Yambol ( bg, област Ямбол, ''oblast Yambol'', former name Yambol 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 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 ...

, neighbouring

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

to the south. It is named after its main city

Yambol Yambol ( bg, Ямбол ) is a town in Southeastern Bulgaria and administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. It is occasionally spelled ''Jambol''. Yambol is the ad ...

, while other towns include Straldzha,

Bolyarovo Bolyarovo ( bg, Болярово ) is a small town in Yambol Province Yambol ( bg, област Ямбол, ''oblast Yambol'', former name Yambol okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria, neighbouring Turkey to the south. It is named af ...

and

Elhovo Elhovo ( bg, Елхово ) is a Bulgarian town in Yambol Province, located on the left bank of the Tundzha river, between Strandzha and Sakar mountains. Second largest city in the region after Jambol, the city is located at 36 km from bo ...

. The province embraces a territory of Bulgarian Provinces area and population 1999 — National Center for Regional Development — page 90-91
/ref> that is divided into 5 municipalities with a total population, as of December 2009, of 138,429 inhabitants.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian provinces and municipalities in 2009
/ref>
/ref>
/ref>

Municipalities

The Yambol province (област, ''oblast'') contains five municipalities (общини, ''obshtini''; singular: община, ''obshtina''). 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.

History and background

The motto of the town of Yambol is "Coming from the remote past, going to the future". Archaeological findings in the area date back to the year 6000 BC, to the time of

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 ...

Emperor

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

's reign when the castle, called Diospolis, was built on the location of the present modern town. The best preserved historical sites, dating back to the fifteenth century, are the bazar "Bezisten" and the mosque "Esky Djamia", which have been restored and are functioning at present. Other historical sites of interest are the prehistoric tumulus by the village of Drama, the remains of Yambol Mediaeval castle and the Monastery of the Middle Ages in Voden. Yambol is home to the ancient settlement of Kabile, a national archaeological reserve and a nature preserved site, being the most important

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 ...

settlement in Bulgaria. In modern study of ancient Thrace it has already been proved that Kabile was the most prominent political, economic and religious centre from the first millennium BC. The archaeological investigations of the ancient city that have taken place in the last thirty years have revealed a great number of artefacts (stone inscriptions, coins, ceramic ware and remains of building activities) dating from times over a millennium long history. Most of the discovered artefacts have already been published and used as a data for archaeological and historical studies.

Population

The Yambol 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 156,080 (156,070 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 138,429 of which are inhabitants aged over 60 years.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Population by age in 2009
/ref> 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): 131 447
Ethnic groups (2011 census): Identified themselves: 123 062 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 ...

: 106 884 (86,85%) *

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 ...

: 10 433 (8,48%) * Turks: 3 600 (2,93%) *Others and indefinable: 2 145 (1,74%)

Religion

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

Famous residents

Yambol is the native place of popular artists George Papazov and John Popov and

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a '' rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring ('' dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by t ...

wrestler Aoiyama. The computer inventor John Atanasoff has family roots in the district – his father was born in a village Boyadjik, which is near Yambol.

Topology and natural resources

The Tundja River, the fourth of its size with an earth embankment, flows through the district, and mineral water wells are found near the village of Stefan Caradjovo. The territory of the area covers the middle part of the river valley, the Bakadjitsi, parts of the Svetiliiski, Derventski and Manastirski uplands, with the hilly plain relief predominating 100–150m above sea level. The northern areas of Tundja valley are characterized by a transcontinental climate, while the southern parts have a typical continental/

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

climate. The average annual temperatures are between 12 and 12.5 °C. Agricultural lands take 76.9% of the whole district territory, and the forests 15.5% of it. The wood resources include elm,

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

, poplar and oak.

References

{{Authority control Provinces of Bulgaria