Smolyan Province (Bulgarian:Област Смолян,Oblast Smolyan; former nameSmolyan okrug) is aprovince in Southern-centralBulgaria, located in theRhodope Mountains, neighbouringGreece to the south. It is named after its administrative and industrial centre — the city ofSmolyan. The province embraces a territory of 3,192.8 km2 (1,232.7 sq mi).[1] that is divided into 10 municipalities with a total population of 124,795, as of December 2009.[2][3][4]
Smolyan Province (Област,Oblast) contains 10 municipalities[5] (singular: община,obshtina; plural: Общини,obshtini). The following table shows the names of each municipality in English andCyrillic, the main town or village (towns are shown in bold), and the population of each as of December 2009.
As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 124,795[2] of which23.4% are inhabitants aged over 60 years.[14]
As of the end of 2023, the population decreased to 92,107.[15]
A further 26,000 persons in the Province did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.
In the 2001 census, 132,654 people of the population of 140,066 of Smolyan Province identified themselves as belonging to one of the following ethnic groups:[12]
In the 2001 census, 135,761 people of the population of 140,066 of Smolyan Province identified one of the following as theirmother tongue (with percentage of total population): 129,181Bulgarian (92.2%), 5,782Turkish (4.1%), 532Romani (0.4%) and 266 other (0.2%).[11]
UnlikeKardzhali Province where the majority of the Muslim population is Turkish, the Muslim population of Smolyan Province is made up mostly ofMuslim Bulgarians.The Muslim population is mainly concentrated in the municipalitiesBanite,Borino,Dospat,Madan andRudozem. The Orthodox-Christians population live predominantly in the municipality ofSmolyan and the municipality ofChepelare. The religious structure of the municipalities ofDevin,Nedelino andZlatograd is mixed withPomaks as well as Orthodox Christians.
Religious adherence in the province according to 2011 census:[18]
The economy of the province is based on tourism, mining, timber andmachine industries and livestock raising. The main crops of the region are potatoes (about 30% of the national production), rye and barley; but sheep, pigs and cattle are of greater importance for the agriculture. In the eastern parts of the province are located more than 20 lead and zinc mines, which form one of the most extensive ore deposits in theBalkans. The dense coniferous forests are prerequisite for well-developed timber industry inDospat,Smolyan,Devin. InSmolyan there are big plants producing machine tools and other machinery, while textile industry is mainly developed to the east inNedelino,Zlatograd,Madan andRudozem. There is also a synthetic rubber plant inMadan.[citation needed]
