Silistra District

an administrative and territorial unit in northeastern Bulgaria, on the hilly Danubian plain. Area, 2,900 sq km. Population, 173,000 (1975). The administrative center is the city of Silistra.

Once an agricultural region, Silistra District has undergone rapid industrial development under people’s rule. A machine-building industry has come into being, producing electronic computer equipment, machine tools, and household goods. Other industries have also grown, including those that produce foods, condiments, and textiles and that manufacture wood products and items made of rushes. More than four-fifths of the industry in Silistra District is located in the city of Silistra.

Agriculturally, Silistra District is noted primarily for the cultivation of grains, such as wheat and corn. Beans, sunflowers, and hemp are also grown, and tobacco plantings are expanding. Vineyards and apricot orchards are common; the district accounts for one-third of Bulgaria’s apricot cultivation. Silistra District has 46,000 head of cattle (1973), 310,000 sheep, and 112,000 hogs.

A railroad line was completed between Silistra and Samuil in 1974. Lake Srebama, a nature preserve in the Danube valley, is noted for many species of birds.