Smolyan Province

Coordinates: 41°40′N 24°35′E / 41.667°N 24.583°E / 41.667; 24.583

Smolyan Province Област Смолян
Province
Location of Smolyan Province in Bulgaria
Country	Bulgaria
Capital	Smolyan
Municipalities	10
Government
• Governor	Nedyalko Slavov
Area[1]
• Total	3,192.8 km2 (1,232.7 sq mi)
Population (February 2011)[2]
• Total	121,572
• Density	38/km2 (99/sq mi)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
License plate	CM
Website	region-smolyan.org

Smolyan Province (Bulgarian: Област Смолян - Oblast Smolyan, former name Smolyan okrug) is a province in Southern-central Bulgaria, located in the Rhodope Mountains, neighbouring Greece to the south. It is named after its administrative and industrial centre - the city of Smolyan. The province embraces a territory of 3,192.8 km²^[1] that is divided into 10 municipalities with a total population of 124,795 inhabitants, as of December 2009.^[2][3][4]

Municipalities

Municipalities of Smolyan province

Smolyan Province (Област, oblast) contains 10 municipalities^[5] (singular: oбщина, obshtina - plural: Общини, obshtini). The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town or village (towns are shown in bold), and the population of each as of December 2009.

Population

The Miraculous bridges

The Smolyan province had a population of 140,066^[10][11] according to the 2001 census, of which 7001488000000000000♠48.8% were male and 7001512000000000000♠51.2% were female.^[12] As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 124,795^[2] of which 7001234000000000000♠23.4% are inhabitants aged over 60 years.^[13]

The following table represents the change of the population in the province after World War II:

Ethnic groups

Total population (2011 census): 121 752^[14]
Ethnic groups (2011 census):^[15] Identified themselves: 95,175 persons:

• Bulgarians: 86 847 ( 91,25% )
• Turks: 4 696 ( 4,93% )
• Others and indefinable: 3 632 ( 3,82% )

A further 26,000 persons in the Province did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.

In the 2001 census, 132,654 people of the population of 140,066 of Smolyan Province identified themselves as belonging to one of the following ethnic groups:^[11]

Language

In the 2001 census, 135,761 people of the population of 140,066 of Smolyan Province identified one of the following as their mother tongue (with percentage of total population): 129,181 Bulgarian (7001922000000000000♠92.2%), 5,782 Turkish (7000410009999999999♠4.1%), 532 Roma (Gypsy) (6999400000000000000♠0.4%) and 266 other (6999200000000000000♠0.2%).^[10]

Religion

Unlike Kardzhali Province where the majority of the Muslim population is Turkish, the Muslim population of Smolyan Province is made up almost entirely of Muslim Bulgarians.

Religious adherence in the province according to 2011 census:^[16]

Economy

The economy of the province is based on tourism, mining, timber and machine industries and livestock raising. The main crops of the region are potatoes (about 30% of the national production), rye and barley; but sheep, pigs and cattle are of greater importance for the agriculture. In the eastern parts of the province are located more than 20 lead and zinc mines, which form one of the most extensive ore deposits in the Balkans. The dense coniferous forests are prerequisite for well developed timber industry in Dospat, Smolyan, Devin. In Smolyan there are big plants producing machine tools and other machinery, while textile industry is mainly developed to the east in Nedelino, Zlatograd, Madan and Rudozem. There is also a synthetic rubber plant in Madan.

Nowadays, tourism is the backbone of the economy, especially in winter due to the excellent ski resorts of Pamporovo and Chepelare; having been completely renovated and modernized. The only factory for skiing equipment is located in Chepelare and employs 400 people. The mineral springs in Devin and Beden are very popular among tourists. The beautiful, unspoilt nature and the spectacular gorges, rock bridges and caves attract many people from around the country as well as foreign tourists, while the numerous dams are popular with campers and fishermen.

Bulgaria's national observatory, Rozhen Observatory, is located near Chepelare. The primary telescope has a 2-meter mirror, and is the largest observatory in SE Europe.

See also

• Provinces of Bulgaria
• List of villages in Smolyan Province

References

1. 1 2 (in English) Bulgarian Provinces area and population 1999 — National Center for Regional Development — page 90-91
2. 1 2 3 4 5 (in English) Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian provinces and municipalities in 2009
3. 1 2 3 4 (in English) „WorldCityPopulation“
4. 1 2 3 „pop-stat.mashke.org“
5. ↑ Oblast Haskovo, official website
6. ↑ (in English) Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian towns in 2009
7. ↑ „pop-stat.mashke.org“
8. ↑ (in English) Bulgarian National Statistical Institute – Bulgarian villages under 1000 inhabitants – December 2009
9. ↑ (in English) Bulgarian National Statistical Institute – Bulgarian Settlements 1000–5000 inhabitants – December 2009
10. 1 2 (in Bulgarian) Population to 01.03.2001 by District and Mother Tongue from Bulgarian National Statistical Institute: Census 2001
11. 1 2 (in Bulgarian) Population to 01.03.2001 by District and Ethnic Group from Bulgarian National Statistical Institute: Census 2001
12. ↑ (in Bulgarian) Population to 01.03.2001 by Area and Sex from Bulgarian National Statistical Institute: Census 2001
13. ↑ (in English) Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Population by age in 2009
14. ↑ (in Bulgarian) Population on 01.02.2011 by provinces, municipalities, settlements and age; National Statistical Institute
15. ↑ Population by province, municipality, settlement and ethnic identification, by 01.02.2011; Bulgarian National Statistical Institute (in Bulgarian)
16. ↑ (in Bulgarian) Religious adherence in Bulgaria - census 2001

External links

• Pictures from Smolyan Province