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Fig. 13.1
The mountainous areas of Bulgaria
cover approximately 47.8% of the total area of the country. That area is consider-
ably larger than the area outlined in the Directive for selecting criteria for defining
unfavourable regions and their span (published in the
State Gazette
, issue February
20/26, 2006). The adopted criteria in that Directive are highly exaggerated and
do not respond to the specific conditions for mountainous region delimitation that
exist in the country. For example, the climate component has not been taken in
consideration, which has led to exclusion of vast areas (Fig.
13.1
).
Historically, due to political, economic, religious and demographic rea-
sons, Bulgarian mountains have been comparatively densely populated and the
settlements network has been well developed. In 2007 mountains were home to
approximately 1.938 million inhabitants or 25.4% of the total population of the
country. Due to its natural increase, the number of population in the mountains was
increasing till 1975, although its relative share was decreasing due to emigration.
In the years that followed, the trends were equalized - both, the number and the
relative share, started to decrease (Fig.
13.2
).
The density of the population living in mountainous regions in the past was 10%
lower than the national average, while in present days it is twice lower than the
national average, and in 2007 it was 36.7 inhabitants per sq.km which is three times
lower than the population density in non-mountainous regions. The major part of
the population in Bulgaria is concentrated in the hypsometric belts up to 500 m
above sea level. Basically, that is a result of the concentration of urban population
there (approximately 3/4 of that population inhabit those belts). The concentration of
population in those hypsometric belts is due to the comparatively low altitude of our
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