Rîbniţa

Rîbnița or Rybnitsa (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈrɨbnit͡sa]; also spelled Râbnița; Moldovan Cyrillic and Russian: Ры́бница, Rybnica; Ukrainian: Ри́бниця, Rybnyća; Yiddish: ריבניץ‎, Ribnitz; Polish: Rybnica) is a city in Moldova, under the administration of the breakaway government of Transnistria. According to the 2004 Census in Transnistria, it has a population of 53,648. Rîbnița is situated in the northern half of Transnistria, on the left bank of the Dniester, and separated from the river by a concrete dam. The city is the seat of the Rîbnița District.Rîbnița was founded in 1628 as a Ruthenian village Rybnytsia, its name meaning "fishery" (from рꙑба, "fish"). As early as 1657, Rîbnița was mentioned in documents as an important town, at the time part of the Kingdom of Poland. Strong Western European influences can be seen in this formerly Polish town. In 1793, Rîbnița passed from Poland to Russia. On March 17, 1944, during World War II, the Nazis executed almost 400 prisoners, Soviet citizens at Rîbnița.
Rîbnița is home to Transnistria's largest company, a steel plant which produces more than $500 million worth of exports a year and traditionally has accounted for between 40% to 50% of Transnistria's GDP. Other industries are also present in Rîbnița, including the oldest sugar plant in Transnistria (founded in 1898), an alcohol distillery, and a cement factory. The city has a large railway station and a river port, as well as a supermarket, "Sheriff".
Rîbnița has three places of worship located right next to each other: a Catholic church, an Orthodox church, and a synagogue.