er in its left talons;
on its breast is a shield divided horizontally red over blue with a
stylized ox head, star, rose, and crescent all in black-outlined
yellow

Geography
---------

Location: Eastern Europe, northeast of Romania

Geographic coordinates: 47 00 N, 29 00 E

Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States

Area:
total area: 33,700 sq km
land area: 33,700 sq km
comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of Hawaii

Land boundaries:
total: 1,389 km
border countries: Romania 450 km, Ukraine 939 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

International disputes: certain territory of Moldova and Ukraine -
including Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina - are considered by
Bucharest as historically a part of Romania; this territory was
incorporated into the former Soviet Union following the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1940

Climate: moderate winters, warm summers

Terrain: rolling steppe, gradual slope south to Black Sea
lowest point: Nistru River 2 m
highest point: Mount Balaneshty 430 m

Natural resources: lignite, phosphorites, gypsum

Land use:
arable land: 50%
permanent crops: 13%
meadows and pastures: 9%
forest and woodland: 0%
other: 28%

Irrigated land: 2,920 sq km (1990)

Environment:
current issues: heavy use of agricultural chemicals, including
banned pesticides such as DDT, has contaminated soil and
groundwater; extensive soil erosion from poor farming methods
natural hazards: NA
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change;
signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution

Geographic note: landlocked

People
------

Population: 4,463,847 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 26% (male 592,245; female 573,452)
15-64 years: 64% (male 1,381,017; female 1,496,428)
65 years and over: 10% (male 155,908; female 264,797) (July 1996
est.)

Population growth rate: 0.18% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 16.3 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 11.75 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: -2.77 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.59 male(s)/female
all ages: 0.91 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 47.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy