Pleven Province is a province located in central northern Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, bordering the Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

 river, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 and the Bulgarian provinces

Provinces of Bulgaria

Since 1999, Bulgaria has been divided into 28 provinces which correspond approximately to the 28 districts that existed before 1987. In 1987, during the Communist regime of Todor Zhivkov, the districts were consolidated into nine larger provinces , which survived until 1999.Each province is named...

 of Vratsa

Vratsa Province

Vratsa Province , former name Vratsa okrug) is a Bulgarian province located in the northwestern part of the country, between Danube river in the north and Stara Planina mountain in the south. It is named after its main town - Vratsa...

, Veliko Tarnovo

Veliko Tarnovo Province

Veliko Tarnovo is a province in the middle of the northern part of Bulgaria. Its capital city, Veliko Tarnovo, is of historical significance as it is known as the capital of Medieval Bulgaria...

 and Lovech

Lovech Province

Lovech Province is one of the 28 provinces of Bulgaria, lying at the northern centre of the country. It is named after its main city - Lovech. As of December 2009, the population of the area is 151,153.-Municipalities:...

. It is divided into 11 subdivisions, called municipalities, that embrace a territory of 4,333.54 km² with a population, as of February 2011, of 269 752 inhabitants. The province's capital is the city of Pleven

Pleven

Pleven is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality...

.

Naming

The following Bulgarian

Bulgarian language

Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...

 terms may be used:

• Плевенска област (Plevenska oblast)
• Област Плевен (Oblast Pleven)
• Плевенски окръг (Plevenski okrag), obsolete
• Окръг Плевен (Okrag Pleven), obsolete

Geography

The province is part of the central Danubian Plain

Danubian Plain (Bulgaria)

The Danubian Plain constitutes the northern part of Bulgaria, situated north of the Balkan Mountains and south of the Danube. Its western border is the Timok River and to the east it borders the Black Sea. The plain has an area of . It is about long and wide.The relief of the Danubian Plain is...

. It is crossed from south to north by the rivers Iskar, Vit

Vit

The Vit also Vid is a river in central northern Bulgaria with a length of 18 km. It is a tributary of Danube. The source of the Vit is in Stara Planina, below Vezhen Peak at an altitude of 2,030 m, and it empties into the Danube close to Somovit...

 and Osam

Osam

The Osam is a river in northern Bulgaria. Its drainage basin is in between that of the river Vit to the west and the Yantra system to the east. The river has two main tributaries in its upper course: the Black Osam takes its source from the foot of Levski Peak in the Balkan Mountains, at an...

 (in west-east order); the river valleys are separated by limestone plateaus.

