Pirin Macedonia orBulgarian Macedonia[Note 1] (Bulgarian:Пиринска Македония; Българска Македония) (Pirinska Makedoniya or Bulgarska Makedoniya) is the third-biggest part of the geographical region ofMacedonia, today in southwesternBulgaria. This region coincides with the borders of theBlagoevgrad Province, as well as the surrounding area ofBarakovo from theKyustendil Province. After World War I,Strumica and the surrounding area were broken away from the region and were ceded toYugoslavia.
It covers an area of about 6,798 km2, which is 10.18% of the geographical region of Macedonia. One of the regional centers isBlagoevgrad. The region is bordering withKyustendil Province andSofia Province to the north,Pazardzhik Province andSmolyan Province to the east,Greece to the south andNorth Macedonia to the west. The population is estimated around 325,000 people.[citation needed]
The name of this region comes from thePirin Mountains which are spread in the central part of Pirin Macedonia. The mountain name Pirin comes fromPerun (Bulgarian:Перун), the highest god of theSlavic pantheon and the god ofthunder andlightning. Inantiquity the range was calledOrbelos by theThracians, meaning "snow-white mountain" inThracian language.[citation needed]
It usually refers to the part of the region ofMacedonia attributed to theKingdom of Bulgaria by theTreaty of Bucharest (1913). Until World War I, the region included the areas of present-dayStrumica andNovo Selo Municipality, today inNorth Macedonia. AfterWorld War I, they were broken away fromBulgaria and ceded to theKingdom of Yugoslavia.[citation needed]
The mainreligion in the region of Pirin Macedonia isChristianity, with majority of population belonging to theBulgarian Orthodox Church. During the early centuries ofChristianity, this region belonged to the ancient Roman province ofMacedonia, and later it was under the jurisdiction of theArchbishopric of Ohrid, up to the 1767. During the period ofOttoman rule, a partialislamization was also recorded. In the middle of the 19th century, Bulgarian national revival was initiated, and newly createdBulgarian Exarchate also included the region of Pirin Macedonia.[citation needed]