| Sofia Province Софийска област |
|
|---|---|
| — Province — | |
| Location of Sofia Province in Bulgaria | |
| Country | Bulgaria |
| Capital | Sofia |
| Municipalities | 22 |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Krasimir Zhivkov |
| Area | |
| • Total | 7,059 km2 (2,725.5 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 246,668 |
| • Density | 34.9/km2 (90.5/sq mi) |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| License plate | CO |
Sofia Province (Bulgarian: Софийска област, Sofiyska oblast) is a province (oblast) of Bulgaria. The province does not include Sofia in its territories, but Sofia however remains its administrative center. The province borders on the provinces of Pernik, Kyustendil, Blagoevgrad, Pazardzhik, Plovdiv, Lovech, Vratsa, Montana and "Sofia-Capital" (which is in a separate oblast, see Sofia Administration), to the northwest there is border with Serbia.
The province has a territory of 7 059 km² and has 254,996 inhabitants. The land is predominantly mountainous. To the north are the southern slopes of the Balkan Mountains and to the south rises Rila with the highest point in the peninsular Musala. There are also several smaller mountains and spacious valleys. One of the most important ski resorts in Bulgaria, Borovets, is located here close to Samokov.
Industry is well developed. Mining and ferrous metallurgy are the backbone of the economy with the largest copper refinery in South Eastern Europe in Pirdop and important copper mines at Chelopech and Etropole. Machinery is well developed in Botevgrad (buses, car components, electronics), Pravets (computers), Etropole, Samokov, Elin Pelin, Ihtiman, Slivnitsa, Godech. The centre of food and sugar industry is Svoge. This is also the birthplace of bass/baritone opera singer and musician Boris Damianov.
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The Sofia province (Област, oblast) contains 22 municipalities (singular: oбщина, obshtina - plural: Общини, obshtini). The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town (in bold) or village, and the population of each as of 2009.
| Municipality | Cyrillic | Pop.[1] | Town/Village | Pop.[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anton | Антон | 1,650 | Anton | 1,650 |
| Botevgrad | Ботевград | 36,183 | Botevgrad | 23,694 |
| Bozhurishte | Божурище | 6,735 | Bozhurishte | 4,829 |
| Chavdar | Чавдар | 1,252 | Chavdar | 1,252 |
| Chelopech | Челопеч | 1,571 | Chelopech | 1,571 |
| Dolna Banya | Долна баня | 4,917 | Dolna Banya | 4,917 |
| Dragoman | Драгоман | 5,373 | Dragoman | 3,541 |
| Elin Pelin | Елин Пелин | 22,015 | Elin Pelin | 7,293 |
| Etropole | Етрополе | 13,773 | Etropole | 12,078 |
| Godech | Годеч | 5,670 | Godech | 4,783 |
| Gorna Malina | Горна Малина | 5,668 | Gorna Malina | 1,357 |
| Ihtiman | Ихтиман | 18,903 | Ihtiman | 14,571 |
| Koprivshtitsa | Копривщица | 2,547 | Koprivshtitsa | 2,547 |
| Kostenets | Костенец | 14,154 | Kostenets | 7,762 |
| Kostinbrod | Костинброд | 16,145 | Kostinbrod | 11,523 |
| Mirkovo | Мирково | 2,534 | Mirkovo | 1,707 |
| Pirdop | Пирдоп | 9,217 | Pirdop | 8,361 |
| Pravets | Правец | 7,919 | Pravets | 4,440 |
| Samokov | Самоков | 41,544 | Samokov | 30,085 |
| Slivnitsa | Сливница | 9,511 | Slivnitsa | 7,790 |
| Svoge | Своге | 22,557 | Svoge | 8,741 |
| Zlatitsa | Златица | 6,274 | Zlatitsa | 5,529 |
The following table represents the change of the population in the province after World War II:
| Sofia Province | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1946 | 1956 | 1965 | 1975 | 1985 | 1992 | 2001 | 2005 | 2007 | 2009 | 2011 |
| Population | 319,045 | 313,906 | 306,913 | 310,975 | 305,358 | 289,962 | 273,240 | 262,032 | 258,397 | 253,010 | 246,668 |
| Sources: National Statistical Institute,[2] „Census 2001“,[3] „Census 2011“,[4] „pop-stat.mashke.org“,?? | |||||||||||
The province had a population of 273 252 (also given as 273,240) according to a 2001 census, of which 49.2% were male and 50.8% were female.[5]
Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:[6]
| Census 2001 | ||
|---|---|---|
| religious adherence | population | % |
| Orthodox Christians | 261 996 | 95.9% |
| Muslims | 3 368 | 1.2% |
| Roman Catholics | 186 | 0.1% |
| Protestants | 2 320 | 0.8% |
| Other | 1027 | 0.4% |
| Religion not mentioned | 4 343 | 1.6% |
| total | 273,240 | 100% |
Ethnic groups in the province according to 2001 census:[7]
253 536 Bulgarians (92.8%),
16 748 Roma (Gypsy) (6.1%) and 2956 others and unspecified (1.1%).
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