Shumen is the tenth-largest city in 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...

 and capital of Shumen Province

Shumen Province

-Religion:Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:-Transportation:Shumen lies on the main route between Varna and Sofia and is served by numerous trains and buses serving the city. The city is also very well connected with Istanbul which serves the large Turkish community in...

. In the period 1950–1965 it was called Kolarovgrad, after the name of the communist leader Vasil Kolarov

Vasil Kolarov

Vasil Petrov Kolarov was a Bulgarian communist political leader and leading functionary in the Communist International.-Early years:Kolarov was born in Shumen, Bulgaria on 16 July 1877, the son of a shoemaker...

. As of February 2011, the town has a population of 80,885 inhabitants.
The city lies 80 km west of Varna

Varna

Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...

 and is built within a cluster of hills, northern outliers of the eastern Balkans, which curve round it on the west and north in the shape of a horse-shoe.