Belogradchik Municipality ( bg, Община Белоградчик) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

('' obshtina'') in

Vidin Province Vidin Province () is the northwesternmost province of Bulgaria. It borders Serbia to the west and Romania to the northeast. Its administrative centre is the city of Vidin on the Danube river. The area is divided into 11 municipalities. As of De ...

, Northwestern

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, located in the western parts of the so-called

Fore-Balkan The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border bet ...

area. It is named after its administrative centre - the town of

Belogradchik Belogradchik ( bg, Белоградчик ) is a town in Vidin Province, Northwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of the homonymous Belogradchik Municipality. The town, whose name literally means "small white town," is situated in the foo ...

. To the west and southwest, the municipality borders on

Republic of Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

. The area embraces a territory of 411 km² with a population of 7,045 inhabitants, as of December 2009.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian provinces and municipalities in 2009
The municipality is best known with the

Belogradchik Rocks The Belogradchik Rocks ( bg, