Geography Moldova is a hilly plain. The climate is continental, with some modification of conditions by the Black Sea.
Irrigation is practised in the south and south-east.
All rivers and streams drain into the Black Sea. The Dnestr and the Prut are the two largest rivers. Steppe and forest-steppe are the predominant vegetation types. Forests of beech, oak, and hornbeam used to occupy roughly one-third of Moldova, but are now limited to the central portion of the country. A wide variety of fauna resides in the republic, although the population of certain animals, such as wolves, has declined dramatically over the last century.