Provinces of Bulgaria


The provinces of Bulgaria are the first-level administrative subdivisions of the country.
Since 1999, Bulgaria has been divided into 28 provinces which correspond approximately to the 28 districts, that existed before 1987.
The provinces are further subdivided into 265 municipalities.
Sofia – the capital city of Bulgaria and the largest settlement in the country – is the administrative centre of both Sofia Province and Sofia City Province. The capital is included in Sofia [Capital Municipality], which is the sole municipality comprising Sofia City province.

Terminology

The provinces do not have official names – legally, they are not named but only described as "oblast with administrative centre " – together with a list of the constituting municipalities. In Bulgaria they are usually called " Oblast"; occasionally they are referred to as "Oblast " and rarely as "oblast with administrative centre ".
The Bulgarian term "област" is preferably translated into English as "province", in order to avoid disambiguation and distinguish from the former unit called "окръг" and the term "регион". At any rate, "district" and "region" are sometimes still used to name these contemporary 28 units.

Provinces

ProvincePopulation Population Change Land area Population density MunicipalitiesPlanning
Region		--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blagoevgrad323,552 292,227 -9.7% 6,449.47 45.31 14 South Western
Burgas415,817 380,286 -8.5% 7,748.07 49.08 13 South Eastern
Dobrich189,677 150,146 -20.8% 4,719.71 31.81 8 North Eastern
Gabrovo122,702 98,387 -19.8% 2,023.01 48.63 4 North Central
Haskovo246,238 211,565 -14.1% 5,533.29 38.23 11 South Central
Kardzhali152,808 141,177 -7.6% 3,209.11 43.99 7 South Central
Kyustendil136,686 111,736 -18.3% 3,051.52 36.61 9 South Western
Lovech141,422 116,394 -17.7% 4,128.76 28.19 8 North Western
Montana148,098 119,950 -19.0% 3,635.38 32.99 11 North Western
Pazardzhik275,548 229,814 -16.6% 4,456.92 51.56 12 South Central
Pernik133,530 114,162 -14.5% 2,394.22 47.68 6 South Western
Pleven269,752 226,120 -16.2% 4,653.32 48.59 11 North Western
Plovdiv683,027 634,497 -7.1% 5,972.89 106.22 18 South Central
Razgrad125,190 103,223 -17.5% 2,639.74 39.10 7 North Central
Ruse235,252 193,483 -17.8% 2,803.36 69.01 8 North Central
Shumen180,528 151,465 -16.1% 3,389.68 44.68 10 North Eastern
Silistra119,474 97,770 -18.2% 2,846.29 34.34 7 North Central
Sliven197,473 172,690 -12.6% 3,544.07 48.72 4 South Eastern
Smolyan121,752 96,284 -20.9% 3,192.85 30.15 10 South Central
Sofia City1,291,591 1,274,290 -1.3% 1,348.90 944.68 1 South Western
Sofia Province247,489 231,989 -6.3% 7,062.33 32.84 22 South Western
Stara Zagora333,265 296,507 -11.0% 5,151.12 57.56 11 South Eastern
Targovishte120,818 98,144 -18.8% 2,558.53 38.35 5 North Eastern
Varna475,074 432,198 -9.0% 3,819.47 113.15 12 North Eastern
Veliko Tarnovo258,494 207,371 -19.8% 4,661.57 44.48 10 North Central
Vidin101,018 75,408 -25.4% 3,032.88 24.86 11 North Western
Vratsa186,848 152,813 -18.2% 3,619.77 42.21 10 North Western
Yambol131,447 109,693 -16.5% 3,355.48 32.69 5 South Eastern
7,364,5706,519,789-11.5%111,001.7158.73265--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

History

In 1987, the then-existing 28 districts were transformed into 9 large units, which survived until 1999.
The 9 large provinces are listed below, along with the pre-1987 districts comprising them.
1987–1998
oblasts		Comprising former districts
BurgasBurgas, Sliven, Yambol
HaskovoHaskovo, Kardzhali, Stara Zagora, Segenovhrol
LovechGabrovo, Lovech, Pleven, Veliko Tarnovo
MontanaMontana, Vidin, Vratsa
PlovdivPazardzhik, Plovdiv, Smolyan
RazgradRazgrad, Ruse, Silistra, Targovishte
SofiaSofia City
SofiaBlagoevgrad, Kyustendil, Pernik, Sofia
VarnaDobrich, Shumen, Varna

On 1 January 1999, the old districts were restored with some modifications, but the designation "oblast" was kept.