Stara Zagora ( bg, Област Стара Загора), formerly known as the Stara Zagora 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 ...

of south-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 ...

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

Stara Zagora Stara Zagora ( bg, Стара Загора, ) is the sixth-largest city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province. Name The name comes from the Slavic root ''star'' ("old") and the name of the medieva ...

—the sixth-biggest town in the country. The province embraces a territory of Bulgarian Provinces area and population 1999 — National Center for Regional Development — page 90-91
that is divided into 11 municipalities with a total population, as of December 2009, of 350,925 inhabitants.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian provinces and municipalities in 2009
/ref>
/ref>
/ref> 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 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 ...

Municipalities

The Stara Zagora province (област, ''oblast'') contains 11 municipalities ( bg, община, translit=obshtina - plural: , ). 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 Stara Zagora 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 370,665 (370,615 also given) according to a 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 350,925 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

According to the most recent 2011 census, out of the 333,265 people, 308,106 Identified themselves: *

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 ...

: 265,618 (86.21%) *

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 ...

: 24,018 (7.80%) * Turks in Bulgaria: 15,035 (4.88%) *Others and indefinable: 3,435 (1.11%) 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):Population to 01.03.2001 by District and Ethnic Group
fro

/ref> *

: 319,379 (86.18%) *

: 26,804 (7.23%) *

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 ...

: 18,529 (5.00%) *Others: 5,903 (1.59%)

Religion

Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:Religious adherence in Bulgaria - census 2001
/ref>

Main city

Stara Zagora is a cultural centre of particular significance for Bulgaria as it is an ancient

Thracian 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 ...

, subsequently

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Roman 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 lett ...

and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...

. The oldest

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

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 ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

), and ahead of

Andalucia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

(

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

), and

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

(

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

). The award was given by

fDi Magazine ''fDi Intelligence'' is an English-language bi-monthly news and foreign direct investment (FDI) publication, providing an up-to-date review of global investment activity. The A4 glossy pages reach a circulation of 15,488 ABC audited, active corpo ...

, 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 A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

located in the East of Stara Zgora Province was ranked as the industrial facility that is causing the highest damage costs to

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organ ...

and the

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

in Bulgaria and the entire

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

by the

European Environment Agency The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides independent information on the environment. Definition The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides ...

References

External links

stara zagora news

{{Authority control Provinces of Bulgaria