Blagoevgrad Province
Област Благоевград

Capital	Blagoevgrad
Population	341,245
Area	6,449.5 km²
Municipalities	Bansko, Belitsa, Blagoevgrad, Gotse Delchev, Garmen, Kresna, Petrich, Razlog, Sandanski, Satovcha, Simitli, Strumyani, Hadzhidimitrovo, Yakoruda
License plate province code	E
Time zone	EET (UTC+2; UTC+3 in summer)

Blagoevgrad Province (Bulgarian: област Благоевград, oblast Blagoevgrad or Благоевградска област, Blagoevgradska oblast), also known as Pirin Macedonia (Bulgarian: Пиринска Македония, Pirinska Makedoniya), is a province (oblast) of southwestern Bulgaria. Part of the wider Macedonian region, it borders four other Bulgarian provinces, as well as Greece and the Republic of Macedonia. It has 14 municipalities with 12 towns. Image File history File links Oblast_Blagoevgrad. ... Blagoevgrad (Bulgarian: Благоевград, formerly Горна Джумая, Gorna Dzhumaya) is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, situated in Blagoevgrad Province, with a population of about 76,000. ... A square metre (US spelling: square meter) is by definition the area enclosed by a square with sides each 1 metre long. ... A Bulgarian license plate from the city of Sofia A Dobrich Province license plate The standard Bulgarian license plates consist of a blue vertical strip (the European strip) on the left side of the plate containing the flag of Bulgaria and the country code of Bulgaria (BG), always followed on... A time zone is a region of the Earth that has adopted the same standard time, usually referred to as the local time. ... Time zones of Europe: Eastern European Time (EET) is one of the names of UTC+2 time zone, 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. ... UTC also stands for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Coordinated Universal Time or UTC, also sometimes referred to as Zulu time, the basis for civil time, differs by an integral number of seconds from atomic time and a fractional number of seconds from UT1. ... Eastern European Time Central Africa Time Israel Standard Time South Africa Standard Time Central European Summer Time West Africa Summer Time Category: ... Moscow Time Eastern European Summer Time Eastern African Time Category: ... Oblast (Czech: oblast, Slovak: oblasÅ¥, Russian and Ukrainian: , Belarusian: , Bulgarian: о́бласт) refers to a subnational entity in some countries. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... Since 1999 Bulgaria has been divided into 28 oblasts (provinces or regions) that correspond approximately to the 28 okrugs that existed before 1987. ... Motto: (English: ) Anthem: (Transliteration: ) (English: ) Capital Skopje Largest city Skopje Official language(s) Macedonian, Albanian1 Government Parliamentary republic  - President Branko Crvenkovski  - Prime Minister Vlado Bučkovski Independence From Yugoslavia   - Declared September 8, 1991  Area    - Total 25,333 km² (146th)   9,779 sq mi   - Water (%) 1. ...

