Vidin Province


Vidin Province is the northwesternmost province of Bulgaria. It borders Serbia to the west and Romania to the northeast, and its administrative centre is the city of Vidin on the Danube river. The area is divided into 11 municipalities. As of 2023, the province had a population of 72,754.
There are remains of many castles, including Baba Vida, one of the last Bulgarian strongholds during the Ottoman invasion and the Belogradchik fortress.

Municipalities

The Vidin Province contains 11 municipalities. The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town or village, and the population of each as of December 2009.
MunicipalityCyrillicPop.Town/VillagePop.
BelogradchikБелоградчик7,045Belogradchik5,334
BoynitsaБойница1,717Boynitsa595
BregovoБрегово6,168Bregovo2,592
VidinВидин66,126Vidin49,471
GramadaГрамада2,384Gramada1,647
DimovoДимово7,175Dimovo1,211
KulaКула4,958Kula3,287
MakreshМакреш1,938Makresh473
Novo SeloНово Село3,381Novo Selo1,144
RuzhintsiРужинци4,890Ruzhintsi915
ChupreneЧупрене2,285Chuprene576

Geography

The territory of the province includes the most western parts of the Danubian Plain and Stara Planina, while the Danube forms the border with Romania. The slopes of Stara Planina are covered with dense forests, lush meadows and boasts the majestic rock phenomena, the Belogradchik Rocks. There are around 80 caves situated close to the border with Serbia, the most famous being the Magura Cave, which known with its cave painting from 10,000 BC. There is also a lake in the proximity of the cave.

Demographics

The Vidin province had a population of 130,074 according to a 2001 census, of which were male and were female.
As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 108,067 of which are inhabitants aged over 60 years.
Vidin is the oldest province in Bulgaria, with 28.9% of its population 65 years or older at the end of 2016. There is a big difference between the percentage elderly living in urban and rural areas: in urban areas 21.1% of the population is 65 years or older while that percentage is 42.8% in rural areas. The percentage of children up to 15 years is 13.5% in urban areas and only 9.8% in rural areas.

Ethnic groups

Total population : 101,018
Ethnic groups :
Identified themselves: 95,126 persons:
  • Bulgarians: 86,802
  • Romani: 7,282
  • Others and indefinable: 1,042

Religion

Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:

Towns and villages

The place names in bold have the status of town. Other localities have the status of village. The names of localities are transliterated in Latin alphabet followed in parentheses by the original name in Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet.

Belogradchik Municipality

The Belogradchik municipality has one town and 17 villages:

Boynitsa Municipality

The Boynitsa municipality has 9 villages:

Bregovo Municipality

The Bregovo municipality has one town and 9 villages:

Vidin Municipality

The Vidin municipality has two towns and 33 villages:

Gramada Municipality

The Gramada municipality has one town and 7 villages:

Dimovo Municipality

The Dimovo municipality has one town and 22 villages:

Kula Municipality

The Kula municipality has one town and 8 villages:

Makresh Municipality

The Makresh municipality has 7 villages:

Novo Selo

The Novo Selo municipality has 5 villages:

Ruzhintsi Municipality

The Ruzhintsi municipality has 10 villages:

Chuprene Municipality

The Chuprene municipality has 9 villages: