Genetik
RU
Genetik/Peoples/Moldovans

Moldovans

Молдаване · Q487796

language area per Glottologcensus counts
2,068,058
Moldova, Republic of, census 2014 (national and/or ethnic group, UN)
2,426,373
sum of censuses in 9 countries, 2001-2021
Indo-European
language family (Glottolog)

In brief

The largest documented number lives in Moldova, Republic of: 2,068,058 people in the 2014 census.

Official figures exist for 9 countries; together they add up to 2,426,373. This is not an estimate of the world total: the censuses were held in different years (2001-2021) and define belonging differently, and countries without such data are not counted.

In Russia's 2020 census (reference date 1 October 2021), 77,509 people identified with the nationality "Молдаване" (Moldovans)1. That is 0.06% of the 130,587,364 residents who stated a nationality.

Rosstat also assigns 3 other self-designations to this nationality (listed in Russian in the source table).

Main language: Romanian. Glottolog classifies it in the Indo-European family.

Where they live: census figures

Each figure comes from the country's official census. Censuses define belonging differently (self-identification, citizenship, mother tongue, ancestry); the type is given on each row.

Moldova, Republic of2014 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Moldavian» · [2]
2,068,058
Ukraine2001 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Moldovan» · [3]
258,619
Russia2021 · ethnicity / nationality · «Молдаване» · [1]
77,509
Kazakhstan2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Moldavian» · [4]
16,989
Belarus2019 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Moldavian» · [5]
2,407
Latvia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Moldavian» · [6]
1,453
Estonia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Moldavian» · [7]
730
Lithuania2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Moldovan» · [8]
451
Tajikistan2010 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Moldavian» · [9]
157
Sum across 9 countries2,426,373

In detail: Russia, 2021 census

Sex, urban and rural, Russian regions

Sex

Men 42,355 · 54.6%Women 35,154 · 45.4%

Urban and rural

Urban 51,771 · 66.8%Rural 25,738 · 33.2%

Where: the 10 regions with the largest numbers

Moscow Oblast
12,811
Moscow (city)
8,122
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - Yugra
5,297
Kaluga Oblast
4,043
Saint Petersburg (city)
2,899
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
2,246
Krasnodar Krai
2,010
Rostov Oblast
1,924
Tula Oblast
1,522
Republic of Crimea (as listed by Rosstat)
1,474

Source [1]: Rosstat, 2020 census, vol. 5, table 1

Languages and their lineage

Romanian

  1. Indo-Europeanindo1319
  2. Classical Indo-Europeanclas1257
  3. Italicital1284
  4. Latino-Faliscanlati1262
  5. Latiniclati1263
  6. Imperial Latinimpe1234
  7. Romanceroma1334
  8. Eastern Romanceeast2714
  9. Northern Romaniannort3361
  10. Eastern Romanianeast2865
  11. Romanianroma1327

People-to-language links: Wikidata (properties P103 and P2936), checked against ISO 639-3 codes. Language classification: Glottolog 5.3.

Peoples of the same language family

PakistanisRussiansMarathiGermansSpaniardsMexicansUkrainiansEnglishIrishAmericansItaliansRomaniansNepali (Khas-Arya)DutchBelarusiansTajiksCzechsScotsSerbsBulgariansSlovaksArmeniansCubansLithuanians

Sources

  1. Rosstat. National composition of the population of the Russian Federation. Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census (reference date 1 October 2021), vol. 5, table 1. Tom5_tab1_VPN-2020.xlsx (archived copy)
  2. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Republic of Moldova, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  3. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Ukraine, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  4. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Kazakhstan, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  5. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Belarus, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  6. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Latvia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  7. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Estonia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  8. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Lithuania, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  9. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Tajikistan, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  10. Hammarström H., Forkel R., Haspelmath M., Bank S. (2026). Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. glottolog.org (CC BY 4.0)