Vratsa Province ( ''Oblast Vraca'', former name Vraca okrug) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

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

located in the northwestern part of the country, between

Danube river The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important riv ...

in the north and

Stara Planina The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs for about , first ...

mountain in the south. It is named after its main town:

Vratsa Vratsa ( ) is the largest city in northwestern Bulgaria and the administrative and economic centre of the municipality of Vratsa and Vratsa district. It is about north of Sofia, southeast of Montana. Situated at the foot of the Vrachanski Bal ...

. As of 2016, the province had a population of 170 367,Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - provinces and municipalities in 2016
/ref>
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/ref> on territory of .

Municipalities

The Vratsa Province contains ten municipalities (singular: община, ''obshtina'' - plural: общини, ''obshtini''). The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and

Cyrillic The Cyrillic 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 countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...

, the main town (in bold) or village, and the population of each as of 2016.

Demographics

The Vratsa province had a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 243,036 according to a 2001

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, of which were

male Male (Planet symbols, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or Egg cell, ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot sexual repro ...

and were

female An organism's sex is female ( symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and ...

.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 196,829 of which are inhabitants aged over 60 years.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Population by age in 2009

Ethnic groups

Total population (2011 census): 186 848 Ethnic groups (2011 census): Identified themselves: 163 035 persons: *Bulgarians: 151 183 (92,73%) *

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

: 10 082 (6,18%) *Others and indefinable: 1 770 (1,09%) A further 23 000 persons in Vratsa Province did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.

Religion

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

Infrastructure

Gas, water, electricity and telecommunications

The regional road system consists of of the republican road system. Predominating are the 4th class roads. Their maintenance and control are under the responsibilities of the municipalities. The rehabilitation of these roads is a priority of the regional policy. Mezdra is a key railway station connecting the major cities in Bulgaria. The passenger's transport is ensured by 116 buses and 26 trolleys. The telecommunication network consists of 4 regional post stations -

Byala Slatina Byala Slatina ( ) is a town in Northwestern Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of ...

Mezdra Mezdra ( ) is a town in northwestern Bulgaria, part of Vratsa Province. It is located on the left bank of the Iskar River, just north of its gorge through the Balkan Mountains. History Although the area around it has been inhabited continuously s ...

and

Kozloduy Kozloduy ( ) is a town in northwest Bulgaria, located in Vratsa Province, on the Danube River. The city was liberated from Ottoman rule on 23 November 1877 by the Romanian Army under the command of the Imperial Russian Army. Kozloduy is best know ...

, and 116 local post offices. They offer universal post services including express mail and international courier services

EMS Ems or EMS may refer to: Places and rivers * Domat/Ems, a Swiss municipality in the canton of Grisons * Ems (river) (Eems), a river in northwestern Germany and northeastern Netherlands that discharges in the Dollart Bay * Ems (Eder), a river o ...

, SKYPAK and

DHL DHL (originally named after founders Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn) is a multinational Import-Export Expert Company, founded in the United States and headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It provides courier, package delivery, and express mail service, ...

. In the town of Vratsa there are branch offices of

Mobiltel A1 Bulgaria (previously known as Mtel or Mobiltel) is a telecommunications company in Bulgaria owned by A1 Telekom Austria Group. History A1 Bulgaria was founded in March 1994 but was not launched commercially until September 1995 (as ''Citron'' ...

, Globul and Vivatel. The water supply system was envisaged to be improved and sewerage was mostly built, but there is a program for modernization all over the province, including the smaller villages. The nuclear power plant in Kozloduy, in the northern part of the province, is the major supplier of electricity in Bulgaria.

Roads, railroads and airports

The administrative capital of the province is Vratsa in the southern parts, about from

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

. The distance to the major cities is as follows: Vratsa - Varna 414 km, Vratsa -

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

217 km; Vratsa -

Pleven Pleven ( ) is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality. It is the biggest economic center in ...

108 km; Vratsa -

Burgas Burgas (, ), sometimes transliterated as Bourgas, is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, fourth-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, an ...

416 km. The international road E79 passes through the province. The major European port and ferry complex

Oryahovo Oryahovo ( ) is a port city in northwestern Bulgaria, part of Vratsa Province. It is located in a hilly area on the right bank of the Danube, just east of the mouth of the river Ogosta, a few more kilometres downstream from where the Jiu flows i ...

