Blagoevgrad Province

Blagoevgrad Province Област Благоевград
Province
Location of Blagoevgrad Province in Bulgaria
Country	Bulgaria
Capital	Blagoevgrad
Municipalities	14
Area
• Total	6,449.47 km2 (2,490.15 sq mi)
Elevation	555 m (1,821 ft)
Population  (Census February 2011)
• Total	323,552
• Density	50/km2 (130/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
License plate	E
Website	www.bl.government.bg

Blagoevgrad Province is a province (oblast) of southwestern Bulgaria. The administrative centre is Blagoevgrad.

The province has 14 municipalities with 12 towns. Significant towns include Bansko, Gotse Delchev, Melnik, Petrich, Razlog, Sandanski, and Simitli.

There are several mountains, or parts of mountains, in the province. These are Rila, Pirin, the Rhodopes, Slavyanka, Belasitsa, Vlahina, Maleshevo, Ograzhden and Stargach. There are two major rivers, Struma River and Mesta River.

Municipalities

Map of Blagoevgrad Province showing the municipal subdivisions and centres

The Blagoevgrad province has 14 municipalities. The following table shows the names of each municipality, the main town (in bold) or village, and the population of each as of 2011.

Municipality	Pop.	Town/Village	Pop.
Bansko	13,125	Bansko	8,562
Belitsa	9,927	Belitsa	3,362
Blagoevgrad	77,441	Blagoevgrad	70,881
Garmen	14,981	Garmen	1,982
Gotse Delchev	31,236	Gotse Delchev	19,219
Hadzhidimovo	10,091	Hadzhidimovo	2,730
Kresna	5,441	Kresna	3,470
Petrich	54,006	Petrich	28,902
Razlog	20,598	Razlog	11,960
Sandanski	40,470	Sandanski	26,472
Satovcha	15,444	Satovcha	2,434
Simitli	14,283	Simitli	6,674
Strumyani	5,778	Strumyani	998
Yakoruda	10,731	Yakoruda	5,792

Notable people from Blagoevgrad Province

• Paisiy Hilendarski (1722–1773)
• Neofit Rilski (1793–1881)
• Georgi Izmirliev (1851–1876)
• Boris Sarafov (1872–1907)
• Jane Sandanski (1872–1915)
• Nikola Vaptsarov (1909–1942)
• Georgi Pirinski (1948)
• Rosen Plevneliev (1964)