Sliven Province

Sliven Province (Bulgarian: Област Сливен, former name Sliven okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria, named after its administrative and industrial centre — the city of Sliven. It embraces a territory of 3,544.1 km2 (1,368.4 sq mi)[1] that is divided into four municipalities, with a total population, as of December 2009, of 204,887.[2][3][4]

Sliven Province

Област Сливен
Province
Location of Sliven Province in Bulgaria
CountryBulgaria
CapitalSliven
Municipalities4
Government
 • GovernorChavdar Bozhourski
Area
 • Total3,544.1 km2 (1,368.4 sq mi)
Population
 (February 2011)[2]
 • Total197 473
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
License plateCH
Websitesliven.government.bg

Municipalities
Map of Sliven Province

The Sliven province contains four municipalities. The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town or village (towns are shown in bold), and the population of each as of December 2009.

Municipality Cyrillic Pop.[2][3][4] Town/Village Pop.[3][5][6]
Kotel Котел 20,338 Kotel 6,232
Nova Zagora Нова Загора 41,959 Nova Zagora 23,625
Sliven Сливен 128,249 Sliven 93,781
Tvarditsa Твърдица 14,341 Tvarditsa 5,669

Main city

Sliven is situated at the foot of the unique rock massif "Sinite Kamani" (The Blue Rocks), very close to mineral springs. The town is famous for its clean fresh air, clean water sources, mild winters and cool summers.

Sliven is the only Bulgarian town that has never changed its Slavonic name, though it is one of the oldest settlements in Europe. Thracians, Romans, Slavs, and Ancient Greeks have all lived in the region. The first Roman settlement on this place, Tuida (3rd century BC), was a famous trade centre. Sliven was mentioned as a big town for the first time in 1153 by the Arab traveler Muhammad al-Idrisi.

Population

As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 204,887[2] of which 22.3% are inhabitants over 60 years old.[7] The following table represents the change of the population in the province after World War II:

Dobrich Province
Year 1946 1956 1965 1975 1985 1992 2001 2005 2007 2009 2011
Population 175,053 193,309 219,702 232,986 239,448 234,785 218,474 209,694 207,786 204,887 197,473
Sources: National Statistical Institute,[2] „Census 2001“,[3] „Census 2011“,[4] „pop-stat.mashke.org“,??

Ethnic groups
Ethnic groups in Sliven Province (2011 census)
Ethnic group Percentage
Bulgarians
 
 76.6%
Romani
 
 11.8%
Turks
 
 9.7%
others and indefinable
 
 1.9%

Total population (2011 census): 197 473[8]
Ethnic groups (2011 census):[9] Identified themselves: 173 206 persons:

  • Bulgarians: 132 697 (76.61%)
  • Romani: 20 478 (11.82%)
  • Turks: 16 784 (9.69%)
  • Others and indefinable: 3 247 (1.87%)

A further 24,000 persons in Sliven Province did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.

According to the 2001 census, the province had a population of 218 474 inhabitants, of whom 163 188 were Bulgarians, 26 777 Romani, 22 971 Turks, etc.

Religion

Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:[10]

Census 2001
religious adherence population %
Orthodox Christians 178,721 81.80%
Muslims 21,668 9.92%
Protestants 5,071 2.33%
Roman Catholics 251 0.11%
Other 1,057 0.48%
Religion not mentioned 11,706 5.36%
total 218,474 100%

Nature Park Sinite Kamani - The Blue Rocks
Sliven
The Old Elm Tree at Sliven

The Sinite Kamani Nature Park is famous for its nature landmarks. Halkata — the arc-shaped rock garland, possessing, according to the legends, magic force — is one of the symbols of the town of Sliven. The forms that the nature has sculptured in the cave Zmeevi dupki – Zmeyat, Orelat and Vladishkiyat tron are amazing.

The ancient beech forest in the vicinity of the Kushbunar spring in the region of Karandila is picturesque.

The specific climate and lay conditions of the nature park determine the great diversity of flora and fauna. The plant species are more than 1000, about 900 of which are representative of high species.

The invertebrate animals are represented by 235 species — eight species of fish, nine species of amphibians, nineteen species of reptiles, 165 species of birds and 34 species of mammals.

The lay is of typical mountain type — steep and ravine slopes and between 290 and 1181 meters above sea level. The north and northwest winds, called bora, famous as the wind of the town of Sliven and the night breeze are typical for the region. Through the park flow many rivers and their beds form numerous shoots, pools and waterfalls.

See also

References
  1. (in English) Bulgarian Provinces area and population 1999 — National Center for Regional Development — page 90-91 Archived 2011-01-13 at the Wayback Machine
  2. (in English) Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian provinces and municipalities in 2009
  3. (in English) „WorldCityPopulation“
  4. „pop-stat.mashke.org“
  5. (in English) Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian towns in 2009
  6. „pop-stat.mashke.org“
  7. (in English) Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Population by age in 2009 Archived 2012-05-13 at the Wayback Machine
  8. (in Bulgarian) Population on 01.02.2011 by provinces, municipalities, settlements and age; National Statistical Institute
  9. Population by province, municipality, settlement and ethnic identification, by 01.02.2011; Bulgarian National Statistical Institute (in Bulgarian)
  10. (in Bulgarian) Religious adherence in Bulgaria - census 2001
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