The official state language of Moldova is Romanian, which is the native language of 78.6% of the population (as of the 2014 Census); it is also spoken as a primary language by other ethnic minorities. Gagauz, Russian, and Ukrainian languages are granted official regional status in Gagauzia and/or Transnistria.
The 1989 state language law of the former Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic declared that Moldovan, written in the Latin script, was the sole state language, intending it to serve as a primary means of communication among all citizens of the republic. The law speaks of a common Moldovan-Romanian linguistic identity. Until 1989 Moldova used the Cyrillic alphabet for writing a language that was, by that time, no different from standard Bucharest Romanian; in part of Moldova, the independent Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, the old script is still used in schools and on street signs. Even after shifting to the Latin alphabet, some Moldovan officials continue to insist that the designated "state language" is an east-Romance idiom somehow separate from Romanian.[1]
At 9 September 1994, Academy of Sciences of Moldova confirms the reasoned scientific opinion of philologists from the Republic and abroad (approved by the decision of the Presidium of Academy of Science of Moldova of 9.09.94), according to which the correct name of the State language (official) of the Republic of Moldova is Romanian.[3]
In December 2013, the Constitutional Court of Moldova ruled that the Declaration of Independence takes precedence over the Constitution, and the state language should be called "Romanian".[5][6][7][8][9]
Most linguists consider literary Romanian and Moldovan to be identical, with the glottonym "Moldovan" used in certain political contexts.[10] In 2003, the Communist government of Moldova adopted a political resolution on "National Political Conception," stating that one of its priorities was preservation of the Moldovan language. This was a continuation of Soviet-inflected political emphasis.
Since the Declaration of Independence in 1991, schools refer to this language as "Romanian" when teaching it or referring to it.[11][pageneeded]
In the 2004 census, 2,564,542 people (75.8% of the population of the country) declared their native language as "Moldovan" or "Romanian"; 2,495,977 (73.8%) speak it as first language in daily use. Apart from being the first language of use for 94.5% of ethnic Moldovans and 97.6% of ethnic Romanians, the language is also spoken as primary by 5.8% of ethnic Russians, 7.7% of ethnic Ukrainians, 2.3% of ethnic Gagauz, 8.7% of ethnic Bulgarians, and 14.4% of other ethnic minorities.
The 2014 census reported an estimated 2,998,235 people (without Transnistria), out of which 2,804,801 were actually covered by the census. Among them, 2,068,068 or 73.7% declared themselves Moldovans and 192,800 or 6.9% Romanians. [12] Some organisations like the Liberal party of Moldova have criticised the census results, claiming Romanians comprise 85% of the population and that census officials have pressured respondents to declare themselves Moldovans instead of Romanians and have purposefully failed to cover urban respondents who are more likely to declared themselves Romanians as opposed to Moldovans [13]
According to the 2014 census, 2,720,377 answered to the question on "language usually used for communication". 2,138,964 people or 78.63% of the inhabitants of Moldova (proper) have Moldovan/Romanian as first language, of which 1,486,570 (53%) declared it Moldovan and 652,394 (23.3%) declared it Romanian.[14]
However, in Chișinău, the proportion of people who declared Romanian as opposed to Moldovan is larger - 43.3% vs 33%.[15]
On March 2, 2023, the Moldovan parliament voted in the first reading to replace the phrase "Moldovan language" with "Romanian language" in all legislation of the country. The proposed law was introduced by a group of members of the "Action and Solidarity Party" fraction. Additionally, phrases such as "official language," "state language," and "mother tongue" will also be replaced. The authors of the proposal argue that this change is necessary to implement the constitutional considerations outlined in the decisions of the Constitutional Court, which declared that the state language of the Republic of Moldova is Romanian. The bill also proposes that the National Holiday "Our Language," as it is currently referred to, be renamed "Romanian Language." The proposal passed its first reading with 56 votes in favor.[16]
Official minority languages
Russian
Russian is one of the minority languages recognized in Moldova,[17] and since Soviet times remains widely used on many levels of the society and the state. A policy document adopted in 2003 by the Moldovan parliament considers that "for Moldova, Moldovan-Russian bilingualism is characteristic".[18] On 21 January 2021 the Constitutional Court declared a law passed by parliament that would have made Russian the "language for communication between ethnic communities" unconstitutional.[19]
Russian was granted official status in Gagauzia, a region in the south of the country inhabited mostly by ethnic Gagauz, and in the breakaway region of Transnistria in the east of the country.
263,523 people, or 9.4% of the population, declared Russian as native language, and some 394,133 people, or 14.1% of the population, identified Russian as language of daily use. It is the first language for 93.2% of ethnic Russians, and a primary language for 4.9% of Moldovans, 50.0% of Ukrainians, 27.4% of Gagauz, 35.4% of Bulgarians, and 54.1% of other ethnic minorities.
Gagauz
Gagauz is an official minority language in Gagauzia, and has significant regional speaker population. A total of 114,532 people or 4.1% of the population identified Gagauz as their native language, but only 74,167 or 2.6% speak it as a first language.
Ukrainian
Ukrainian has co-official status in localities with significant Ukrainian population, and in the breakaway region of Transnistria. In the main part of the country, 186,394 people declared it native, and (of these) 107,252 or 3.8%[clarification needed] speak it as a first language.
While since the 1990s most Moldovans learn English as their first foreign language in schools, few speak it at a sufficiently advanced level to be able to communicate and understand it freely. Sometimes French, Italian, or Spanish are taught first. These languages are often used by Moldovan expats and working migrants in other countries, including France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Usually the migrants learn the new languages after arriving in a new country. The expatriates and working migrants in Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, and Germany have learned those countries' respective languages. Speakers of Portuguese, Greek, Turkish, and German live in Moldova.
