Smolyan Province (, Oblast Smolyan; former name 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 .[ Bulgarian Provinces area and population 1999 — National Center for Regional Development — page 90-91 ] that is divided into 10 municipalities with a total population of 124,795, as of December 2009.[ Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian provinces and municipalities in 2009][ „WorldCityPopulation“][ „pop-stat.mashke.org“]
Municipalities
Smolyan Province (Област,
Oblast) contains 10 municipalities
[ Oblast Haskovo , official website] (singular: община,
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.
|
| Banite | Баните | 4,972 | Banite | 1,047 |
| Borino | Борино | 3,618 | Borino | 2,516 |
| Chepelare | Чепеларе | 8,045 | Chepelare | 5,412 |
| Devin | Девин | 13,204 | Devin | 7,054 |
| Dospat | Доспат | 9,526 | Dospat | 2,604 |
| Madan | Мадан | 12,606 | Madan | 6,007 |
| Nedelino | Неделино | 7,577 | Nedelino | 4,641 |
| Rudozem | Рудозем | 9,801 | Rudozem | 3,583 |
| Smolyan | Смолян | 43,186 | Smolyan | 31,718 |
| Zlatograd | Златоград | 12,260 | Zlatograd | 7,110 |
Demographics
Smolyan province had a
population of 140,066
according to the 2001
census, of which were
male and were
female.
[ Population to 01.03.2001 by Area and Sex from Bulgarian National Statistical Institute: Census 2001]
As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 124,795
of which are inhabitants aged over 60 years.
[ Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Population by age in 2009 ]
As of the end of 2023, the population decreased to 92,107.
Ethnic groups
Total population (2011 census): 121 752
[ Population on 01.02.2011 by provinces, municipalities, settlements and age; National Statistical Institute]
Ethnic groups (2011 census):
[ Population by province, municipality, settlement and ethnic identification, by 01.02.2011; Bulgarian National Statistical Institute ]
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:[ Population to 01.03.2001 by District and Ethnic Group from Bulgarian National Statistical Institute: Census 2001]
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 (),
5,782
Turkish language (), 532
Romani language ()
and 266 other ().
[ Population to 01.03.2001 by District and Mother Tongue from Bulgarian National Statistical Institute: Census 2001]
Religion
Unlike Kardzhali Province where the majority of the Muslim population is Turkish, the Muslim population of Smolyan Province is made up mostly of Muslim Bulgarians.
The Muslim population is mainly concentrated in the municipalities
Banite,
Borino,
Dospat, Madan and
Rudozem. The Orthodox-Christians population live predominantly in the municipality of
Smolyan and the municipality of
Chepelare. The religious structure of the municipalities of Devin,
Nedelino and
Zlatograd is mixed with
Pomaks as well as Orthodox Christians.
Religious adherence in the province according to 2011 census:[ Religious adherence in Bulgaria - census 2001]
|
|
|
| Answer not mentioned | 75 171 | 50,8% |
| 29 001 | 19,6% |
| Orthodox Christians | 28 294 | 19,1% |
| Others and declared irreligious | 15 632 | 10,6% |
| total | 148,098 | 100% |
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.
Bulgaria's national observatory, Rozhen Observatory, is located near Chepelare. The primary of Media of Bulgaria has a 2-meter mirror, and is the largest observatory in SE Europe.
See also
-
Provinces of Bulgaria
-
List of villages in Smolyan Province
External links
