Country Bulgaria License plate Y Population 131,447 (Feb 2011) Municipalities 5 | Time zone EET (UTC+2) Website yambol.government.bg Capital Yambol | |
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Points of interest Bezistena, Kabile Monastery, Ethnographic Museum Elhovo, Dolna Topchia, Balabana | ||
Yambol (Bulgarian: област Ямбол, oblast Yambol, former name Yambol okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria, neighbouring Turkey to the south. It is named after its main city Yambol, while other towns include Straldzha, Bolyarovo and Elhovo. The province embraces a territory of 3,355.5 km² that is divided into 5 municipalities with a total population, as of December 2009, of 138,429 inhabitants.
Contents
- Map of Yambol Bulgaria
- Municipalities
- History and background
- Population
- Ethnic groups
- Religion
- Famous residents
- References
Map of Yambol, Bulgaria
Municipalities
The Yambol province (oбласт, oblast) contains five municipalities (Bulgarian: singular: oбщина, obshtina - plural: oбщини, obshtini). 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.
History and background
The motto of the town of Yambol is "Coming from the remote past, going to the future". Archaeological findings in the area date back to the year 6000 BC, to the time of Roman Emperor Diocletian's reign when the castle, called Diospolis, was built on the location of the present modern town. The best preserved historical sites, dating back to the fifteenth century, are the bazar "Bezisten" and the mosque "Esky Djamia", which have been restored and are functioning at present. Other historical sites of interest are the prehistoric tumulus by the village of Drama, the remains of Yambol Mediaeval castle and the Monastery of the Middle Ages in Voden.
Yambol is home to the ancient settlement of Kabile, a national archaeological reserve and a nature preserved site, being the most important Thracian settlement in Bulgaria. In modern study of ancient Thrace it has already been proved that Kabile was the most prominent political, economic and religious centre from the first millennium BC. The archaeological investigations of the ancient city that have taken place in the last thirty years have revealed a great number of artefacts (stone inscriptions, coins, ceramic ware and remains of building activities) dating from times over a millennium long history. Most of the discovered artefacts have already been published and used as a data for archaeological and historical studies.
Population
The Yambol province had a population of 156,080 (156,070 also given) according to a 2001 census, of which 49.2% were male and 50.8% were female. As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 138,429 of which 27% are inhabitants aged over 60 years.
The following table represents the change of the population in the province after World War II:
Ethnic groups
Total population (2011 census): 131 447
Ethnic groups (2011 census): Identified themselves: 123 062 persons:
Religion
Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:
Famous residents
Yambol is the native place of popular artists George Papazov and John Popov and sumo wrestler Aoiyama. The computer inventor John Atanasoff has family roots in the district – his father was born in a village Boyadjik, which is near Yambol.