Smolyan Province ( bg, Област Смолян, ''Oblast Smolyan''; former name Smolyan okrug) 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 Southern-central

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 ...

, located in the

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in ...

, neighbouring

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

to the south. It is named after its administrative and industrial centre — the city of

Smolyan Smolyan ( bg, Смолян) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town and ski resort in the south of Bulgaria near the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the homonymous Smolyan Province. The town is built ...

. 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 inhabitants, as of December 2009.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian provinces and municipalities in 2009
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Municipalities

Smolyan Province (Област, ''Oblast'') contains 10 municipalities (singular: община, ''obshtina''; plural: Общини, ''obshtini''). 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.

Population

The Smolyan province had a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

of 140,066 according to the 2001

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

, of which were

male Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

and were

female Female ( symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Fema ...

.Population to 01.03.2001 by Area and Sex
fro

/ref> 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
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): 121 752
Ethnic groups (2011 census): Identified themselves: 95,175 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 ...

: 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
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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 A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tong ...

(with percentage of total population): 129,181 Bulgarian (), 5,782 Turkish (), 532

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 ...

() and 266 other ().Population to 01.03.2001 by District and Mother Tongue
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Religion

Unlike

Kardzhali Province Kardzhali Province ( bg, Област Кърджали, Oblast Kărdžali, tr, Kırcaali ili) 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 3 ...

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 Dospat ( bg, Доспат) is a town in the very south of Bulgaria, part of Smolyan Province, situated in the Rhodope Mountains, close to Dospat Dam. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Dospat Municipality. As of December 2010, the t ...

, Madan and Rudozem. The Orthodox-Christians population live predominantly in the municipality of

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
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Economy

The economy of the province is based on tourism, mining, timber and

machine industries The machine industry or machinery industry is a subsector of the industry, that produces and maintains machines for consumers, the industry, and most other companies in the economy. This machine industry traditionally belongs to the heavy industr ...

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 Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. The dense coniferous forests are prerequisite for well-developed timber industry in

, Devin. In

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 The mass media in Bulgaria refers to mass media outlets based in Bulgaria. Television, magazines, and newspapers are all operated by both state-owned and for-profit corporations which depend on advertising, subscription, and other sales-related rev ...

has a 2-meter mirror, and is the largest observatory in SE Europe.

References

External links

Pictures from Smolyan Province
{{Authority control Provinces of Bulgaria