Rîbnița

Rîbnița (, , or , , ) or Rybnitsa (; ) is a town in the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria. According to the 2004 census, it has a population of 53,648. Rîbnița is situated in the northern half of Transnistria, on the left bank of the Dniester, and is separated from the river by a concrete dam. The town is the seat of the Rîbnița District.

==History== thumb|left|Fragment of a map of Poland from 1772 with Rybnica marked Rîbnița was founded in 1628 as the Ruthenian village Rybnytsia, its name meaning "fishery" (from рꙑба, "fish"). As early as 1657, Rîbnița was mentioned in documents as an important town. Rybnica, as it was known in Polish, was a private town of the Koniecpolski, Lubomirski, Kożuchowski noble families, administratively located in the Bracław County in the Bracław Voivodeship in the Lesser Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1672 it fell to the Ottoman Empire, but was regained by Poland in 1699. Strong Western European influences can be seen in this formerly Polish town. Following the Second Partition of Poland, in 1793, Rîbnița passed from Poland to Russia. In 1802 the Saint Michael church was built, and in 1817 the Saint Joseph church was built.