Varna Province (), formerly known as Varna okrug, is a province in eastern Bulgaria, one of the 28 Bulgarian provinces. It comprises 12 municipalities with a population of 494,216 as of April 2016. Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian provinces and municipalities in 2015 „WorldCityPopulation“ http://www.grao.bg/tna/tab01.html“ The province is named after its administrative centre, Varna.
Geography
The province's territory is 3,819.5 km2. It borders the Black Sea and covers parts of the hilly Danubian Plain (including parts of the Franga Plateau, South Dobruja, the Provadiya Plateau, Ludogorie, and the Avren Plateau), Eastern Stara Planina, the Varna–Devnya valley with the lakes (limans) of Varna and Beloslav, and the Kamchiya river valley. Other rivers include Provadiya, Devnya, and Batova, and the largest artificial lake is Tsonevo.
The Black Sea coast is hilly and verdant, mostly cliff, with a couple of rocky headlands (Cape Galata, Cape St. Athanasius), several expansive sand beaches, the largest of which, at the mouths of the rivers Kamchiya and Shkorpilovska, is nearly long and up to 200–300 m wide, and many small cove beaches. Agricultural lands cover 60% of the area, with fertile chernozem soils mostly in the north and west; forests—28.1% (with some of the oldest oak massives in the nation), mostly in the south; and urban zones—6.8%.
Natural resources include large deposits of rock salt, limestone, silica, and clays, all extensively used in local chemical, cement and glass manufacturing and construction; silica is also exported. Significant deposits of medicinal fango (mineral mud) are found in Lake Varna. The province abounds in thermal mineral waters. There are natural gas reserves. The offshore Galata gas field, a relatively minor project with planned cumulative production of 2 billion cubic meters, is expected to provide up to 15% of the nation's gas consumption for its lifetime. Manganese ore deposits are found.
The climate inland is temperate, with cold, damp winters and hot, dry summers, and akin to Mediterranean along the Black Sea coast, with milder winters and cooler summers. Environment Environment in Varna Province is subject to strict national and international protection, due to its vulnerability and international significance.
Reserves Kamchiya Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO-listed) (Dolni Chiflik, Avren) Valchi prehod (Dolni Chiflik) Kirov dol (Dolni Chiflik) Varbov dol (Dalgopol) Kalfata (Dalgopol)
National parks Golden Sands Nature Park (Varna, Aksakovo, Balchik (Dobrich Province))
Protected areas Rakitnika (Varna) Petricha (Beloslav) Slaveikova gora (Provadiya) Yatata (Beloslav) Tulumova peshtera (Dalgopol) Vodenitsite (Dalgopol) Aladzha Monastery (Varna) Snezhinska koriya (Provadiya) Vodenitsite (Dalgopol) Orlov kamak (Dolni Chiflik) Gorska baraka (Dolni Chiflik) Pobiti Kamani (Beloslav, Aksakovo) Liman (Avren) Pregrada (Dalgopol) Kazashko (Varna) Golyamata kanara (Vetrino) Kamchiyski pyasatsi (Dolni Chiflik)
Nature landmarks (Beloslav) (Beloslav) (Dolni Chiflik) (Suvorovo) waterfall (Dalgopol) waterfall (Dalgopol) Chudnite Skali rock phenomenon (Dalgopol)
Coastal resorts, beaches, and locales Frenkliman Panorama Golden Sands Holiday Club Riviera Chaika Kabakum Sunny Day Constantine and Helena Euxinograd Varna Asparuhovo Galata Fichoza (Priboi) Chernomorets chalet Pasha dere Rodni balkani (formerly chalet, currently military base) Romantika Kamchia Kamchiyski pyasatsi Shkorpilovtsi Mecho uho Karadere Belite skali Byala Luna
Municipalities
The Varna province—or oblast—contains 12 municipalities (, plural: ). 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 in December 2009.
Municipality Cyrillic Pop. Town/Village Pop. Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian towns in 2009 Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian villages under 1000 inhabitants - December 2009 Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian Settlements 1000-5000 inhabitants - December 2009 Aksakovo Аксаково 21,919 Aksakovo 7,897 Avren Аврен 9,089 Avren 750 Beloslav Белослав 11,257 Beloslav 7,937 Byala Бяла 3,729 Byala 2,171 Dolni Chiflik Долни чифлик 19,316 Dolni Chiflik 6,706 Devnya Девня 9,234 Devnya 8,383 Dalgopol Дългопол 14,364 Dalgopol 4,829 Provadia Провадия 23,045 Provadia 12,901 Suvorovo Суворово 7,544 Suvorovo 4,723 Valchi Dol Вълчи дол 11,093 Valchi Dol 3,460 Varna Варна 329,173 Varna 320,837 Vetrino Ветрино 5,702 Vetrino 1,036
Demographics In late 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 465,465 of which are inhabitants over 60 years old. Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Population by age in 2009 320,837 (68.83%) live in the city of Varna, and 379,844 (81.61%) in urban areas (national average 70%). Population density (121.85 per km2) is significantly higher than the national average (70). The birth, marriage, and divorce rates are also higher; the death rate and the unemployment rate (7.34%, 2005) are lower. 71.1% of the population are of working age; above working age are 14.8%.
Ethnic groups
Total population (2011 census): 475,074
Ethnic groups (2011 census):Population by province, municipality, settlement and ethnic identification, by 01.02.2011; Bulgarian National Statistical Institute Identified themselves: 424 893 persons: Bulgarians: 371,048 (87.33%) Turks: 30,469 (7.17%) Romani: 13,432 (3.16%) Others and indefinable: 9,944 (2.34%) A further 50,000 persons in Varna Province did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.
