Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
The largest absolute population loss was observed in Sungurlare and Kotel
municipalities, where the number of Bulgarians was reduced by 50% of their
number in 1965, while in Ruen municipality the relative loss was the highest (60%).
In the beginning of the period the Bulgarian population was predominantly con-
centrated in the municipalities of Pomorie, Sungurlare, Kotel, and Dolni Chiflik,
where more than half of all Bulgarians in the region lived. By 2001 however, the
majority of Bulgarians lived in only three municipalities—Pomorie, Nesebar, and
Dolni Chiflik, moreover, a significant part of the population was concentrated in
the towns of the region—especially Pomorie and Nesebar. The urban concentration
of the ethnic Bulgarians is quite distinctive, having in mind that urban Bulgarian
population in the region practically has not changed during the discussed period,
but in the beginning it comprised only a third of the total Bulgarian population,
while in 2001 more than half Bulgarians lived in urban settlements. Despite the
fact that urban settlements in the region traditionally have predominantly Bulgarian
ethnic composition of the population, one of the municipal centers is an important
exception—the town of Varbitsa is ethnically mixed, which is not unusual, however
it was the only town in the country (by 2001) where the share of Roma popula-
tion exceeded that of Turks and Bulgarians, being the smallest of the three ethnic
groups (Ninov,
1999
). On the other hand, almost entirely Bulgarian remained the
towns along the Black Sea coast—Nesebar, Sveti Vlas, Obzor, and Byala, where
over 90% of the population is Bulgarian. The towns of Nesebar and Sveti Vlas
grew significantly during the observed period, and those are the two settlements
with the highest relative increase of Bulgarian population as well (by 100-140%).
However, the relative share of Bulgarians, like in all other towns in the region,
decreased. Nevertheless, all towns in the region, with the exception of the earlier
mentioned town of Varbitsa, are predominantly Bulgarian by ethnic structure of the
population. The lowest share of Bulgarians have the towns Kotel and Dolni Chiflik,
where Bulgarians comprise only 60% of the population, while the rest are mostly
Roma (town of Kotel) or Turks (Dolni Chiflik). The latter is an interesting case
of altering its ethnic profile from Bulgarian-Roma in the beginning of the period
to Bulgarian-Turkish at the end of the period. Such profound changes, however,
should be looked at quite suspiciously, for the Roma residents have a notorious ten-
dency to self-proclaim themselves for Bulgarians or Turks—usually depending on
the ethno-confessional environment they are in. Thus, some Bulgarian-Roma settle-
ments “turn” into Bulgarian-Turkish sometimes without actual occurrence of such
transition. Estimating the exact number of Roma population, therefore, is almost
impossible on a regional and national level (as well as on an international level).
Predominantly, or entirely Bulgarian by ethnic composition settlements have
a dispersed distribution across the observed region. It is only in its eastern part
where those settlements clearly dominate (municipalities of Nesebar and Byala). It
is only in the almost entirely Turkish municipality of Ruen where Bulgarian villages
practically do not exist.
Unlike towns, none of which has a 100% Bulgarian population, such villages
traditionally exist in the region. Entirely Bulgarian, or with a share of Bulgarians
over 90% of the population, were 71 settlements in 1965. Their number fell to 56 by
2001, or by 20%. That group of settlements comprises towns, very small villages as
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