2004 Moldovan census
The 2004 Moldovan census was carried out between October 5 and October 12, 2004. The breakaway Transnistria failed to come into an agreement with the central government in Chişinău, and carried out its own census between November 11 and November 18, 2004. The results of the census in Transnistria were put into question. Moldova's previous census was performed in 1989, when the territory of the country was part of the former Soviet Union. The census was delayed several times and had difficulties because of political problems, ethnic tensions, and a lack of financial resources. Terminology. The  questionnaires used the term "Nationality", but the sense of this term must be understood as a synonym of ethnicity, as "nation" can also be defined as a grouping based on language and cultural self-determination rather than on relations with a sovereign state. In the context of former the Soviet Union, "nationality" is often used as translation of the Russian terms ("национальность / natsional'nost") used for ethnic groups, and local affiliations within the post-Soviet countries. Criticism. According to a May 19, 2005 article carried by the "Moldova Azi" news agency, the expert group of the International Census Observation Mission to  the Republic of Moldova described the Moldovan census as "generally conducted in a professional manner", but consider that "there were a few topics in the census that were potentially more problematic". These were: The expert group recommended that the Moldovan National Bureau of Statistics carry out an evaluation study, offered its assistance in doing so, and indicated its intention of further studying the matter itself. Vitalie Valcov, the then director of the Department of Statistics and Sociology, stated that Transnistria did not comply with the international recommendations for carrying out a census and, thus, the data collected in Transnistria — where  almost 17% of Moldova's population live — may not be taken together with the data from the rest of Moldova, since it was gathered without international monitoring. Therefore, all census figures released by the Department of Statistics and Sociology do not include territories that are under the control of the breakaway Transnistrian authorities.