Kardzhali Province
Encyclopedia
Kardzhali Province is a province
Provinces of Bulgaria
Since 1999, Bulgaria has been divided into 28 provinces which correspond approximately to the 28 districts that existed before 1987. In 1987, during the Communist regime of Todor Zhivkov, the districts were consolidated into nine larger provinces , which survived until 1999.Each province is named...

 of southern Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, neighbouring Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 with the Greek prefectures of Xanthi
Xanthi Prefecture
Xanthi is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Region of East Macedonia and Thrace. The capital is Xanthi. Together with the regional units Rhodope and Evros, it forms the geographical region of Western Thrace.-Geography:...

, Rhodope
Rhodope Prefecture
Rhodope is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace. Its name is derived from the Rhodope Mountains, which cover the northern part of its territory. Together with the regional units Evros and Xanthi, it forms the geographical region of Western...

 and Evros
Evros Prefecture
Evros is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace. Its name is derived from the river Evros, which appears to have been a Thracian hydronym. Evros is the northernmost regional unit. It borders Turkey to the east, across the river Evros, and it...

 to the south and east. Kardzhali Province area is 3209.1 km². Its main city is Kardzhali
Kardzhali
Kardzhali or Kurdzhali is a town in Bulgaria, capital of Kardzhali Province in the Eastern Rhodopes. Near the town is the noted Kardzhali Dam.-Geography:...

.

History

The territory of Kardzhali province was acquired by Bulgaria during the First Balkan War
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...

 in 1912. In 1913 the region was organized as the district (окръг, okrag in Bulgarian) of Mestanli
Momchilgrad
Momchilgrad , is a town in the very south of Bulgaria, part of Kardzhali Province in the southeastern part of the Eastern Rhodopes. It is largely settled by ethnic Turks....

. This district was part of Stara Zagora province from 1934 until 1949, then it was transferred to the newly formed Haskovo district. In 1959 Kardzhali became the center of a new district with similar borders to the current province. Between 1987 and 1999, the region was part of Haskovo Province, after which it was restored, now as a province and with slightly changed borders.

Municipalities

The Kardzhali province (област, oblast) contains seven municipalities (singular: oбщина, obshtina - plural: общини, obshtini). The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town (in bold) or village, and the population as of 2009.
Municipality Cyrillic Pop. Town/Village Pop.
Ardino Ардино 13,766 Ardino
Ardino
Ardino is a town in Southern Bulgaria, in the Rhodope Mountains. It is located in Kurdzhali oblast and is close to the town of Madan.It is famous for its textile industry. It has a machine-building factory and a tobacco manufacturing industry. Tourist attractions include the Eagle rocks and the...

4,368
Chernoochene Черноочене 10,132 Chernoochene
Chernoochene
Chernoochene is a village in central southern Bulgaria, part of Kardzhali Province. It is the administrative centre of Chernoochene municipality, which comprises in the northernmost part of Kardzhali Province. The village is located in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains and has a predominantly Turkish...

335
Dzhebel Джебел 9,012 Dzhebel
Dzhebel
Dzhebel is a town in Kardzhali Province, southern Bulgaria. It has 3,312 inhabitants. Dzhebel is the administrative center of a municipality, which apart from Dzhebel itself, contains 47 other villages and has a population of 9093. The municipality is mainly populated by ethnic Turks, which are...

3,288
Kardzhali Кърджали 75,525 Kardzhali
Kardzhali
Kardzhali or Kurdzhali is a town in Bulgaria, capital of Kardzhali Province in the Eastern Rhodopes. Near the town is the noted Kardzhali Dam.-Geography:...

50,482
Kirkovo Кирково 22,833 Kirkovo
Kirkovo
Kirkovo is a village in Kardzhali Province, southern Bulgaria, near the Greek border. The Turkish name Kırkova means "Forty Plains".-External links:*...

719
Krumovgrad Крумовград 20,517 Krumovgrad
Krumovgrad
Krumovgrad is a town in Kardzhali Province in the very south of Bulgaria, located in the Eastern Rhodopes on the banks of the river Krumovitsa. The majority of its population consists of ethnic Turks...

5,475
Momchilgrad Момчилград 19,327 Momchilgrad
Momchilgrad
Momchilgrad , is a town in the very south of Bulgaria, part of Kardzhali Province in the southeastern part of the Eastern Rhodopes. It is largely settled by ethnic Turks....

9,187

Towns and villages

The population data and figures are of December 15
December 2004
December 2004: ← – January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December-→-Deaths in December:*30 Artie Shaw*29 Julius Axelrod*28 Jacques Dupuis*28 Jerry Orbach*28 Susan Sontag*26 Reggie White...

, 2004
  • Abramovo (pop: 94)
  • Ahrisko (pop: 127, elev: 680 m, postal code: 6761)

Demographics

The Kardzhali province had a population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

 of 149,661 according to the 2011 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

, of which were male
Male
Male refers to the biological sex of an organism, or part of an organism, which produces small mobile gametes, called spermatozoa. Each spermatozoon can fuse with a larger female gamete or ovum, in the process of fertilization...

 and were female
Female
Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...

.
The following table represents the change of the population in the province after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

:

Religion

In the 2001 census, 149,839 people from Kardzhali province identified one of the following as their religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

 (with percentage of total population):
35,265 Orthodox Christian , 114,217 Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 , 197 Roman Catholic ,
89 Protestant ,
and 71 other .

Language

In the 2001 census, 160,167 people from Kardzhali province identified one of the following as their mother tongue (with percentage of total population):
101,548 Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

 ,
57,046 Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...

 ,
1,171 Roma (Gypsy)
Romani language
Romani or Romany, Gypsy or Gipsy is any of several languages of the Romani people. They are Indic, sometimes classified in the "Central" or "Northwestern" zone, and sometimes treated as a branch of their own....

 ,
and 402 other .

Ethnic groups

In the 2001 census, 158,704 people from Kardzhali province identified themselves as belonging to one of the following ethnic groups (with percentage of total population):
Ethnic group Population Percentage
Bulgarians
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...

 
55,939
Turks  101,116
Roma (Gypsy)  1,264
Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 
234
Armenians
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

 
41
Vlachs
Vlachs
Vlach is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. English variations on the name include: Walla, Wlachs, Wallachs, Vlahs, Olahs or Ulahs...

 
- 0.000%
Macedonians
Macedonians (Bulgarians)
Macedonians or Macedonian Bulgarians , sometimes also referred to as Macedono-Bulgarians or Macedo-Bulgarians is a regional, ethnographic group of ethnic Bulgarians, inhabiting or originating from Macedonia...

 
7
Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 
21
Ukrainians
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...

 
20
Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

 
1
Romanians
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....

 
1
Other 60

See also

  • Provinces of Bulgaria
    Provinces of Bulgaria
    Since 1999, Bulgaria has been divided into 28 provinces which correspond approximately to the 28 districts that existed before 1987. In 1987, during the Communist regime of Todor Zhivkov, the districts were consolidated into nine larger provinces , which survived until 1999.Each province is named...

  • Municipalities of Bulgaria
    Municipalities of Bulgaria
    The 28 provinces of Bulgaria are divided into 264 municipalities .-Blagoevgrad Province:# Bansko Municipality # Belitsa Municipality # Blagoevgrad Municipality...

  • List of cities and towns in Bulgaria
  • List of villages in Kardzhali Province


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