- Smolyan Province
Infobox Province of Bulgaria
Cyrillic = Област Смолян
Capital =Smolyan
Municipalities = 10
Area =
Population =
LicensePlate = CM
Governor = Petar Fidanov
Website = http://region-smolyan.org/Smolyan Province (Област Смолян, "Oblast Smolyan") is a province in southern
Bulgaria . It bordersGreece and is situated in theRhodope Mountains . The province is largely populated by Bulgarian Muslims, asMuslim s constitute 58,758 people out of the province's total 140,066, some 41,599 beingEastern Orthodox and a whole 39,003 deciding not to discuss their religion [http://www.nsi.bg/Census/Religion.htm] .Economy
The economy of the province is based on tourism, mining, timber and machine industries and livestock raising. The main crops of the region are potatoes (about 30% of the national production), rye and barley; but sheep, pigs and cattle are of greater importance for the agriculture. In the eastern parts of the province are located more than 20 lead and zinc mines, which form one of the most extensive ore deposits in the
Balkans . The dence coniferous forests are prerequisite for well developed timber industry inDospat ,Smolyan ,Devin . InSmolyan there are big plants producing machine tools and other machinery, while textile industry is mainly developed to the east inNedelino ,Zlatograd ,Madan andRudozem . There is also a synthetic rubber plant inMadan .Nowadays, tourism is the backbone of the economy, especially in winter due to the excellent ski resorts of
Pamporovo andChepelare ; having been completely renovated and modernised. The only factory for skiing equipment is located in Chepelare and employes 400 people. The mineral springs inDevin andBeden are very popular among tourists. The beautiful, unspoilt nature and the spectacular gorges, rock bridges and caves attract many people from around the country as well as foreign tourists, while the numerous dams are popular with campers and fishermen.Towns
Its main city is
Smolyan , and other municipalities are:
*Banite
*Borino
*Chepelare
*Devin
*Dospat
*Madan
*Nedelino
*Rudozem
*Zlatograd External links
* [http://www.bulgarianproperty.info/Regions/Smolian/tabid/195/Default.aspx Pictures from Smolyan Province]
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