Vidin District

an administrative-territorial unit in northwestern Bulgaria. Area, 3,100 sq km; population, 176,000 (1968). Administrative center: Vidin. The eastern part of the district is a very hilly lowland, and the western part is occupied by the foothills of the Stara Planina (Balkan Mountains), with elevations of 1,200-1,400 m. The climate is temperate continental; annual precipitation is about 600 mm. The major rivers are the Danube and its tributaries—the Timok, Topolovitsa, and Lorn. The eastern part has mainly steppe landscapes; the western part, mountain-forest landscapes.

In addition to branches of industry related to the processing of agricultural products (wine-making, fruit canning, and so on), machine building (a pump plant, a considerable part of whose output is exported), the chemical industry (synthetic fibers), and the rubber industry (an automobile-tire plant in Vidin) are also developing in Vidin District. The main branches of agriculture are grain farming and livestock raising. More than one-third of the cultivated land is irrigated. The chief crops are wheat, corn, sunflowers, and sugar beets. There is also vegetable and melon farming, viticulture, and cattle raising. A train ferry across the Danube connects the city and port of Vidin with the city of Calafat in Rumania. The Belogradchik Cliffs and the Magura Cave are tourist attractions.

E. B. VALEV