Soroca District

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Soroca
District (Raion)
UTC+3 (EEST)
Area code	+373 230
Car plates	SR
Website	soroca.org.md

Soroca is a district in north-east Moldova. Its administrative center is the town of Soroca. In 2018, the population of the region was 100,078.

History

Ancient beginnings

Archeological evidence of prehistoric occupation dating to 35,000 to 50,000 years ago has been found in the Soroco region near the village of

.

The new town of Soroca

In the second half of the 16th century,

. At various points in time, Soroca was affected by wars with ]. Gradually over time, with more stable rule, the town and its region lost military importance.

Soroca in the 19th and 20th centuries

In 1812, Soroca was occupied by Russia. The population became more varied as Russians, Ukrainians and Jews moved to the region. From 1849 to 1917 Soroca was governed as part of the Bessarabia region of the Russian Empire. In 1918, at the conclusion of World War I, Bessarabia was made part of Romania. Until 1944, Soroca remained the administrative centre for this Romanian region. In 1944, as World War II reached its end, Soroca became part of the MSSR. Moldova became an independent state in 1991. Since then Soroca has regained the status of an administrative region of Moldova.

Natural history

Geography

The main geographical feature of Soroca is the

rivers. The highest points in Soroca are Vadeni Hill at 347m and the Visoca Hill at 330m.

Soil

The soil is grey or brown to the height of the Nistru prominence. In other areas, the soils are humic-calcareous,

]

Climate

The

, tobacco and also for horticulture.

Fauna

Fauna in the district is typical of

]

Flora

7 percent of the district is forested. Common trees include

and others.

Natural resources

Granite can be found in Cosauti and building stone at

is extracted in Visoca.

Protected areas

• Baxani
  forest
• Cosauti
  landscape reserve
• Hill "Casca" from Cremenciug
• Cosauti
• Reef mounds near Visoca
• Arionesti
  landscape reserve

Rivers

The Nistru river creates 93 km of the eastern boundary of Soroca. The barrier of the Nistru plateau means the

, public supply and industry. Reservoirs have been constructed to meet public demand. There are also 64 natural reservoirs.

Administrative subdivisions

Soroca has sixty-eight subdivisional areas and thirty-three villages containing thirty-four commons. The administrative centre is the town of Soroca.

Demographics

On 1 January 2012, the district population was 100100. 37.5 percent live in urban areas and 63.5 percent in rural areas.

• Births
  (2010): 1051 (10.5 per 1000)
• Deaths
  (2010): 1427 (14.2 per 1000)
• Growth Rate (2010): -376 (−3.7 per 1000)

Ethnic groups

Ethnic group	% of total
Moldovans *	88.7
Romanians *	4.2
Ukrainians	3.8
Russians	2.0
Romani	1.0
Other	0.2
Undeclared	3.28

Footnote: * There is an ongoing controversy regarding the ethnic identification of Moldovans and Romanians.

Religion

Christians make up 98.4% of Soroca's population. The great majority (97.8%) are of the orthodox faith. Those of

denominations make up 0.6% of the population while those of other religions or no religion constitute 1.6%.

• Orthodox Christians
  – 97.8%
• Protestant
  – 0.6%
  • Seventh-day Adventists
    – 0.2%
  • Evangelicals
    – 0.2%
  • Pentecostals
    – 0.1%
  • Baptists – 0.1%
• Other – 1.1%
• No Religion 0.5%

Economy

Soroca hosts 24645 registered businesses. 62795 hectares (60.2 percent) of the total land area is used for agriculture. Arable land occupies 55 801 ha (53.5 percent) of the total agricultural land area:

• orchards
  – 6348 (6.0%) ha,
• vineyards
  – 134 ha, others – 512 ha.
• grassland – 11794 ha (11.3%)
• other – 512 ha.

Education

Soroca has about 58 educational institutions catering for preschool to tertiary students. The total number of students is approximately 12023. Among others, there is a boarding school in Visoca; a special school in Soloneţ; as well as a temporary placement centre for at risk children. In Azimut there is "The Icarus day center for disabled children". In Dacia there is "The house of hope" for youth. Specialised areas of education include sports, teachers' training, agricultural training and a school for the arts. A vocational school has about 308 students.

Politics

Soroca lies in the North Red electoral region. In elections of the first decade of the 21st century, the PCRM achieved 50% of the vote in Soroca. See the table below for the results of the 2010 election. District is one of the founding members of Euroregion Dniester.

Summary of 28 November 2010 Parliament of Moldova election results in Soroca District

Parties and coalitions		Votes	%	+/−
	Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova	20,595	46.29	−2.36
	Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova	9,816	22.06	+8.68
	Democratic Party of Moldova	6,322	14.21	-1.88
	Liberal Party	2,565	5.76	−2.20
	Party Alliance Our Moldova	2,097	4.71	−5.86
	European Action Movement	937	2.11	+2.11
	Other Party	2,180	4.86	+1.51
Total (turnout 60.25%)		44,867	100.00

Culture

The Soroca region hosts a number of cultural centres and libraries. There are also museums, art galleries and monuments. The region preserves objects of national importance and local importance. There are two monasteries: The Monastery of the Assumption in Cosuti and the Monastery of Rudi.

Health

Soroca has a general hospital with about 375 beds. It is complemented by general practitioners, health centres and specialists.

Personalities

• Emanuil Gavrilita
  – Lawyer, journalist and activist
• Eugen Coca – Composer and violinist
• Kira Muratova – director, screenwriter
• militant
• Luda Kroitor – Australian dancer, five-time world champion salsa, winner of the Australian show "Dancing with the Stars" (2008)
• Robert Steinberg – Canadian and American mathematician, known for his work on representation theory
• distillery company "Seagram
  "
• Margareta Timofti – First Lady of Moldova (2012-2016)

See also

• Soroca County (Moldova)

References

48°10′N 28°15′E / 48.167°N 28.250°E / 48.167; 28.250