Blagoevgrad Province

Blagoevgrad Province (, oblast Blagoevgrad or Благоевградска област, Blagoevgradska oblast), also known as Pirin Macedonia or Bulgarian Macedonia (), (Pirinska Makedoniya or Bulgarska Makedoniya) is a province (oblast) of southwestern Bulgaria. It borders four other Bulgarian provinces to the north and east, the Greek region of Macedonia to the south, and North Macedonia to the west. The province has 14 municipalities with 12 towns. Its principal city is Blagoevgrad, while other significant towns include Bansko, Gotse Delchev, Melnik, Petrich, Razlog, Sandanski, and Simitli.

Geography

The province has a territory of and a population of 323,552The province had a population of 323,552 according to the 2011 census, of which were male and were female.

Ethnic groups

Total population (2011 census): 323 552

Ethnic groups (2011 census):

Identified themselves: 283,556 persons:

Bulgarians: 251,097 (88,55%)
Turks: 17,027 (6,0%)
Romani: 9,739 (3,43%)
Others and indefinable: 5,693 (2,01%)
Unspecified: 40,524 (this figure is not included in the percentage.)

The ethnic Bulgarian population in the province also has a regional Macedonian identity, distinct from the ethnic Macedonian identity of Macedonians in the Republic of North Macedonia. According to the 2011 Bulgarian census, there were 561 ethnic Macedonians (0.2%) in the Blagoevgrad Province, out of a total of 1,654 Macedonians in the entire country. During the same year, a total of 429 citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia resided in the province. Since registering a permanent residence in Bulgaria is a requirement for becoming naturalized in Bulgaria, a total of 18,000 Macedonian nationals were registered as residents in the Blagoevgrad Municipality alone by 2017. They are citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia, but have also Bulgarian citizenship, based on declared Bulgarian ethnic origin; their number in the whole of the province is higher. However, the vast majority of these people do not permanently reside in the Blagoevgrad Province.

Languages

Mother tongues in the province according to 2001 census:

306,118 Bulgarian (), 19,819 Turkish (),

9,232 Romani () and 6004 others and unspecified ().

Religion

Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan=3| Census 2001

! religious adherence

! population

! %

| Orthodox Christians

| align="middle" | 268,968

| align="middle" |78.84%

| Muslims

| align="middle" | 62,431

| align="middle" |18.30%

| Protestants

| align="middle" | 1,546

| align="middle" |0.45%

| Roman Catholics

| align="middle" | 277

| align="middle" |0.08%

| Other

| align="middle" | 933

| align="middle" |0.27%

| Religion not mentioned

| align="middle" | 7,018

| align="middle" |2.06%

| total

| align="middle" | 341,173

| align="middle" |100%

Most Muslims in the province are Bulgarian Muslims, also called Pomaks. That makes Blagoevgrad Province together with Smolyan Province and the area around Velingrad one of the few places where Bulgarian Muslims make up the majority of the Muslims while in Bulgaria general most Muslims are from Turkish background.

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.

Owing to the alpine features and accessible location, the northern and eastern regionof Blagoevgrad Province is also a centre of winter sports. The main centre is Bansko which is becoming a leading skiing resort at European level with rapidly rising property prices.

Gallery

Image:8 1106150965.jpg|Tevno Vasilashko Lake in Pirin

Image:Tevno ezero i Kamenica.jpg|Kamenitsa Peak and lake Tevno ezero in Pirin

Image:VrahSinanitsa.jpg|Sinanitsa Peak in Pirin

Image:Edelvais.jpg|Edelweisses under the Koncheto ridge in Pirin

Image:Djengal_Peak_03735.JPG|Dzhengal Peak in Pirin up-close in late April

Image:BG-Pirin-Vihren.jpg|Vihren Peak in Pirin mountain

Image:The Chronicle of Ioannis Skylitzis Bulagar Defeat.jpg|The defeat of the army of Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria in the medieval Battle of Kleidion

Image:Bulgarien-Roschen-2-1996.jpg|The Rozhen Monastery from the outside

Image:Bansko-church-lite.jpg|The Church of the Holy Trinity in Bansko

Image:General_Ivan_Tsonchev_Revolutionary_Band.jpg|Genеral Ivan Tsonchev's revolutionary band

Image:Boris_Sarafov's_revolutionary_band.jpg|Lieutenant Boris Sarafov's revolutionary band

Image:Petrich STA50206.JPG|Monument to the perished Bulgarian soldiers during World War I in Petrich

Image:Razlog Kapustin ifb.jpg|Bansko Ski Zone as seen from Razlog

Image:Gr Petrich nosht 1.jpg|Petrich at night

</gallery>

References

Sources

Who are the Macedonians? by Hugh Poulton. London: 1995.

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 Kovachevitsa
Rozhen Monastery St. Nativity of Virgin Mary
Bansko Ski Zone
Beautiful Blagoevgrad Online
Kordopulova House in Melnik
Radio Blagoevgrad online, regional station of the Bulgarian National Radio
Informative site about South-Western Bulgaria
Struma Daily newspaper of South-Western Bulgaria
Village Dabrava - Blagoevgrad