Geography and climate

Geography

Map of Blagoevgrad Province showing the municipal subdivisions and centres

Vihren Peak in Pirin

Varosha, the old quarter of Blagoevgrad

Kamenitsa Peak and the lake Tevno ezero in Pirin

The Rozhen Monastery

Melnik and the famous sand pyramids

The Church of the Holy Trinity in Bansko

The province has a territory of 6,449.5 km² and a population of 341,245. It is the third largest in Bulgaria after Burgas and Sofia Provinces and comprises 5.8% of the country's territory. Blagoevgrad Province includes the mountains, or parts of, Rila (highest point of the Balkans — Musala summit, 2925 m), Pirin (highest point — Vihren summit, 2914 m), the Rhodopes, Slavyanka, Belasitsa, Vlahina, Maleshevska, Ograzhden and Stargach. There are two major rivers — Struma River and Mesta River — with population concentrations along their valleys, which are also the main transport corridors. Image File history File links Blagoevgrad_Oblast_map_EN.PNG Summary A map of Blagoevgrad Oblast in Bulgaria. ... Image File history File links Blagoevgrad_Oblast_map_EN.PNG Summary A map of Blagoevgrad Oblast in Bulgaria. ... Image File history File links View of Vihren, Pirin Mountains, Bulgaria. ... Image File history File links View of Vihren, Pirin Mountains, Bulgaria. ... Image File history File links Varosha-blagoevgrad-gruev. ... Image File history File links Varosha-blagoevgrad-gruev. ... Image File history File links Tevno_ezero_i_Kamenica. ... Image File history File links Tevno_ezero_i_Kamenica. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Rozhenski-manastir-ngruev. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Rozhenski-manastir-ngruev. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Melnik-gruev-1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Melnik-gruev-1. ... Image File history File links Bansko-church-lite. ... Image File history File links Bansko-church-lite. ... Burgas province shown within Bulgaria Burgas province or oblast is located in south-eastern Bulgaria, on the southern Black Sea coast. ... Sofia province shown within Bulgaria Sofia is a province of Bulgaria. ... Rila Mountain, Bulgaria The Rila is a mountain range in western Bulgaria. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Musala (Bulgarian: Мусала) is the highest peak in Bulgaria and the entire Balkan Peninsula, standing at 2,925 m. ... Vihren from the south The Pirin Mountains (Bulgarian: Пирин) are a mountain range in southwest Bulgaria, with Vihren (2,914 m high) the highest peak, situated at , . The range extends about 40 km northwest-southeast, and about 25 km wide. ... Vihren Peak View of Vihren Peak from Vihren Resthouse Vihren (Вихрен) is the Pirin Mountains highest peak. ... The Rhodopes (also spelled Rodopi) are a mountain range, with over 83% of its area in southern Bulgaria and the remainder in Greece. ... Belasitsa is a Bulgarian football team founded in 1923. ... Ograzhden (Macedonian and Bulgarian Cyrillic: Огражден) is a mountain shared by northeastern Republic of Macedonia and southwestern Bulgaria, part of the Belasitsa-Osogovo group. ... The Struma (Bulgarian: Струма, Greek: Strimonis, Turkish: Karasu (meaning black water in Turkish)) is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. ... Mesta (Bulgarian: Места) or Nestos (Greek: Νέστος) is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. ...

Climate

The climate varies from temprerate continental to Mediterranean in the southernmost parts. Natural resources are timber, mineral springs, coal, construction materials, including marble and granite. The beautiful and preserved environment is widely considered an important resource. A number of national parks and protected territories care for the biodiversity. Arable land is 38.8% and forests constitute 52% of the province's territory. A Mediterranean climate is one that resembles those of the lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea. ... Venus de Milo, front. ... Quarrying granite for the Mormon Temple, Utah Territory. ...

Economy

The region is characterized with diversified economic branch structure: food and tobacco processing industries, agriculture, tourism, transport and communications, textile industry, timber and furniture industries, iron processing and machinery industry, construction materials industry, as well as pharmaceuticals, plastics, paper and shoes production. Approximately 10% of the population is unemployed (close to the national average). There are 4 major hospitals in the province. Species Nicotiana acuminata Nicotiana alata Nicotiana attenuata Nicotiana benthamiana Nicotiana clevelandii Nicotiana excelsior Nicotiana forgetiana Nicotiana glauca Nicotiana glutinosa Nicotiana langsdorffii Nicotiana longiflora Nicotiana obtusifolia Nicotiana paniculata Nicotiana plumbagifolia Nicotiana quadrivalvis Nicotiana repanda Nicotiana rustica Nicotianasuaveolens Nicotiana sylvestris Nicotiana tabacum Nicotiana tomentosa Ref: ITIS 30562 as of August 26, 2005... Taipei 101, the worlds tallest building, also a popular tourist destination in Asia, located in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). ... Telecommunication is the transmission of signals over a distance for the purpose of communication. ... A textile is any type of material made from fibers or other extended linear materials such as thread or yarn (1). ...

