of Romania at the present time), remains with the Turks.On December 2, 1917 Moldavian Democratic Republic was proclaimed and on January 24, 1918 independence was voted.
On March 27 /April 3, 1918, Statul Tarii— Moldova’s Parliament - voted the unification of Moldavian Democratic Republic (Basarabia) with Romania.  
On June 28, 1940 following Article 3 of the Secret Act annexed to the Molotov-Robbentrop Treaty, Basarabia was again annexed to USSR. On August 2, 1940 the Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova was established (the North Hotin, Acherman and the southern Ismail were given up in 1940 by the Soviet authorities to Ukraine). From June 1941 to August 1994 the SSR of Moldova was reintegrated into Romania only to be subsequently occupied by the Soviet Union. In 1989 the Moldavian Parliament voted the original name of the Republic – Moldova, the Latin script, as well as Romanian language as an official one. It was something tremendous in the spiritual life of the country. The period of  “perestroika” led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
On August 1991 the Moldavian Parliament declared Moldova’s independence. Although independent from the USSR since 1991, Russian forces have remained on territory east of the Nistru (Dnister) River supporting the Slavic majority population in that region who have proclaimed a "Transnistria" republic on the former territory of Moldavian Autonomous SSR. "Transnistria" claimed independence fearing the rise of nationalism in Moldova and the country's expected unification with Romania at the dissolution of the USSR. This caused a brief military conflict between Moldova and forces supporting separation of Transnistria in 1992. Russian military stationed in the region (14th Army) intervened on the Transnistrian side; it also remained on Moldovan territory east of the Dniester after the end of the military conflict, despite signing international obligations to withdraw, and against the will of Moldovan government, where they remain to this day. Transnistria is considered to-date to be a "frozen conflict" region. Many attempts to solve this problem did not bring any results. Despite this transnistrian conflict Moldova has constantly affirmed its desire to join the European Union and implements its first three-year Action Plan within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) of the EU.