The official language of Moldova is Moldavian, spoken by about 2.6 million people. However, Ukrainian, Russian and Gagauz are also widely spoken there. It is closely related to Romanian but on the other hand, it is said that Moldavian is a dialect of Romanian because the spoken language is closer to the dialects of Romanian spoken in north-eastern Romania.
Therefore there is much debate about whether Moldavian is a dialect of Romanian, or a separate language. According to linguistic studies, it is considered the same language as Romanian. However, the constitution of Moldova has indentified Moldavian as the official language of the country rather than Romanian. Also, Moldovan people have long alleged their linguistic identity from Romania. Many scholars have been researching this interesting language history.