Culture, education and monuments

Historical and archaeological monuments include the ruins of antique Thracian and Roman settlements, Early Christian basilicas, medieval Byzantine and Bulgarian towns, monasteries and fortresses, as well as many preserved buildings and whole villages — examples of the architecture from the Ottoman period (like Melnik, the Rozhen Monastery and Bansko). Thracians in an ethnic sense refers to various ancient peoples who spoke Thracian languages, a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family. ... The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed. ... The Early Christians is a term used to refer to the early followers of Jesus of Nazareth, before the emergence of established Christian orthodoxy. ... Byzantine Empire (Greek: Βυζαντινή Αυτοκρατορία) is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... // Early centuries of Ottoman rule Organisation of Ottoman Bulgaria The Ottomans reorganised the Bulgarian territories as the Beyerlik of Rumili, ruled by a Beylerbey at Sofia. ... Melnik (bulgarian: Мелник) is the smallest Bulgarian town located in the Blagoevgrad Province at the foot of the Pirin mountains. ... Inner yard of the Rozhen Monastery The Rozhen Monastery is the biggest monastery in the Pirin Mountains, in Southwestern Bulgaria. ... Bansko (Банско) is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of Pirin at an altitude of 936 m above sea level. ...

A theatre, a library with 345,000 tomes, and an opera house are situated in the provincial centre, Blagoevgrad. There are art galleries in Bansko, Blagoevgrad and Sandanski. Many small cultural institutions, chitalishta, are dispersed around the province. The Pirin State Ensemble is the most prominent among the numerous folklore and music bands. There are 10 museums in the province that preserve the rich historical, ethnographic and archaeological heritage. Cultural events include the Theatre Festival in Blagoevgrad, the Jazz Festival in Bansko and the Melnik Evenings of Poetry. Blagoevgrad (Bulgarian: Благоевград, formerly Горна Джумая, Gorna Dzhumaya) is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, situated in Blagoevgrad Province, with a population of about 76,000. ... Bansko (Банско) is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of Pirin at an altitude of 936 m above sea level. ... Sandanski is a small town in the Blagoevgrad district. ... The chitalishte in Koprivshtitsa was built in 1869 A chitalishte (Bulgarian: читалище ) is a typical Bulgarian public building which fulfills several functions at once, such as a library and a theatre. ...

The Southwestern University and the American University in Bulgaria are situated in Blagoevgrad. Annually the city draws around 10,000 students from the country and abroad. The number of schools in the province is 182. State University in the city of Blagoevgrad, in south western Bulgaria South-West Neofit Rilski University Category: ... The American University in Bulgaria (abbr. ...

Demographics

According to the 2001 census, the population of the province consists of 286,491 Bulgarians (including a number of Muslim Bulgarians), 31,857 Turks (also including a number of Muslim Bulgarians), 12,405 Roma and 3,117 ethnic Macedonians, among others. 4,242 people did not specify their ethnicity. Muslim Bulgarians (also Bulgarian Mohammedans, bul:Българи-мохамедани; local: Pomak, Ahrian, Poganets, Marvak, Poturnak) are descendants of Christian Bulgarians who converted to Islam during the 16th and the 18th century. ... Muslim Bulgarians (also Bulgarian Mohammedans, bul:Българи-мохамедани; local: Pomak, Ahrian, Poganets, Marvak, Poturnak) are descendants of Christian Bulgarians who converted to Islam during the 16th and the 18th century. ... The Roma people (singular Rom; sometimes Rroma, Rrom), often referred to as gypsies, are a heterogeneous ethnic group who live primarily in Southern and Eastern Europe, Western Asia, Latin America, the southern part of the United States and the Middle East. ...

268,968 of the province's residents are Eastern Orthodox, 62,431 are Muslims, 1,546 — Protestants. 7,018 people did not idenfity their religion in the census. Eastern Orthodoxy (also called Greek Orthodoxy and Russian Orthodoxy) is a Christian tradition which represents the majority of Eastern Christianity. ... A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ...

