Dubăsari District

The Dubăsari district (the one under the administration of the Republic of Moldova) lies in the central-eastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Dniester, and forms part of the Centre Development Region. It is a district with a particular administrative situation: following the 1992 conflict, the town of Dubăsari and part of the territory remained under the control of the Transnistrian region, so the seat of the district controlled by Chișinău was established in the village of Coșnița, a unique case in Moldova's administrative organisation. The district borders Criuleni and the Transnistrian region.

Geography

The territory covers about 30,922 hectares on Moldova's central plateau, in the floodplain and on the terraces of the Dniester, with a temperate climate favourable to agriculture. Farmland accounts for a large share of the area. The district covers approximately 309 km², and the population, according to the 2014 census, was about 29,271 inhabitants. The ethnic composition is almost entirely Moldovan/Romanian, with small minorities of Russians, Ukrainians and Gagauz.

Economy

The district's economy is predominantly agricultural, the fertile land of the Dniester floodplain favouring vegetable growing, fruit growing, viticulture and cereal cultivation. The district's villages are known for their production of vegetables and fruit, a significant part of the harvest going to the Chișinău market. Processing of agricultural produce completes the local economy.

What to see

The banks of the Dniester offer picturesque landscapes, and the district's villages preserve numerous historical monuments and churches, as well as the memory of the events of 1992. The settlements along the demarcation line carry particular symbolic weight in Moldova's recent history.

History

The villages on the right bank of the Dniester, such as Coșnița, Pohrebea, Pârâta and Doroțcaia, are documented from the medieval period and formed part of the historical lands of Moldavia. During the armed conflict of 1992 these settlements were at the centre of the fighting, many of their inhabitants opposing the separatist authorities in Tiraspol and remaining under the constitutional administration of the Republic of Moldova. That choice explains the unusual administrative arrangement, with the seat established at Coșnița instead of the town of Dubăsari, which lies on the left bank. Through its vocation for vegetable growing, the landscapes of the Dniester and its unique administrative situation, the Dubăsari district remains a territory representative of the country's eastern area and of its recent history.