Bechet Bechet is a town in Dolj County, Oltenia, Romania, on the river Danube, opposite the Bulgarian city of Oryahovo. Demographics At the 2021 census, the town had a population of 4,355, of which 77.98% were Romanians and 18.37% Roma. Points of ...

, on the river Danube, is situated in Oryahovo municipality.

Workforce

The economically active population is 48,892, employed as follows: in the services sector - 27,685, in the industry - 19,020, in the agriculture - 2,187. The population has increased since the year 2000, and are mostly in private labour employment. The rate of unemployment is higher than the Bulgarian average, and the aim of the provincial policy is to implement programs to resolve this problem. The labour force distribution in the basic economic sectors is the following - in the industry - 38.9%, in the agriculture - 4.5% and in services - 56.6%. The decrease of the number and relative share of the employees in the public sector is matched by an increase in the private sector. The proportion of workforce in state and private sectors is 44.2% to 55.8%. The higher level of education stipulates a higher employment rate. In the province predominates the number of employees of secondary education. On the labour market, the number of specialists of higher education decreases in favour of those without education. The average salary level for the province is 297 levs.

Current priority industry sectors

The natural peculiarities of Vratsa Province contribute to the development of agriculture, lumber industry and electricity production. Major companies are the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, of national importance; Chimco AD - fertilizer factory, Beloizvorski cement - cement factory and brewery; Ledenika AD - joint stock company; Centromet AD - centrifugal casting; Vratitsa LTD - yarns, raw and finished fabrics, sewing articles; OMK Holding - machining and machinery, tooling equipment, foundry, special production; Hemus-M AD - limestone, slabs, tiles, blocks, columns; Sunnytex AD - production of household linen, weaving etc.; Metizi AD - steel wires, ropes and their products, spare parts; Variana LTD - concrete articles, greyiron cast, metal safes; Enemona Holding - civil engineering.

Sectors for development

The main projects are related to the development of the transport infrastructure, water supply and sewerage, agriculture - vegetables, cattle breeding, silk-worm breeding, mushroom cultivation, development and strengthening of the existing industrial plants, development of alternative forms of tourism - rural, ecotourism, cultural, religious, spaeology, mountaineering, hang gliding etc. The long-term strategy for the regional economy is to promote small and medium enterprises as an alternative way to develop the industry.

Schools, universities and job training

Because of the close distance to the capital Sofia (site of the main universities in Bulgaria), only one local centre of New Bulgarian University, one pedagogical college - branch of the

Veliko Tarnovo University The St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo ( Bulgarian ''Великотърновски университет „Св. св. Кирил и Методий“'') is a Bulgarian university based in Veliko Tarnovo. History ...

and one medical college exists in the province. The vocational schools have their main disciplines mostly in agricultural techniques, mechanics and electrotechnics, chemical technologies, civil engineering and construction, language school and mathematical secondary school. The total number of primary schools in the province is 54, 14 of them situated in the municipality of Vratsa and all state-owned. There is only one private school, Europe Schools for English Language and Management.

Financial institutions

At present, there are 15 branches of Bulgarian banks. The insurance companies have their 12 branches in the province.

Hospitals

The medical services are provided in 6 hospitals - 2 of them in the main city of the province, Vratsa. As a result of the reforms in health care, there are also private medical services available, as well as stomatological services.

Culture, recreation and resources

Three hotels are available within the province - Valdi Palace, Hotel Tourist in the town and Vratsa, and Hotel Istar in the town of Kozloduy. In the surroundings of Vratsa - 12 kilometres inside the mountain there is a modern centre for recreation with facilities such as sauna, fitness suite and others. Within the territory of the province is the Vrachanski Balkan Natural Park that offers excellent opportunities for recreation; there is Vrachanski Karst reserve, the cave

Ledenika Ledenika (, English: icy or glacial) is a cave in the Northwestern parts of the Balkan Mountains, 16 km away from the Bulgarian city of Vratsa. Its entrance is approximately 830 m above sea level. The cave features an abundance of gallerie ...

of international importance, and the Vratsa Gorge near the town of Vratsa.

References

External links

*
Pictures from the cave Ledenika near Vratsa

Cities and villages in Vratsa Province

Pictures from Vratsa and villages

{{Authority control Provinces of Bulgaria