Pazardzhik Province (Bulgarian:Област ПазарджикOblast Pazardzhik, former namePazardzhik okrug) is aprovince in SouthernBulgaria, named after its administrative and industrial centre: the city ofPazardzhik. The territory is 4,456.9 km2 (1,720.8 sq mi) that is divided into 12 municipalities with a total population of 275,548 inhabitants, as of February 2011.[1][2][3]
The territory of the Pazardzhik Province has been inhabited since very early times. There are more than 50 discoveredStone Age andBronze Age settlements. The earliest civilization to inhabit the region were theThracians. The remains of the Thracian town Besapara are located in the hills near the provincial capital Pazardzhik. ThePanagyurishte Treasure unearthed near the northern town of the same name is known as one of the finest examples of Thracian art. The 6.164 kg of 23-karat gold treasure which consists of nine vessels has been dated back to the 4th and 3rd century BC. In the 1st century BC the region became aRoman province and remained in theByzantine Empire after the fall of Rome.
Most of the region became part of theBulgarian Empire in the beginning of the 9th century and remained in Bulgarian hands until the fall of the First Empire. With the rise of theSecond Bulgarian Empire the region once again became part of the country until it was overran by theOttomans in the late 14th century. Some of medieval fortresses areTsepina near the village ofDorkovo andKrasen in the vicinities ofBata.
TheApril Uprising of 1876 against the Ottoman rule was widely supported within the region and the town ofPanagyurishte became the center of the uprising. The Bulgarian population also rebelled to the south where the Ottoman atrocities culminated in theBatak massacre. The massacre included 8,000 people killed and one of the deadliest massacres in Bulgarian history.[4] According to theTreaty of Berlin after theLiberation of Bulgaria in 1878 the region was included in the autonomous regionEastern Rumelia.[5] It included the okolias Pazardzhik, Peshtera, Ihtiman, Koprivshtitsa and Panagyurishte. The department was later incorporated into the newPrincipality of Bulgaria on 6 September 1885.
The first reportedRed Army troops in the region were inPazardzhik on 23 September 1944, where the Soviet command was headed by Dimitry Gorunkov. Territorial changes were made, asSarnitsa was transferred from Devinska okolia to Pazardzhik okolia in 1949. A concentration camp was established with the name Camp ''C''. Demonstrations were held in 1989 with more than 5,000 people alone in the administrative capital.
Sarnitsa Municipality became the newest municipality in the province, as well as in Bulgaria on 1 January 2015.
The Pazardzhik Province is situated in central part of southern Bulgaria and borders the provinces ofPlovdiv,Smolyan,Blagoevgrad andSofia. The total area of the region is 4,458 km2 which is 4% of the national territory. Forests account for more than half of the area (57.1%); the arable land is 35.6%, urban territory is 3.3%, rivers and lakes occupy 2.6%, road infrastructure - 0.6% and quarries and mines - 0,4%.[6]
The northern parts of the region include the middle ridges of theSredna Gora mountain range, to the south the relief flattens and forms the westernmost parts of theUpper Thracian Plain and to the south are located theRhodope Mountains where most of the forests are situated. The highest point of the region is Savov Vrah in theRila mountain range at an altitude of 2,306 m while the lowest altitude is around 200 m in the plains of the central area.[6] The climate is transcontinental with milder winter than northern Bulgaria in the lowlands but with very low temperatures and high snowfall in the mountain areas. The average annual temperature is 11.3 °C.[6]
The Pazardzik province (област,oblast) contains 12 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 Pazardzhik province had apopulation of 310,741 (310,723 also given) according to a 2001census, of which49.3% weremale and50.7% werefemale.[13]
As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 290,614[7] of which22.7% are inhabitants aged over 60 years.[14]
A further 30,000 persons in Pazardzhik Province did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.
Ethnic groups in the province according to 2001 census:[16]261,260 Bulgarians (84.1%), 23,970Romani (7.7%),20,448Turks (6.6%) and 5,045 others and unspecified (1.6%).
Mother tongues in the province according to 2001 census:[17]260,817Bulgarian (83.9%), 24,204Romani (7.8%),21,902Turkish (7%) and 3800 others and unspecified (1.2%).
The backbone of the economy in the region is industry. TheBatak Hydropower Cascade is an important hydrocomplex consisting of three hydro power plants- "Batak", "Peshtera" and "Aleko" with combined capacity of 254 MW. Copper extracting industry is of national and European importance with major mines located around Panagyurishte (Asarel Medet),Elshitsa andTsar Asen. Machine building industry is developed inPazardzhik (lead acid batteries),Panagyurishte (optical),Velingrad. There is flourishing pharmaceutical industry inPeshtera with more than 1 000 employees in the plant. Paper industry is developed inBelovo. Timber industry is very important in the southern part of the region (the Rhodopes)-Batak,Peshtera,Rakitovo andVelingrad. The manufacturing of textiles is well developed in Pazardzhik, Panagyurishte and Velingrad. There is a huge footwear plant inPeshtera. Food processing industry is developed in most of the towns.Agriculture is also important, especially in the fertile central parts of the region. The most important crops are orchards (apples, plums and strawberries), grapes, wheat, barley, rye and rice. Livestock breeding is relatively well developed in the mountainous areas.[citation needed]
The province has considerable opportunities to develop mountain and rural tourism, especially in the southern parts where theRhodope mountains are located. The slopes are covered with dense deciduous and higher up, coniferous forests, dotted with numerous artificial lakes. The largest one is theBatak Dam, on whose shores are built two resorts:Tsigov Chark andSaint Konstantin as well as many villas and shrines. Fish is abundant in the dams, includingcarp,rudd,roachbarbel,perch,zander and many others; the mountain streams are rich introut. There are spa resorts inVelingrad,Strelcha,Banya,Varvara. The most famous landmarks are located inPanagyurishte,Pazardzhik,Batak,Velingrad.
Impressive ruins of an ancientBelovo Basilica rise in the hilly country, close to the town ofBelovo. Numerous ruined fortresses are scattered around the province, the most famous of these areTsepina,Peristera and the ramparts nearBata andStrelcha. The medievalChurch of St Demetrius in the village ofPatalenitsa has frescoes dating to the 12th–13th century.
The road network is not dense. TheTrakia motorway runs through the middle of the region in direction west–east. Other important roads include the first classI-8 road parallel to the motorway and the second classII-37 road in direction north–south. The main railway betweenSofia andPlovdiv also runs through it. There are two other railways: toPanagyurishte and toPeshtera. There are several small airports. As everywhere inBulgaria, every town and village in the region is provided with electricity, drinking water, telephone network, Internet connection and the cellular phone services.
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