Ruse District

an administrative-territorial unit in northern Bulgaria. Area, 2,600 sq km. Population, 293,000 (1972). The administrative center is Ruse.

Ruse District is crossed by the Lorn (Rusenski Lom) and Iantra rivers, both tributaries of the Danube. It occupies an important geographical and transportation position at the juncture of the Danube and the main land route linking Bulgaria, the Soviet Union, and Rumania.

Ruse District is one of the most economically developed districts in Bulgaria. Industry, which is concentrated in the city of Ruse, dominates the economy; industry and agriculture together account for more than four-fifths of all the district’s production. The leading branches of industry are machine building (especially electrical goods), food and condiments, chemicals, and textiles. The Ruse Steam Power Plant uses coal from the Donets Coal Basin.

Agriculture produces a large marketable surplus. Two-thirds of the land in Ruse District is cultivated, and some of the land adjoining the Danube is irrigated. Grains, such as wheat and corn, are grown in conjunction with industrial crops, such as sugar beets and sunflowers. Viticulture and vegetable raising are also common. Sheep (343,000 in 1973) and cattle (40,000) are raised. The agricultural production of Ruse District is concentrated primarily in several industrial-agricultural complexes specializing in the cultivation of sugar beets and the production of sugar.