Moldovans of older and middle generations are generally bilingual in Romanian and Russian, due to the long influence of and trade with the Soviet Union. Many Moldovan expatriates and migrant workers live and work in Russia. Many of the younger generation in Moldova, however, may not know this language well enough to be able to communicate in writing or to have a sophisticated conversation. Children study Russian one hour per week in school.
Demographic features of the population of Republic of Moldova include distribution, ethnicity, languages, religious affiliation and other statistical data.
Moldovan, archaically spelled Moldavian, is one of the two local names for the Romanian language in Moldova. Moldovan was declared the official language of Moldova in Article 13 of the constitution adopted in 1994, while the 1991 Declaration of Independence of Moldova used the name Romanian. In 2003, the Moldovan parliament adopted a law defining Moldovan and Romanian as glottonyms for the same language. In 2013, the Constitutional Court of Moldova interpreted that Article 13 of the constitution is superseded by the Declaration of Independence, thus giving official status to the name Romanian. The breakaway region of Transnistria continues to recognize Moldovan as one of its official languages, alongside Russian and Ukrainian. Ukraine also continues to make a distinction between Moldovan and Romanian, with one village declaring its language to be Romanian and another declaring it to be Moldovan, though Ukrainian officials have announced an intention to remove the legal status of Moldovan. On 16 March 2023, the Moldovan Parliament approved a law on referring to the national language as Romanian in all legislative texts and the constitution. On 22 March, the president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, promulgated the law.
Gagauzia or Gagauz-Yeri, officially the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia (ATUG), is an autonomous territorial unit of Moldova. Its autonomy is intended for the local Gagauz people, a Turkic-speaking, primarily Orthodox ethnic group.
Comrat is a city and municipality in Moldova and the capital of the autonomous region of Gagauzia. It is located in the south of the country, on the Ialpug River. In 2014, Comrat's population was 20,113, of which the vast majority are Gagauzians.
Ialoveni is a city in the Republic of Moldova situated 10 km (6 mi) from Chișinău. The city is administrative center of the Ialoveni District.
Taraclia is a city located in the south of Moldova. It is the capital of Taraclia District, bordered by the autonomous region of Gagauzia, by the Cahul District and the Odesa Oblast of Ukraine. The great majority of its inhabitants are ethnic Bulgarians.
Cantemir is a town in Moldova. It is the administrative center of Cantemir District.
Glodeni is a city in the northwest of Moldova; it is the seat of Glodeni District. The population at the 2004 census was 10,785. One village, Stîrcea, is administered by the city.
Moldovans, sometimes referred to as Moldavians, are a Romanian-speaking ethnic group and the largest ethnic group of the Republic of Moldova and a significant minority in Ukraine and Russia. There is an ongoing controversy, in part involving the linguisitic definition of ethnicity, over whether Moldovans' self-identification constitutes an ethnic group distinct and separate from Romanians, or a subset. The extent of self-identification as Romanians in the Republic of Moldova varies.
Basarabeasca is a city in Moldova. It is the capital of Basarabeasca District.
Fălești is a city and the administrative center of Fălești District, Moldova. The population at the 2004 census was 14,931.
Șoldănești is a city in Moldova. It is the capital of Șoldănești District. Known as Chernenko during the communist era, the town regained its historical name in the early 1980s.
Rîșcani is a city in Moldova, the capital of the Rîșcani District. It is located along the Copăceanca river, about 22 kilometres from the station in Drochia. Two villages are administered by the city, Bălanul Nou and Rămăzan.
Ceadîr-Lunga is a city and municipality in Gagauzia, Moldova.
Doroțcaia is a village in the Dubăsari District, Republic of Moldova, situated on the eastern bank of the River Dniester.
Florești is the capital city and industrial and commercial center of Floreşti District of Moldova. It is located on the river Răut.
Etulia is a commune in the Gagauz Autonomous Territorial Unit of the Republic of Moldova. It is composed of three villages: Etulia, Etulia Nouă and Etulia station. The 2004 census listed the commune as having a population of 3,649 people. 3,382 inhabitants are Gagauz. Minorities included 31 Russians, 43 Ukrainians, 24 Bulgarians, 164 Moldovans and 1 Greek.
Vulcănești is a town in Gagauzia, Moldova.
Russians in Moldova form the second largest ethnic minority in the country. According to the Moldovan Census (2004) and a separate 2004 Census in Transnistria, about 370,000 persons identified themselves as ethnic Russians in Moldova.
On 18 September 2022, protests in Moldova began in the capital city of Chișinău, demanding the resignation of the country's pro-Western government, amid an energy crisis causing rising natural gas prices and inflation, caused in part by the war in Ukraine.
↑ "Lege privind aprobarea Concepţiei politicii naţionale a Republicii Moldova, Nr.546-XV"[Law on the approval of the Concept of National Politics of the Republic of Moldova, No. 546-XV]. Parliament of the Republic of Moldova (in Romanian). Archived from the original(DOC) on 25 February 2009. Limba rusă care, în conformitate cu legislația în vigoare, are statutul de limbă de comunicare interetnică se aplică și ea în diverse domenii ale vieții statului și societății. Pentru Moldova este characteristic bilingvismul româno-rus. În actualele condiţii, este necesar să se creeze posibilități reale pentru ca bilingvismul ruso-românesc să devină realitate. [TRANS] The Russian language which, according to the legislation in force, has the status of a language of inter-ethnic communication, applies also in various spheres of life of the state and society. Romanian-Russian bilingualism is characteristic for Moldova. Under the current conditions, it is necessary to create real possibilities for Russian-Romanian bilingualism to become reality.
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