There are many books written about the Republic of Moldova: its tourist attractions, history, current political issues, economy, culture, cuisine, and more. In this guide we list a few examples from the thousands of books available at the Library of Congress. These curated lists are intended to inspire the curiosity of researchers, and are meant to help especially those who want to read about Moldova in English. Those who can read materials in Moldova's local languages have many more materials at their disposal. The online catalog is a good starting point to search for your topic of interest, and librarians are happy to help you find what you are looking for.

By land area and by population, the Republic of Moldova is a small country located in Eastern Europe. It borders Romania in the West, and Ukraine in the East. Its climate is moderate continental, the countryside consists mainly of gently rolling hills and grasslands. It is known for its fruits and vegetables, and especially for its wines. Of its approximately 4 million citizens many work abroad, so currently an estimated 2.6 million are living in the country. The largest city is the capital Chișinău, with 700,000 inhabitants. About half of the population is rural.

The country's history has been defined by the history of the wider region. During the 19th century it changed hands during several Russian-Turkish wars. In the 20th century both world wars swept through Moldovan territory. For awhile it was an autonomous region, then it was part of what was called Greater Romania, then part of the Soviet Union, and it became an independent country in 1991. For much of its history, books about Moldova were printed in the center of the power that controlled the region at that given time. The collections of the Library of Congress reflects the many historical changes, having materials in several languages. Unfortunately, the Library received relatively few materials from Moscow about Moldova while it was part of the Soviet Union.

Names of the country and region. In 1328 the head of the principality of Wallachia was Basarab I, who forced out the Tartars from what is today Southern Moldova and Ukraine. That land became known as Bessarabia, or Basarabia (aka the land of Basarab). When searching for materials about Moldova, using the terms Basarabia, Bessarabia, as well as Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, or MSSR, can bring up additional results. Furthermore, works about Bukowina, (also spelled as Bukovina or Bucovina) sometimes also include information about what is today the territory of the Republic of Moldova. Books about Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union or Romania (also spelled as Roumania and Rumania) may also include information about Moldova.

Regional differences. The separatist region of Prednistrovie, Transdniester or Transnistria occupies a strip of land on the left bank of the river Dniester (called Nistru in Romanian). About a third of the 400,000 people living there identify as Moldovan, a third as Russian, and somewhat less than a third as Ukrainians. The capital city is Tiraspol. On September 2, 1990, fear of the removal of Russian as the official language, and the worry that the freely elected government of Moldova would seek unification with Romania led to the proclamation of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic. Gorbachev did not accept its autonomy, and a war started. Fighting ceased in 1992, and since then Transnistria has been controlled by its own government, which is not considered democratic, nor is it officially recognized by other countries. (Albulescu, 2022)

The mainly Turkic people of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia established autonomy within the Moldovan Republic. The capital of this Southern region is Komrat or Comrat. Gagauz became an official language in 1957, and a Cyrillic-based alphabet was introduced. In 1996 they adapted the Turkish alphabet, with two additional letters. The use of Gagauz as a literary language is not very widespread, as most speakers are bilingual, and Russian is their dominant language for writing. (Johanson, 1998)