Kardzhali Province

Kardzhali Province (Template:Langx) is a province of southern Bulgaria, neighbouring Greece with the Greek regional units of Xanthi, Rhodope, and Evros to the south and east. It is 3209.1 km² in area. Its main city is Kardzhali. It is Bulgaria's southernmost province.

History

The territory of Kardzhali province was acquired by Bulgaria during the First Balkan War in 1912. In 1913 the region was organized as the district (окръг, okrăg in Bulgarian) of Mestanli. This district was part of Stara Zagora province from 1934 until 1949,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> then it was transferred to the newly formed Haskovo district. In 1959, Kardzhali became the center of a new district with similar borders to the current province. Between 1987 and 1999, the region was part of Haskovo Province, after which it was restored, now as a province and with slightly changed borders.

Municipalities

File:Kardzali Oblast map.png

Municipalities in Kardzhali province

The Kardzhali province (област, oblast) contains seven municipalities (singular: община, obština; plural: общини, obštini). The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town (in bold) or village, and the population as of 2009.

Municipality	Cyrillic	Pop.<ref name="grao.bg">Template:In lang Population Chart, 15.03.2009 from Bulgarian Directorate General: Civil Registration and Administrative Services</ref>	Town or village	Pop.<ref name="grao.bg" />
Ardino	Ардино	13,766	Ardino	4,368
Chernoochene	Черноочене	10,132	Chernoochene	335
Dzhebel	Джебел	9,012	Dzhebel	3,288
Kardzhali	Кърджали	75,525	Kardzhali	50,482
Kirkovo	Кирково	22,833	Kirkovo	719
Krumovgrad	Крумовград	20,517	Krumovgrad	5,475
Momchilgrad	Момчилград	19,327	Momchilgrad	9,187

Demographics

Template:Historical populationsKardzhali Province had a population of 149,661 according to the provisional results of the 2011 census, of which Template:Pct were male and Template:Pct were female.<ref name="pop-stat-divisions">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="divisions">Template:In lang Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - 2011 census Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="population">Template:In lang „WorldCityPopulation“</ref><ref name="NSI Census 2011 preliminary">Template:In lang Population by 01.02.2011 by Area and Sex Template:Webarchive from Bulgarian National Statistical Institute: Preliminary results of Census 2011</ref> Kardzhali is one of the three Bulgarian provinces where less than fifty percent of the population is living in urban areas: only 41% lives in urban areas in 2016.

Ethnic groups

Template:Bar box Total population (2011 census): 152,808<ref>Template:In lang Population on 01.02.2011 by provinces, municipalities, settlements and age; National Statistical Institute Template:Webarchive</ref>
Ethnic groups (2011 census):<ref>Population by province, municipality, settlement and ethnic identification, by 01.02.2011; Bulgarian National Statistical Institute Template:Webarchive Template:In lang</ref> Identified themselves: 130,781 persons:

• Turks: 86,527 (66.16%)
• Bulgarians: 39,519 (30.22%)
• Others and indefinable: 4,735 (3.62%)

A further 22,000 persons in the province did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.

In the 2001 census, 158,704 people of the population of 164,019 of Karzhali Province identified themselves as belonging to one of the following ethnic groups (with percentage of total population):<ref>Template:In lang Population to 01.03.2001 by District and Ethnic Group from Bulgarian National Statistical Institute: Census 2001 Template:Webarchive</ref>

Ethnic group	Population	Percentage
Turks	101,116	Template:Pct
Bulgarians	55,939	Template:Pct
Romani	1,264	Template:Pct
Russians	234	Template:Pct
Armenians	41	Template:Pct
Greeks	21	Template:Pct
Ukrainians	20	Template:Pct
Macedonians	7	Template:Pct
Jews	1	Template:Pct
Romanians	1	Template:Pct
Other	60	Template:Pct

Language

In the 2001 census, 160,167 people of the population of 164,019 of Kardzhali Province identified one of the following as their mother tongue (with percentage of total population):

• 101,548 Turkish (Template:Pct)
• 57,046 Bulgarian (Template:Pct)
• 1,171 Romani (Template:Pct)
• 402 other (Template:Pct).<ref>Template:In lang Population to 01.03.2001 by District and Mother Tongue from Bulgarian National Statistical Institute: Census 2001 Template:Webarchive</ref>

Religion

According to the 2011 census, Muslims are 82,227 (70.14% of those who answered) and the Orthodox are 23,916 (20.4% of those who answered). The Muslims' figure is made up of Turks and in significant part by Muslim Bulgarians, though the Orthodox are the majority among the Bulgarians in the province.

In the 2001 census, 149,839 people of the population of 164,019 of Karzhali Province identified one of the following as their religion (with percentage of total population):<ref>Template:In lang Religious adherence in Bulgaria - census 2001 Template:Webarchive</ref>

Census 2001
religious adherence	population	%
Muslims	114,217	69.6%
Orthodox Christians	35,265	21.5%
Roman Catholics	197	0.1%
Protestants	89	0.1%
Other	71	0.0%
Religion not mentioned	14,180	8.6%
total	164,019	100%

See also

• Provinces of Bulgaria
• Municipalities of Bulgaria
• List of cities and towns in Bulgaria
• List of villages in Kardzhali Province

External links

• Template:Official Facebook page