Moldova has a population of about 4,320,490 (2007 estimate). Although it is the most densely populated (132 persons per sq km) of the former Soviet Republics it has very few large cities, the most valuable of which is Chisinau, the capital of the Republic. Chisinau is located on Byk River in the central part of the country. Other important cities are Tiraspol, Tighina (also known as Bender) and Balti.

In Moldova live people of different ethnic groups. It is important to mention that the definition of ethnic groups is the subject of an ongoing contravention, the following information must be treated with caution. The main dispute touches the identity between Moldovans and Romanians, as well as between the corresponding Moldovan and Romanian languages. The difference between Moldovans and Romanians has been a greatly disputed political topic with one side arguing that Moldovans constitute an ethnic group separate from the Romanian ethnos, whereas others consider that Moldovans in both Romania and Moldova are simply a subgroup of the Romanian ethnos, similar to Transylvanians, Oltenians, and other groups. According to Moldovan Census from 2004, ethnic Moldovans (Romanians) constitute about 69.6% of all the population (including Transnistria region). Their number is greater in the center and north of the Republic than in south. Other large ethnic groups are Ukrainians (11.2%) and Russians (9.4%). They migrated to Moldova in large numbers after World War II and settled mainly in the cities. Smaller ethnic groups are Gagauz (4%), Romanians (Moldovans) (2%), Bulgarians (2%) and other (2%). Gagauz are Turkish and Christian people who came to Moldova in the late 18th century. Bulgarians also came to the Republic at the end of 18th century. These 2 groups live mainly in rural area on the south of Moldova.

As there live several ethnic groups in Moldova that’s logical that there also several languages spoken in the country. Official language of Moldova is called Moldovan. It is essentially dialect of Romanian. It is Romance language which derived from Latin. In 1938 Soviet government mandated Cyrillic alphabet to be used for Moldovan language. More than 50 years Moldavians used Cyrillic letters for writing in Moldovan. In 1989 there was reintroduced Latin alphabet. Other language widely spoken in Moldova is Russian. That is explained by long-lasting influence of Soviet Union when people had to learn Russian. Gagauz people speak Gagauz, a Turkish language. Many of them are also fluent in Russian.

Predominant religion of Moldova is Christianity. About 96 percent of the population belongs to the Eastern Orthodox Church. Even Gagauz, unlike other Turkish people, who are traditionally Muslims, are adherents of Orthodox Christianity.

Moldova has an adult literacy rate of 100%. Education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 17 when people pass through the first cycle of education. Then follows the second cycle, which isn’t compulsory. It lasts 3 years. After that people are able to enter the University