Moldova’s geography

Location: Eastern Europe, the extreme Southwestern part of the Eastern European Plain

Capital City: Chişinău

Time Zone: II

Geographical Coordinates: Between latitudes 45°28' - 48°28' North (350 km long) and longitudes 26°40' - 30°06' East (150 km long)

Extremes:
The lowest point: The Dniester River (2 m below sea level)
The highest point: Bălăneşti Elevation (430 m above sea level)
The northernmost point: Latitude 48°28' North (Naslavcea, Edineţ Region)
The southernmost point: Latitude 45°28' North (Giurgiuleşti, Cahul Region)
The westernmost point: Longitude 26°40' East (Criva, Edineţ Region)
The easternmost point: Longitude 30°06' East (Palanca, Tighina Region).

Area:
Total: 33,843 square km
It includes:
Land: 33,371 square km
Water: 472 square km

Borderline on land:
Total length: 1389 km
To include:
Border to Romania: 450 km
Border to Ukraine: 939 km

Population (at 01.01.2008): 3,572,700 (three million five hundred seventy-five thousand seven hundred) (without the population of Transnistria and the municipality of Bender)

Centers of population:
Municipalities (cities): 5 (the capital - Chisinau; Balti; Bender; Tiraspol; Comrat)
Towns: 60
Villages: 917
Regions: 32

The largest rivers:
The Dniester: total length 1352 km, including 657 km in Moldova
The Prut: total length 989 km, including 695 km in Moldova
The Răut: 287 km
The Cogâlnic: 243 km
The Bâc: 155 km
The Botna: 152 km
The Ialpug: 142 km
The Ichel: 101 km

Lakes and storage ponds:
Natural lakes: 57 (Beleu, Bac, Dracele, Crasnoie, Fontan, etc.)

Storage ponds: 53 (Dubăsari, Ghidighici, Costeşti, Cangaz, etc.)
Ponds: above 1500

Coast line: 950 m (along the Danube)

Soils: Moldova has 745 soil types, including 75% of chernozem (Black earth), 10% of brown and gray forest soils, 7% of flood plain and meadow soil and 8% of other soils.

Land use:
Plough-land: 53%
Land under grain crops: 14%
Pastures: 13%
Forests: 9%
Other: 11%

Minerals: Natural building materials (limestone, shell rock, white stone), raw materials for cement, glass, steel and chemical industry (chalky clay, chalk, diatomite, clay, mineral white, gravel). There are very small oil and gas fields.

Flora: About 2300 species of wild-growing plants.
Forest plants: 30%
Field plants: 16%
Meadow plants: 16%
Steppe plants:  9%
Marsh and water plants: 5%
Halophytes: 2%
Plants with broad geographical areal: 20%

Fauna:
Mammals: 68 species
Birds: 270 species
Invertebrate: Above 10 thousand species

Natural areas:
The Northern Moldovan forest-steppe area: 43.3% of the country’s total territory. The natural landscapes are forest-steppe type on elevations and steppe type on plains. Soils: gray forest soils and black earth (chernozem).
The Central Moldovan forest area (Codri): 14.5% of the country’s total territory. Most of the elevations are concentrated here. Mainly oak and hornbeam forests are on gray forest soils and leached black earth; oak and hornbeam forests are on brown forest soils.
The Southern Moldovan Steppe Area: 42.2% of the country’s total territory. This area, located between the Dniester and the Prut to the south from Codri, is practically totally under diverse crops; wild-growing steppe plants can be found only occasionally.