Pleven Province


Pleven Province is a province located in central northern Bulgaria, bordering the Danube river, Romania and the Bulgarian provinces of Vratsa, Veliko Tarnovo and Lovech. It is divided into 11 subdivisions, called municipalities, that embrace a territory of with a population, as of February 2011, of 269 752 inhabitants. The province's capital is the city of Pleven.

Naming

The following Bulgarian terms may be used:
The province is part of the central Danubian Plain. It is crossed from south to north by the rivers Iskar, Vit and Osam ; the river valleys are separated by limestone plateaus.

Municipalities

The Pleven 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.
Belene:bg:Община Белене|Белене10,908Belene8,905
Gulyantsi:bg:Община Гулянци|Гулянци13,561Gulyantsi3,432
Dolna Mitropoliya:bg:Община Долна Митрополия|Долна Митрополия21,304Dolna Mitropoliya3,303
Dolni Dabnik:bg:Община Долни Дъбник|Долни Дъбник14,438Dolni Dabnik4,761
Levski:bg:Община Левски|Левски21,487Levski10,571
Nikopol:bg:Община Никопол|Никопол10,602Nikopol3,892
Iskar:bg:Община Искър|Искър7,717Iskar3,622
Pleven:bg:Община Плевен|Плевен138,095Pleven111,426
Pordim:bg:Община Пордим|Пордим7,114Pordim2,117
Cherven Bryag:bg:Община Червен бряг|Червен бряг30,524Cherven Bryag13,856
Knezha:bg:Община Кнежа|Кнежа14,839Knezha11,191

Population

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:

Ethnic groups

Total population : 269 752
Ethnic groups :
Identified themselves: 240 265 persons:
A further 30,000 persons in Pleven Province did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.
According to the 2001 census, the population of the province was 312,018, of which Bulgarians constitute an overwhelming majority of 280,475. 16,931 signed as Turks and 9,777 as Roma.

Languages

According to the 2001 census 283,626 people specified Bulgarian as their mother tongue, 14,947 declared to speak Turkish at home, while the native speakers of Romani were 8,861.

Religion

Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census: