Gabrovo Municipality

Gabrovo Municipality (Bulgarian: Община Габрово) is a municipality (obshtina) in Gabrovo Province, North-central Bulgaria, located on the northern slopes of the central Stara planina mountain to the area of the so-called Fore-Balkan. It is named after its administrative centre - the city of Gabrovo which is also the capital of the province.

The municipality embraces a territory of 555.57 km² with a population of 67,501 inhabitants, as of December 2009.

Aside from the rich cultural landmarks of the main city, the area is best known with the beautifully preserved architectural reserve of Bozhentsi village and the north approach to Shipka Pass which was a noted place of the Bulgarian history and one of the main transport connections between the north and south parts of Bulgaria and the Balkan peninsula.

Settlements

(towns are shown in bold):

Demography

The following table shows the change of the population during the last four decades.

See also

Gabrovo

Gabrovo (Bulgarian: Габрово) is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Gabrovo Province.

It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international capital of humour and satire (see Gabrovo humour), as well as noted for its Bulgarian National Revival architecture. Gabrovo is also known as the longest city in Bulgaria, stretching over 25 km along the Yantra, yet reaching only 1 km (0.6 mi) in width at places. The geographic center of Bulgaria - Uzana is located near the city.

Name

According to the most widespread legend, Gabrovo was founded by a blacksmith called Racho, close to whose fireplace a hornbeam rose, so the settlement acquired its name, from the Slavic word gabar ("hornbeam") + the Slavic suffix -ovo.

History

The area around Gabrovo, inhabited since the Neolithic, gained economic importance after Veliko Tarnovo became capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire in the 12th century. Craftsmanship and trade prospered due to the proximity to both the capital and the Balkan passes. Medieval Gabrovo was a small pass village of about 100 houses.

Gabrovo Province

Coordinates: 42°55′N 25°15′E / 42.917°N 25.250°E / 42.917; 25.250

Gabrovo Province (Bulgarian: Област Габрово (Oblast Gabrovo), former name Gabrovo okrug) is a small province lying at the geographical centre of Bulgaria. It is named after its main town - Gabrovo. In 2009 the total population of the area is 130,001.

Municipalities

The Gabrovo province (oбласт, oblast) contains four municipalities (singular: oбщина, obshtina - plural: oбщини, obshtini). The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town (in bold) or village, and the population of each as of 2009.

Population

The Gabrovo province had a population of 144,150 (144,125 also given) according to a 2001 census, of which 7001484000000000000♠48.4% were male and 7001516000000000000♠51.6% were female. As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 130,001 of which 7001304000000000000♠30.4% are inhabitants aged over 60 years.