Vidin Province
Vidin Province 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.
There are remains of many castles, some of which are Baba Vida, one of the last Bulgarian strongholds during the Ottoman invasion and the Belogradchik fortress.
Municipalities
The Vidin 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.Municipality | Cyrillic | Pop. | Town/Village | Pop. |
Belogradchik | :bg:Община Белоградчик|Белоградчик | 7,045 | Belogradchik | 5,334 |
Boynitsa | :bg:Община Бойница|Бойница | 1,717 | Boynitsa | 595 |
Bregovo | :bg:Община Брегово|Брегово | 6,168 | Bregovo | 2,592 |
Vidin | :bg:Община Видин|Видин | 66,126 | Vidin | 49,471 |
Gramada | :bg:Община Грамада|Грамада | 2,384 | Gramada | 1,647 |
Dimovo | :bg:Община Димово|Димово | 7,175 | Dimovo | 1,211 |
Kula | :bg:Община Кула|Кула | 4,958 | Kula | 3,287 |
Makresh | :bg:Община Макреш|Макреш | 1,938 | Makresh | 473 |
Novo Selo | :bg:Община Ново село|Ново Село | 3,381 | Novo Selo | 1,144 |
Ruzhintsi | :bg:Община Ружинци|Ружинци | 4,890 | Ruzhintsi | 915 |
Chuprene | :bg:Община Чупрене|Чупрене | 2,285 | Chuprene | 576 |
Geography
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.Population
The Vidin province had a population of 130,074 according to a 2001 census, of which were male and were female.As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 108,067 of which are inhabitants aged over 60 years.
Vidin is the greyest province of Bulgaria, with 28.9% of its population is 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:
Ethnic groups
Total population : 101 018Ethnic groups :
Identified themselves: 95 126 persons:
- Bulgarians: 86 802
- Romani: 7 282
- Others and indefinable: 1 042
Religion