43°48′N 22°41′E / 43.800°N 22.683°E / 43.800; 22.683

Vidin Province
Област Видин
Province
Belogradchik Fortress
Belogradchik Fortress
Flag of Vidin Province
Flag
Location of Vidin Province in Bulgaria
Location of Vidin Province in Bulgaria
CountryBulgaria
CapitalVidin
Municipalities11
Area
 • Total3,032.9 km2 (1,171.0 sq mi)
Population
 (2022)
 • Total72,754
 • Density24/km2 (62/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
License plateBH

Vidin Province (Bulgarian: Област Видин) is the northwesternmost province of Bulgaria. It borders Serbia to the west and Romania to the northeast. Its administrative centre is the city of Vidin on the Danube river. The area is divided into 11 municipalities. As of December 2009, the province has a population of 108,067 inhabitants.[1][2][3]

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 (singular: община, 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 of each as of December 2009.

Municipality Cyrillic Pop.[1][2][3] Town/Village Pop.[2][4][5][6]
Belogradchik Белоградчик 7,045 Belogradchik 5,334
Boynitsa Бойница 1,717 Boynitsa 595
Bregovo Брегово 6,168 Bregovo 2,592
Vidin Видин 66,126 Vidin 49,471
Gramada Грамада 2,384 Gramada 1,647
Dimovo Димово 7,175 Dimovo 1,211
Kula Кула 4,958 Kula 3,287
Makresh Макреш 1,938 Makresh 473
Novo Selo Ново Село 3,381 Novo Selo 1,144
Ruzhintsi Ружинци 4,890 Ruzhintsi 915
Chuprene Чупрене 2,285 Chuprene 576

Geography

Baba Vida fortress in Vidin

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 Belogradchik Rocks

The Vidin province had a population of 130,074 according to a 2001 census, of which 48.4% were male and 51.6% were female.[7] As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 108,067[1] of which 32.6% are inhabitants aged over 60 years.[8]

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.

The following table represents the change of the population in the province after World War II:

Vidin Province
Year 1946 1956 1965 1975 1985 1992 2001 2005 2007 2009 2011
Population 194,007 188,518 179,429 176,761 166,680 151,636 130,074 117,809 112,604 108,067 101,018
Sources: National Statistical Institute,[1] „Census 2001“,[2] „Census 2011“,[3] „pop-stat.mashke.org“,??

Ethnic groups

Ethnic groups in Vidin Province (2011 census)
Ethnic group Percentage
Bulgarians
 
 91.2%
Romani
 
 7.7%
others and indefinable
 
 1.1%

Total population (2011 census): 101 018[9]

Ethnic groups (2011 census):[10] Identified themselves: 95 126 persons:

  • Bulgarians: 86 802 (91,25%)
  • Romani: 7 282 (7,66%)
  • Others and indefinable: 1 042 ( 1,10 % )

Religion

Religions in Vidin Province (2001 census)
Religious group Percentage
Orthodox Christian
 
 96.1%
Protestant Christian
 
 0.3%
Roman Catholic Christian
 
 0.1%
Muslim
 
 0.1%
others and indefinable
 
 3.3%

Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:[11]

Census 2001
religious adherence population  %
Orthodox Christians 125,063 96.15%
Protestants 397 0.31%
Roman Catholics 143 0.11%
Muslims 139 0.11%
Other 602 0.46%
Religion not mentioned 3,730 2.87%
total 130,074 100%

Towns and villages

The place names in bold have the status of town (in Bulgarian: град, transliterated as grad). Other localities have the status of village (in Bulgarian: село, transliterated as selo). The names of localities are transliterated in Latin alphabet[12] followed in parentheses by the original name in Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet (which links to the corresponding Bulgarian Wikipedia article).

Belogradchik Municipality

The Belogradchik municipality has one town (in bold) and 17 villages:

Boynitsa Municipality

The Boynitsa municipality has 9 villages:

Bregovo Municipality

The Bregovo municipality has one town (in bold) and 9 villages:

Vidin Municipality

The Vidin municipality has two towns (in bold) and 33 villages:

Gramada Municipality

The Gramada municipality has one town (in bold) and 7 villages:

Dimovo Municipality

The Dimovo municipality has one town (in bold) and 22 villages:

Kula Municipality

The Kula municipality has one town (in bold) 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:

See also

References

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