Stara Zagora Province

Coordinates: 42°25′N 25°30′E / 42.417°N 25.500°E / 42.417; 25.500

Stara Zagora Province
Област Стара Загора
Province

Location of Stara Zagora Province in Bulgaria
Country Bulgaria
Capital Stara Zagora
Municipalities 11
Government
 • Governor Yordan Nikolov
Area[1]
 • Total 5,151.1 km2 (1,988.9 sq mi)
Population (February 2011)[2]
 • Total 333 265
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
License plate CT
Website sz.government.bg

Stara Zagora (Bulgarian: Област Стара Загора oblast Stara Zagora, former name Stara Zagora okrug) is a province of south central Bulgaria. It is named after its administrative and industrial centre—the city of Stara Zagora—the sixth-biggest town in the country. The province embraces a territory of 5,151.1 km²[1] that is divided into 11 municipalities with a total population, as of December 2009, of 350,925 inhabitants.[2][3][4]

In the southeastern part of the province on the edge of Radnevo Municipality there is a coal production facility. Between 1934 and 1949, the province included parts of the present Kardzhali Province.[5]

Municipalities

Map of Stara Zagora Province

The Stara Zagora province (oбласт, oblast) contains 11 municipalities (Bulgarian: singular: oбщина, obshtina - plural: oбщини, 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.

Municipality Cyrillic Pop.[2][3][4] Town/Village Pop.[3][6][7][8]
Bratya Братя Даскалови 9,724 Bratya Daskalovi 750
Chirpan Чирпан 23,470 Chirpan 16,355
Gurkovo Гурково 5,273 Gurkovo 2,917
Galabovo Гълъбово 14,269 Galabovo 8,404
Kazanlak Казанлък 76,447 Kazanlak 49,506
Maglizh Мъглиж 12,267 Maglizh 3,426
Nikolaevo Николаево 4,840 Nikolaevo 2,872
Opan Опан 3,501 Opan 466
Pavel Banya Павел баня 14,703 Pavel Banya 2,918
Radnevo Раднево 21,959 Radnevo 13,384
Stara Zagora Стара Загора 164,472 Stara Zagora 140,456

Population

The Stara Zagora province had a population of 370,665 (370,615 also given) according to a 2001 census, of which 48.9% were male and 51.1% were female.[9] As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 350,925[2] of which 25.2% are inhabitants aged over 60 years.[10]

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

Stara Zagora Province
Year 1946 1956 1965 1975 1985 1992 2001 2005 2007 2009 2011
Population 306,181 322,252 359,486 394,607 410,905 397,337 370,665 361,146 356,984 350,925 333 265
Sources: National Statistical Institute,[2] „Census 2001“,[3] „Census 2011“,[4] „pop-stat.mashke.org“,??

Ethnic groups

Ethnic groups in Stara Zagora Province Province (2011 census)
Ethnic group Percentage
Bulgarians
  
 86.2%
Gypsies
  
 7.8%
Turks
  
 4.9%
others and indefinable
  
 1.1%

Total population (2011 census): 333 265[11]
Ethnic groups (2011 census):[12] Identified themselves: 308 106 persons:

A further 25,000 persons in the Province did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.

Ethnic groups according to the 2001 census, when 370 615 people of the population of 370,665 of Stara Zagora Province identified themselves (with percentage of total population):[13]

Religion

Religions in Stara Zagora Province (2001 census)
Religious group Percentage
Orthodox Christians
  
 88.9%
Muslim
  
 5.8%
Protestant Christian
  
 1.1%
Roman Catholic Christian
  
 0.1%
others and indefinable
  
 4.0%

Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:[14]

Census 2001
religious adherence population %
Orthodox Christians 329,628 88.94%
Muslims 21,423 5.78%
Protestants 4,094 1.10%
Mongolian Catholics 522 0.14%
Other 1558 0.42%
Religion not mentioned 13,390 3.62%
total 370,615 100%

Main city

Stara Zagora is a cultural centre of particular significance for Bulgaria as it is an ancient Thracian, subsequently Greek, Roman and Byzantine metropolis. The oldest Neolithic remains were found in Stara Zagora. The famous film of BBC The History of Europe starts with the Neolithic museum in Stara Zagora. It shows the remains of the first homes of the people in Europe. Stara Zagora is one of the oldest cities in Europe.

In October 2004, Stara Zagora Province was awarded for having the best quality of life in Europe, together with Greater Zürich (Switzerland), and ahead of Andalucia (Spain), and Flanders (Belgium). The award was given by fDi Magazine, produced by the renowned Financial Times Group, for the region's low-cost, newly built accommodation and rich cultural heritage.

In November 2014 the Maritsa Iztok-2 power station located in the East of Stara Zgora Province was ranked as the industrial facility that is causing the highest damage costs to health and the environment in Bulgaria and the entire European Union by the European Environment Agency.[15]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 (English) Bulgarian Provinces area and population 1999 — National Center for Regional Development — page 90-91
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 (English) Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian provinces and municipalities in 2009
  3. 1 2 3 4 (English) „WorldCityPopulation“
  4. 1 2 3 „pop-stat.mashke.org“
  5. ↑ http://www.visittobulgaria.com/visit/dir.asp?d=0-8-Ardino History of Ardino
  6. ↑ (English) Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian towns in 2009
  7. ↑ „pop-stat.mashke.org“
  8. ↑ (English) Bulgarian National Statistical Institute – Bulgarian villages under 1000 inhabitants – December 2009
  9. ↑ (Bulgarian) Population to 01.03.2001 by Area and Sex from Bulgarian National Statistical Institute: Census 2001
  10. ↑ (English) Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Population by age in 2009
  11. ↑ (Bulgarian) Population on 01.02.2011 by provinces, municipalities, settlements and age; National Statistical Institute
  12. ↑ Population by province, municipality, settlement and ethnic identification, by 01.02.2011; Bulgarian National Statistical Institute (Bulgarian)
  13. ↑ (Bulgarian) Population to 01.03.2001 by District and Ethnic Group from Bulgarian National Statistical Institute: Census 2001
  14. ↑ (Bulgarian) Religious adherence in Bulgaria - census 2001
  15. ↑ "Industrial facilities causing the highest damage costs to health and the environment". European Environment Agency. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
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