Stara Zagora (Bulgarian:Област Стара Загора), formerly known as theStara Zagora okrug, is aprovince of south-centralBulgaria. It is named after its administrative and industrial centre—the city ofStara Zagora—the sixth-biggest town in the country. The province embraces a territory of 5,151.1 km2 (1,988.9 sq mi)[1] that is divided into 11 municipalities with a total population, as of December 2009, of 350,925 inhabitants.[2][3][4]
In the southeastern part of the province on the edge of Radnevo Municipality there is a coal production facility. Between 1934 and 1949, the province included parts of the presentKardzhali Province.[5]
The Stara Zagora province (област,oblast) contains 11 municipalities (Bulgarian:община,romanized: 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.
The Stara Zagora province had apopulation of 370,665 (370,615 also given) according to a 2001census, of which48.9% weremale and51.1% werefemale.[10]
As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 350,925[2] of which25.2% are inhabitants aged over 60 years.[11]
A further 25,000 persons in the Province did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.
Ethnic groups according to the 2001 census, when 370,615 people of the population of 370,665 of Stara Zagora Province identified themselves (with percentage of total population):[14]
Stara Zagora is a cultural centre of particular significance for Bulgaria as it is an ancientThracian, subsequentlyGreek,Roman andByzantinemetropolis. The oldestNeolithic remains were found in Stara Zagora. The famous film ofBBCThe History of Europe starts with the Neolithic museum in Stara Zagora. It shows the remains of the first homes of the people in Europe. Stara Zagora is one of the oldest cities in Europe.[citation needed]
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