Moldovans

Moldovans or Moldavians can refer to:

• The Romanian-speaking people living in the area of the former principality of Moldavia, now divided between Romania and the Republic of Moldova.

• An ethnic group, living mainly in the Republic of Moldova, where they comprise 76.1% of population, and in Ukraine, where they are one of the ethnic minorities. The Moldovans of Romania and Moldova were considered to be the same Romanian ethnicity until after Soviet occupation of Bessarabia in the 1940s, when Soviet propaganda denied any links between Moldova with Romania, including forging a separate Moldovan identity, declaring the variety spoken by the majority of Moldovans to be a separate "Moldovan language" etc. Their dominant religion is Eastern Orthodoxy. Before the establishment of the Soviet power, the majority, together with the whole Romania, belonged to Romanian Orthodox Church. The Soviet Moldova was under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church. In the independent Moldova, Moldovan Orthodox Church and Bessarabian Orthodox Church are established; see Religion in Moldova.

• Moldovan nationals, regardless of ethnicity.