Moldova
About Moldova
Moldova is an ancient land occupied by a sophisticated culture, the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture during the Stone Age (from 5000BC) that built settlements for up to 15,000 people. After invasion and occupation by numerous groups in Antiquity, including the Romans and the Byzantines, it was the Tatars who were the most frequent threats to the Principality of Moldavia, before it finally became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1538.
During its period as part of the Russian Empire from 1812, the ethnic population of Moldovans became diluted down due to the Russification of the region and the introduction of many ethnic groups from other parts of Russia.
It formed part of the secretive Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty which led to Soviet invasion in 1940, before getting occupied by the Nazis soon after. When the Soviets re-captured Moldova in 1944 it became part of the wider USSR. More dilution of the population would take place under Stalinist rule with large deportations to Siberia and other parts of the USSR. A famine occurred in 1947.
Moldova declared independence in 1991.