Sliven Province ( bg, Област Сливен, former name Sliven

okrug An ''okrug, ; russian: о́круг, ókrug; sr, округ, okrug, ; uk, о́круг, о́kruh; be, акруга, akruha; pl, okręg; ab, оқрҿс; mhr, йырвел, '' is a type of administrative division in some Slavic states. Th ...

) is a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

in southeastern

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, named after its administrative and industrial centre—the city of

Sliven Sliven ( bg, Сливен ) is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. Sliven is famous for its heroic Haiduts who fought against the Ottoman Turk ...

. It embraces a territory of Bulgarian Provinces area and population 1999 — National Center for Regional Development — page 90-91
that is divided into four municipalities, with a total population, as of December 2009, of 204,887.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian provinces and municipalities in 2009
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Municipalities

The Sliven province contains four municipalities. The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking co ...

, the main town or village (towns are shown in bold), and the population of each as of December 2009.

Main city

Sliven is situated at the foot of the unique rock massif "Sinite Kamani" (The Blue Rocks), very close to mineral springs. The town is famous for its clean fresh air, clean water sources, mild winters and cool summers. Sliven is the only Bulgarian town that has never changed its Slavonic name, though it is one of the oldest settlements in Europe.

Thracians The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

, and

Ancient Greeks Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

have all lived in the region. The first Roman settlement on this place, Tuida (3rd century BC), was a famous trade centre. Sliven was mentioned as a big town for the first time in 1153 by the Arab traveler

Muhammad al-Idrisi Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani as-Sabti, or simply al-Idrisi ( ar, أبو عبد الله محمد الإدريسي القرطبي الحسني السبتي; la, Dreses; 1100 – 1165), was a Muslim geographer, cartogra ...

Population

As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 204,887 of which are inhabitants over 60 years old.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Population by age in 2009
The following table represents the change of the population in the province after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Ethnic groups

Total population (2011 census): 197 473
Ethnic groups (2011 census): Identified themselves: 173 206 persons: *

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely underst ...

: 132 697 (76.61%) *

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

: 20 478 (11.82%) *

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

: 16 784 (9.69%) *Others and indefinable: 3 247 (1.87%) A further 24,000 persons in Sliven Province did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census. According to the 2001 census, the province had a population of 218 474 inhabitants, of whom 163 188 were

, 26 777

, 22 971

, etc.

Religion

Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:Religious adherence in Bulgaria - census 2001
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Nature Park ''Sinite Kamani'' - The Blue Rocks

The

Sinite Kamani Sliven Province ( bg, Област Сливен, former name Sliven okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria, named after its administrative and industrial centre—the city of Sliven. It embraces a territory of Provinces of Bulgaria The provinces of Bulgaria ( bg, области на България, oblasti na Bǎlgarija) are the first-level administrative subdivisions of the country. Since 1999, Bulgaria has been divided into 28 provinces ( bg, области, links=no ...

* List of villages in Sliven Province

References

External links

Photos of SlivenPhoto Reportages from Sliven
{{Authority control Provinces of Bulgaria