Municipalities

The Pleven province (oбласт, oblast) contains 11 municipalities . 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.	Town/Village	Pop.
Belene Belene Municipality Belene Municipality is a municipality in Pleven Province, northern Bulgaria. It is located along the south bank of Danube river, by the border with Romania...	Белене	10,908	Belene Belene Belene is a town in Pleven Province, Northern Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Belene Municipality. The town is situated on the right bank of the Danube river, close to the town of Svishtov...	8,905
Gulyantsi Gulyantsi Municipality Gulyantsi Municipality is a municipality in Pleven Province, Northern Bulgaria, located along the right bank of Danube river, by the border with Romania. It is named after its administrative centre - the town of Gulyantsi...	Гулянци	13,561	Gulyantsi Gulyantsi Gulyantsi is a town in central northern Bulgaria, part of Pleven Province. It is the administrative centre of Gulyantsi municipality and lies in the central north of the province, near the town of Nikopol, very close to the Danube River...	3,432
Dolna Mitropoliya Dolna Mitropoliya Municipality Dolna Mitropoliya Municipality is a municipality in Pleven Province, Northern Bulgaria. It embraces a territory of 674.81 km² with a population, as of December 2009, of 21,304 inhabitants...	Долна Митрополия	21,304	Dolna Mitropoliya Dolna Mitropoliya Dolna Mitropoliya is a town in Pleven Province of northern Bulgaria, the administrative center of Dolna Mitropoliya municipality. It is about 10 km northwest of the city of Pleven. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 3,303 inhabitants....	3,303
Dolni Dabnik Dolni Dabnik Municipality Dolni Dabnik Municipality is a municipality in Pleven Province, Northern Bulgaria. It is named after its administrative centre - the town of Dolni Dabnik....	Долни Дъбник	14,438	Dolni Dabnik Dolni Dabnik Dolni Dabnik is a town in Pleven Province in the Danubian Plain of central northern Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of Dolni Dabnik municipality and lies to the west of the city of Pleven. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 4,761 inhabitants.Dolni Dabnik was first...	4,761
Levski Levski Municipality Levski municipality is a municipality in Pleven Province, Northern Bulgaria. It is named after its administrative centre - the town of Levski....	Левски	21,487	Levski	10,571
Nikopol Nikopol Municipality Nikopol Municipality is a municipality in the northern part of Pleven Province, in northern Bulgaria. It is named after its administrative centre - the town of Nikopol. The municipality embraces a territory of with a population, as of December 2009, of 10,602 inhabitants.Its northern border is...	Никопол	10,602	Nikopol Nikopol, Bulgaria Nikopol is a town in northern Bulgaria, the administrative center of Nikopol municipality, part of Pleven Province, on the right bank of the Danube river, 4 km downstream from the mouth of the Osam river. It spreads at the foot of steep chalk cliffs along the Danube and up a narrow valley...	3,892
Iskar Iskar Municipality Iskar Municipality is a municipality in Pleven Province, Northern Bulgaria. It is named after its administrative centre - the town of Iskar....	Искър	7,717	Iskar	3,622
Pleven Pleven Municipality Pleven Municipality is a municipality in Pleven Province, Northern Bulgaria. It is named after its administrative centre - the city of Pleven which is also the capital of the Province....	Плевен	138,095	Pleven Pleven Pleven is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality...	111,426
Pordim Pordim Municipality Pordim Municipality is a municipality in Pleven Province, Northern Bulgaria. It is named after its administrative centre - the town of Pordim....	Пордим	7,114	Pordim Pordim Pordim is a town in Pleven Province in central northern Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Pordim municipality. The town lies at 155 metres above sea level in the Danubian Plain...	2,117
Cherven Bryag Cherven Bryag Municipality Cherven Bryag Municipality is a municipality in Pleven Province, northwestern Bulgaria. It is named after its administrative centre - the town of Cherven Bryag. With a population of 30,524, as of December 2009, it is the second largest municipality in the province.The municipality is located by...	Червен бряг	30,524	Cherven Bryag Cherven Bryag Cherven Bryag is a town in northern Bulgaria, a capital of the Cherven Bryag municipality, Pleven Province. It is situated on the right shore of the Zlatna Panega in river Iskar, 137 km north-east of Sofia, 53 km south-west of Pleven, 12 km north-west of Lukovit, 56 km east...	13,856
Knezha Knezha Municipality Knezha Municipality is a municipality in Pleven Province, Northern Bulgaria. It is named after its administrative centre - the town of Knezha....	Кнежа	14,839	Knezha Knezha Knezha is a town in Pleven Province, Northern Bulgaria. It is the administrative center of the homonymous Knezha Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 11,191 inhabitants....	11,191

Demography

According to the 2001 census, the population of the province was 311,985 (312,018 also given) of which Bulgarians

Bulgarians

The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...

 constitute an overwhelming majority of 280,475. 16,931 signed as Turks

Turks in Bulgaria

The Turks in Bulgaria number 588,318 people and constitute 8.8% of those who declared their ethnic group and 8.0% of the total population according to the 2011 Bulgarian census. 605,802 persons or 9.1% of the population pointed Turkish language as their mother tongue. They are also the largest...

 (though this number very likely also includes many Roma

Roma in Bulgaria

The Roma in Bulgaria are the country's second largest minority and third largest ethnic group . According to the 2001 census, there were 370,908 Roma in Bulgaria, equivalent to 4.7% of the country's total population, making Bulgaria the European country with the highest percentage of Roma.Experts'...

) and 9,777 as Roma. 283,626 people specified Bulgarian as their mother tongue, 14,947 declared to speak Turkish

Turkish language

Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

 at home, while the native speakers of Roma are 8,861.

As of February 2011, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 266 144 of which are inhabitants aged over 60 years.
The following table represents the change of the population in the province after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

:

Religion

Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:

Census 2001
religious adherence	population	%
Orthodox Christians	275,112	88.18%
Muslim Muslim A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable... s	15,681	5.03%
Roman Catholics	7,065	2.26%
Protestants Protestantism Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...	548	0.18%
Other	1,301	0.42%
Religion not mentioned	12,278	3.93%
total	311,985	100%

External links

• Pleven Province