Telenești is a district (raion) in central Moldova, with the administrative center at Telenești.
The oldest recorded settlements of the district are: Banești, Peciste and Telenești, mentioned in 1437. At the time, the landowners had the right to sell their estate, in parts or entirely. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the region's economy developed (trade, agriculture, winery), resulting in a significant increase in population. In 1812, after the Treaty of Bucharest, Bessarabia was occupied by the Russian Empire, and an intense process of russification of the native population followed. In 1918, as a result of the fall of the Russian Empire, Bessarabia was united with Romania, and the Romanian government enacted a land reform. Telenești became the center of a plasă of Orhei County, along with 45 villages. The plasă capital had a courthouse and a post office with telegraph and telephone. The Romanian land reform (as opposed to the Bolshevik one) made the peasants owners of a plot of land, and the previous owners were compensated. After the Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty, Bessarabia was occupied by the Soviet Union. In 1991, the district became a part of independent Moldova, and in 1999 it was dissolved, and its territory was included in Orhei County, until 2003, when it was reestablished as an administrative unit of Moldova.