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Sliven Province

Sliven Province
Област Сливен
Province
Location of Sliven Province in Bulgaria
Location of Sliven Province in Bulgaria
Country Bulgaria
Capital Sliven
Municipalities 4
Government
 • Governor Marin Kavrakov
Area
 • Total 3,544.1 km2 (1,368.4 sq mi)
Population (February 2011)
 • Total 197 473
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
License plate CH
Website sliven.government.bg

Coordinates: 42°10′N 24°45′E / 42.167°N 24.750°E / 42.167; 24.750

Sliven Province (Bulgarian: Област Сливен Oblast Sliven, former name Sliven okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria, named after its administrative and industrial centre — the city of Sliven. It embraces a territory of 3,544.1 km² that is divided into four municipalities, with a total population, as of December 2009, of 204,887 inhabitants and 1 Dinko Karavastev.

The Sliven province contains four municipalities. The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town or village (towns are shown in bold), and the population of each as of December 2009.

Sliven is situated at the foot of the unique rock massif "Sinite Kamani" (The Blue Rocks), very close to mineral springs. The town is famous for its clean fresh air, clean water sources, mild winter and cool summer.

Sliven is the only Bulgarian town that has never changed its Slavonic name, though it is one of the oldest settlements in Europe. Here lived Thracians, Romans, Slavs, and Ancient Greeks. The first Roman settlement on this place, Tuida (3rd century BC), was a famous trade centre. Sliven was mentioned as a big town for the first time in 1153 by the Arab traveler Idrisi.

As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 204,887 of which 22.3% are inhabitants over 60 years old. The following table represents the change of the population in the province after World War II:


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