Telenești District

The Telenești district is situated in the central part of the Republic of Moldova, in the Centre Development Region. Its seat is the town of Telenești. The district occupies a transitional zone between the northern plains and the wooded hills of the country's centre, bordering several districts in central and northern Moldova.

Geography and waters

With an area of roughly 849 km², the district has a hilly relief, fragmented by valleys, part of the Central Moldavian Plateau. It is crossed by the river Răut, one of the most important inland tributaries of the Dniester, and by its tributaries, among them the Ciuluc, which over time have shaped the valleys and floodplains of the area. Fertile chernozem soils support intensive agriculture, and the codru forests complete the landscape in the southern part of the district.

Population and economy

At the 2014 census, the district numbered around 61,100 inhabitants, with a density of about 72 inhabitants/km². It is one of the most ethnically homogeneous districts: Moldovans/Romanians make up almost 98% of the population, with small Ukrainian and Russian communities. The economy is predominantly agricultural, focused on cereals, sugar beet, sunflower, viticulture, fruit growing and animal husbandry, complemented by agricultural processing units.

Heritage and history

The district preserves a rich rural heritage, with old churches, boyar manors and codru landscapes characteristic of central Moldova. The valleys of the Răut and its tributaries provide the natural setting for the numerous villages with agricultural and craft traditions, many of them with a history documented for centuries. Through its ethnic homogeneity, its dense network of villages and its well-preserved agricultural and craft traditions, the Telenești district remains representative of the rural world of central Moldova, with a cultural and natural heritage tied to the Răut valley and to the codru forests in its south, as well as an economic life based on the productive agriculture of chernozem soils. The district, in its first administrative form, was constituted in November 1940 and went through several territorial reorganisations up to its present configuration.