Smolyan Province

Template:Short description Template:Coord Template:Infobox settlement Smolyan Province (Template:Langx, 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 Template:Cvt.<ref name="phare">Template:In lang Bulgarian Provinces area and population 1999 — National Center for Regional Development — page 90-91 Template:Webarchive</ref> that is divided into 10 municipalities with a total population of 124,795, as of December 2009.<ref name="divisions">Template:In lang Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian provinces and municipalities in 2009</ref><ref name="population">Template:In lang „WorldCityPopulation“</ref><ref name="pop-stat-divisions">„pop-stat.mashke.org“</ref>

Municipalities

Municipalities of Smolyan province

Smolyan Province (Област, Oblast) contains 10 municipalities<ref>Oblast Haskovo Template:Webarchive, official website</ref> (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.

Municipality	Cyrillic	Pop.<ref name="divisions"/><ref name="population"/><ref name="pop-stat-divisions"/>	Town/Village	Pop.<ref name="statistika">Template:In lang Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian towns in 2009</ref><ref name="population"/><ref name="pop-stat">„pop-stat.mashke.org“</ref><ref name="villages under 1000">Template:In lang Bulgarian National Statistical Institute – Bulgarian villages under 1000 inhabitants – December 2009</ref><ref name="Settlements 1000-5000">Template:In lang Bulgarian National Statistical Institute – Bulgarian Settlements 1000–5000 inhabitants – December 2009</ref>
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

The Miraculous bridges

Template:Historical populationsThe Smolyan province had a population of 140,066<ref name="NSI Census 2001 Language" /><ref name="NSI Census 2001 Ethnicity" /> according to the 2001 census, of which Template:Pct were male and Template:Pct were female.<ref name="NSI Census 2001">Template:In lang Population to 01.03.2001 by Area and Sex from Bulgarian National Statistical Institute: Census 2001</ref>

As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 124,795<ref name="divisions" /> of which Template:Pct are inhabitants aged over 60 years.<ref name="NSI age">Template:In lang Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Population by age in 2009 Template:Webarchive</ref>

As of the end of 2023, the population decreased to 92,107.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Ethnic groups

Template:Bar box Total population (2011 census): 121 752<ref>Template:In lang Population on 01.02.2011 by provinces, municipalities, settlements and age; National Statistical Institute</ref>
Ethnic groups (2011 census):<ref>Population by province, municipality, settlement and ethnic identification, by 01.02.2011; Bulgarian National Statistical Institute Template:In lang</ref> 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:<ref name="NSI Census 2001 Ethnicity">Template:In lang Population to 01.03.2001 by District and Ethnic Group from Bulgarian National Statistical Institute: Census 2001</ref>

Ethnic group	Population	Percentage
Bulgarians	122,806	Template:Pct
Turkish	6,212	Template:Pct
Romani	686	Template:Pct
Russians	111	Template:Pct
Armenians	42	Template:Pct
Greeks	13	Template:Pct
Ukrainians	27	Template:Pct
Jewish	1	Template:Pct
Romanians	1	Template:Pct
Other	55	Template:Pct

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 (Template:Pct), 5,782 Turkish (Template:Pct), 532 Romani (Template:Pct) and 266 other (Template:Pct).<ref name="NSI Census 2001 Language">Template:In lang Population to 01.03.2001 by District and Mother Tongue from Bulgarian National Statistical Institute: Census 2001</ref>

Religion

Template:Bar box 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:<ref>Template:In lang Religious adherence in Bulgaria - census 2001</ref>

Census 2011
religious adherence	population	%
Answer not mentioned	75 171	50,8%
Muslims	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.Template:Cn

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.Template:Cn

See also

• Provinces of Bulgaria
• List of villages in Smolyan Province

External links

• Pictures from Smolyan Province