Bulgarian is the mother tongue of 306,118 people, Turkish is spoken by 19,819, while 9,232 identified as speakers of Romany. 2,921 specified their mother tongue as "other" and 2,424 did not identify their language. Romany (or Romani) is the language of the Roma and Sinti, peoples often referred to in English as Gypsies. The Indo-Aryan Romany language should not be confused with either Romanian (spoken by Romanians), or Romansh (spoken in parts of southeastern Switzerland), both of which are Romance languages. ...

The province's major city is Blagoevgrad, while other significant towns include Bansko, Gotse Delchev, Melnik, Petrich, Razlog, Sandanski and Simitli. Blagoevgrad (Bulgarian: Благоевград, formerly Горна Джумая, Gorna Dzhumaya) is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, situated in Blagoevgrad Province, with a population of about 76,000. ... Bansko (Банско) is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of Pirin at an altitude of 936 m above sea level. ... Goce Delchev location in Bulgaria Gotse Delchev (Гоце Делчев), population 23,573, is a town in Southwestern Bulgaria (Pirin Macedonia). ... Melnik (bulgarian: Мелник) is the smallest Bulgarian town located in the Blagoevgrad Province at the foot of the Pirin mountains. ... Petrich is a small town in the Blagoevgrad district in Bulgaria, located at the foot of the Belasitza. ... Petrich is a small town in the Blagoevgrad district. ... Sandanski is a small town in the Blagoevgrad district. ... Simitli is a small town in the Blagoevgrad district in Bulgaria. ...

Sport

Blagoevgrad Province is currently one of the best-represented provinces in Bulgarian football, with 3 teams playing in the Bulgarian A PFG (second only to Sofia with 4) — FC Vihren Sandanski, PFC Belasitsa Petrich and PFC Pirin 1922 Blagoevgrad. One more team from the province, PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad (as distinct from Pirin 1922), began the 2005/06 season in the highest Bulgarian division, but disbanded shortly afterwards due to financial problems. The Bulgarian A Professional Football Group (А Професионална футболна група) or A PFG (А ПФГ) is the top division of Bulgarian football. ... Flag Seal Location Position of Sofia in Bulgaria Government Country  Province Bulgaria  Sofia-City Mayor Boyko Borisov Geographical characteristics Area    - City 1,310 km²    - Land   (?) km²    - Water   (?) km² Population    - City (2006) 1,376,742    - Density   907/km² Coordinates , Elevation 550 m Time zone - Summer (DST) EET (UTC+2) EEST (UTC... FC Vihren Sandanski is a Bulgarian football club founded on 24 May 1925. ... PFC Belasitsa Petrich is a Bulgarian football team founded in 1923. ... PFC Pirin 1922 Blagoevgrad (ПФК Пирин 1922 Благоевград) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Blagoevgrad, currently playing in the Bulgarian A Professional Football Group, the top division of Bulgarian football. ...

Owing to the high mountainous areas in the north and east, Blagoevgrad Province is also a centre of winter sports, with Bansko being a popular skiing resort. A winter sport is a sport commonly played during winter, usually a sport played on snow or ice. ...

External links

• Blagoevgrad Province — information on all of cities and villages
• Provincial administration of Blagoevgrad Province
• Municipality of Blagoevgrad
• Municipality of Gotse Delchev
• Municipality of Sandanski
• Municipality of Petrich
• Official website of Bansko
• Pirin National Park
• Rila National Park
• Neofit Rilski Southwestern University
• American University in Bulgaria
• Pirin Folk song and dances State Ensemble
• Historical and Architectural Reserve Village Kovachevitza
• Rozhen Monastery St Nativity of Virgin Mary
• Bansko Ski Zone

	Provinces of Bulgaria
Blagoevgrad | Burgas | Dobrich | Gabrovo | Haskovo | Kardzhali | Kyustendil | Lovech | Montana | Pazardzhik | Pernik | Pleven | Plovdiv | Razgrad | Ruse | Shumen | Silistra | Sliven | Smolyan | Sofia City | Sofia Province | Stara Zagora | Targovishte | Varna | Veliko Tarnovo | Vidin | Vratsa | Yambol