Ethnic groups according to the 2001 census, when 462 013 people of the population of 462,013 of Varna Province identified themselves (with percentage of total population): Population to 01.03.2001 by District and Ethnic Group from Bulgarian National Statistical Institute: Census 2001 Bulgarians: 393,884 Turks: 37,502 Romani: 15,462
The ethnic composition at the 2001 census included Bulgarians—85.3%; Turks—8.1%; Romani—3.4% (there are a few mostly Roma-populated villages such as Lyuben Karavelovo in Aksakovo municipality—inhabited by Boyash of the Kopanari subgroup); Armenians—0.6%; Russians—0.3% (including about 340 Cossacks in the Lipovan village of Kazashko); and smaller numbers of Ukrainians, Jews, Greeks, Crimean Tatars, Circassians, Vlachs, and others. There is a growing number of western expatriates and new Chinese, Arab and other immigrants.
Several rural villages in the municipalities of Aksakovo, Suvorovo, and Valchidol, as well as the Vinitsa district of Varna, have historically been populated mostly by Gagauz.
Religion
Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census: Religious adherence in Bulgaria - census 2001 Census 2001 religious adherence population % Orthodox Christians 394,35785.36% Muslims 45,6729.89% Protestants 1,3950.30% Roman Catholics 7490.16% Other 3,2960.71% Religion not mentioned 16,5443.58% total 462,013100%
History The area has been populated at least since the Neolith and was a major centre of an Eneolithic culture with unique skills in metallurgy and seafaring, with a developed social structure and religion (see Varna Necropolis, site of arguably the oldest man-made gold treasure in the world). Solnitsata, the earliest known European town, was in what is today Varna Province.
By the first millennium BC, it was inhabited by Thracians who dominated it throughout classical antiquity; by the end of the period they were largely Romanized. In the 6th century BC, an ancient Greek trading colony (apoikia), Odessos (Varna), was founded, becoming an enduring contact zone between Thracians and Greeks. In the 4th century, the province was included in the empire of Philip II, Alexander the Great and his diadochus Lysimachus.
By the first century AD, it was conquered by the Roman Empire. Under Emperor Diocletian, Marcianopolis (Devnya) became the centre of the Roman province of Moesia Secunda of the Diocese of Thrace. During Emperor Valens' wars with the Goths (366-369), this city was temporary capital of the empire. Both Marcianopolis and Odessus (the Roman name of Odessos) were major early Christian centres. It is believed that Saint Andrew founded the local Christian church and his disciple Ampliatus served as bishop at Odessus.
In the 6th century, Slavs' migrations altered the ethnic composition of the then Byzantine province. Between 680 and 681, it became the heartland of the First Bulgarian Empire, whose capital was perhaps initially near Varna, before it moved to Pliska. Two of the most significant scriptoria of the Preslav Literary School were at Ravna (near Provadiya) and Varna.
The latter two cities were major fortresses and trade emporia of the Second Bulgarian Empire as well. The peasant war of Ivailo in the late 13th century started from the region, which at the time was plagued by Tatar raids and was finally subdued by the Ottomans in 1389. In 1444, the Battle of Varna was fought, as were several ground and naval battles of the Russo-Turkish wars of the 18th and 19th century.
Under the Ottomans, the population became extremely diverse, with significant number of Turks and other Muslim peoples arriving from Asia Minor, the steppes north of the Black Sea, and the Caucasus, along with Orthodox Christian Gagauz, Armenians, and Sephardic Jews from Thessaloniki. Many Bulgarians from the region were forcibly relocated to Asia Minor and, in the wake of the Russo-Turkish wars, up to 250,000 eastern Bulgarians were transferred to Russian Bessarabia and Crimea.
Compact Bulgarian population persisted throughout the Provadiya Plateau, Devnya Valley, and Eastern Stara Planina. Villagers from places such as Chenge (modern Asparuhovo, municipality of Dalgopol), Gulitsa (modern Golitsa, municipality of Dolni Chiflik), and neighbouring Erkech (modern Kozichino, Burgas Province) later colonized and returned the Bulgarian ethnic character to dozens of villages throughout northeastern and southeastern Bulgaria, including much of Varna province.
After the liberation of 1878, with the exodus of most Turks and Greeks and the migrations of Bulgarians from other parts of Bulgaria, mostly Stara Planina, as well as North Dobruja, Asia Minor, Bessarabia, and later from Macedonia and Eastern Thrace, ethnic diversity gradually gave way to Bulgarian predominance.
One of the versions of a folk song, inspired by the Ruse blood wedding, can be heard in the province.
Economy The province is second only to Sofia in foreign direct investment; its GDP per capita is higher and its unemployment is the lowest in the country. Per capita income is fifth highest in the nation (2007). The economy is service-oriented; it was responsible for over 30% of the nation's revenue in tourism (2004). (See the list of coastal resorts, beaches, and locales below.)
It is an important communications and transportation hub with the Port of Varna on the Black Sea and inland waterways, the International Airport of Varna, the Varna railway ferry terminal, parts of several railway lines (including the oldest one in Bulgaria, Rousse-Varna, opened 1866) and junctions (Sindel, Razdelna, Komunari), and portions of two of the nation's motorways (Haemus and Cherno More). Varna is the easternmost destination of Pan-European transport corridor 8 and is closely connected to corridors 7 and 9 via Rousse.
In June 2007, Eni and Gazprom disclosed the South Stream project whereby a 900 km-long offshore natural gas pipeline from Russia's Dzhubga with annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters is planned to come ashore possibly at Pasha dere, near the Galata offshore gas field, en route to Italy and Austria.
Manufacturing is concentrated mostly in the Varna-Devnya Industrial Complex and Provadiya. Agriculture (notably wheat, fruit, wineries) and forestry are also of economic significance.