Demographic features of the population of Republic of Moldova include distribution, ethnicity, languages, religious affiliation and other statistical data.

According to the 2014 Moldovan Census, 2,789,205 people resided in the areas controlled by the central government of Republic of Moldova.

[8] Note: 1The breakaway Transnistrian authorities count as rural the population of the towns of Crasnoe, Maiac, and Tiraspolul Nou.

In Chișinău, the proportion was 72.9% Moldovans, 13.1% Romanians, 5.9% Russians, 5.1% Ukrainians, 0.8% Gagauz, 0.9% Bulgarians, 0.1% Roma/Gypsies and 1.2% other ethnicities.

Declared country of birth for the current inhabitants of the part of Moldova under the central government control, according to the 2004 census: Population by district, according to the 2004 census: 1There is an ongoing controversy over whether Moldovans are a subset of Romanians, or a distinct ethnic group.

However, many speakers use the term Moldovan to describe the language they speak, even though its literary standard is virtually identical to Romanian.

Russian was claimed as a second language by a sizeable proportion of all ethnicities: Moldovans (46%), Ukrainians (43%), Gagauz (68%), Jews (30%), Bulgarians (67%), Belarusians (34%), Germans (53%), Roma (36%), and Poles (24%).

Notes: 75,727 (2.24% of population) did not answer that question.a Known as Creștini după Evanghelie, Pentecostal group.b Traditionally Orthodox Lipovans.

Most Orthodox churches and monasteries in Moldova were demolished or converted to other uses, such as administrative buildings or warehouses, and clergy were sometimes punished for leading services.

[citation needed] As of 2004, Christian Orthodox constitute the vast majority of the population in all districts of Moldova.

In the interwar period, the vast majority of ethnic Moldovans belonged to the Romanian Orthodox Church (Bucharest Patriarchate), but today both Romanian and Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) have jurisdiction in Moldova, with the latter having more parishes.

After the revival of religious activity in the last 20 years, a minority of the clergy and the faithful wanted to return to the Bucharest Patriarchate (Metropolis of Bessarabia).

Because higher-level church authorities were unable to resolve the matter, Moldova now has two episcopates, one for each patriarchate.

In late 1992, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia issued a decree upgrading its eparchy of Chișinău and Moldova to a Metropolis.

Judaism Despite the Soviet government's suppression and harassment, Moldova's practicing Jews managed to retain their religious identity.

In addition, Moldova's government created the Department of Jewish Studies at Chișinău State University, mandated the opening of a Jewish high school in Chișinău, and introduced classes in Judaism in high schools in several cities.

There are more than 1,000 Baptists in the cities of Chișinău and Bălți, in Cahul, Fălești, Hîncești, Sîngerei, Ștefan Vodă, and Ungheni districts, and in Găgăuzia.

Others Other religious denominations in Moldova include: Foreign citizens (according to the Office of Migration and Asylum):[31][32][33][34][35] Since 2000, there has been a continuous increase in life expectancy, except for 2005, a year in which there was a high level of general and infant mortality.

Children under 1 year old in 1,000 newborns:[40] Inline: General: This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook.