| Yambol Ямбол |
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| Yambol City Court at summer time | |
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Yambol
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Bulgaria |
| Province (Oblast) |
Yambol |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Georgi Slavov (independent) |
| Elevation | 114 m (374 ft) |
| Population (Census February 2011)[1] | |
| • City | 72,843 |
| • Urban | 96,508 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Postal Code | 8600 |
| Area code(s) | 046 |
| License plate | Y |
Yambol (Bulgarian: Ямбол) is a city in southeastern Bulgaria, an administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. As of February 2011, the town has a population of 72,843 inhabitants.[1] It is occasionally spelt 'Jambol'.
The administrative centres of two municipalities are situated in Yambol. One is of the rural area of Tundzha Municipality and the other is of the homonymous Yambol Municipality that embraces the city itself.
Yambol Peak on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Yambol .
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The surrounding area has been inhabited since the Neolithic and was the location of the ancient Thracian royal city of Kabyle. It was founded or refounded by Philip II of Macedon as an Ancient Greek polis.[2][3][4] Conquered by the Romans, but destroyed by the Avars in 583). Yambol was founded by Roman Emperor Diocletian in AD 293; though it was named Diospolis (Διόςπόλις in Greek 'city of Zeus'), the name also reflected the emperor's name. The name later evolved through Diampolis (Διάμπόλις), Hiambouli (Ηιάμβόυλι; in Byzantine chronicles), Dinibouli (دنبلي; Arabic chronicles), Dbilin (Дбилин; in Bulgarian inscriptions), and Diamboli (Диамбоюли) to become Yambol. As the Slavs and Bulgars arrived in the Balkans in the Middle Ages, the fortress was contested by the Bulgarian Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. It has been an important Bulgarian center ever since.
The predominant religion is Orthodox Christianity with a number of churches being present (among them one of the Holy Trinity, one of St George; the largest one is the cathedral of St Nicholas) consecrated in 1888; there also exist Eastern Rite Catholic and Protestant religious buildings. During the Ottoman period the town had a very large Muslim population as well.
The city was affected by the turmoils of the early 20th century. Its Greek population (around 20 families) left during the exchange of populations between Bulgaria and Greece and it received in return Bulgarians from Greece. It also hosted Bulgarian Macedonian refugees from the failed 1903 Ilinden Uprising. During World War I, Yambol hosted a base for Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Army Air Service) zeppelins used for missions in Romania, Russia, Sudan and Malta. The town was chosen by the Germans due to its favorable location and weather conditions.[1]
In the early 21st century, the city became the first one in Bulgaria to use natural gas for domestic purposes.
The population of Yambol during the first decade after the liberation of Bulgaria exceeded 10,000, being 11,241 in 1887.[5] Since then it started growing decade by decade, mostly because of the migrants from the rural areas and the surrounding smaller towns, reaching its peak in the period 1985-1992 exceeding 90,000.[6] After this time, the population has started decreasing rapidly in consequence of the poor economic situation in the Bulgarian provinces during the 1990s that leaded to a new migration in the direction of the country capital Sofia and abroad.
| Yambol | |||||||||||||
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| Year | 1887 | 1910 | 1934 | 1946 | 1956 | 1965 | 1975 | 1985 | 1992 | 2001 | 2005 | 2009 | 2011 |
| Population | 11,241 | 15,975 | 24,920 | 30,576 | 42,333 | 58,571 | 75,781 | 90,019 | 91,561 | 82,649 | 79,314 | 77,174 | 72,843 |
| Highest number 99,339 in 1991 | |||||||||||||
| Sources: National Statistical Institute,[7][8] „citypopulation.de“,[6] „pop-stat.mashke.org“,[9] Bulgarian Academy of Sciences[5] | |||||||||||||
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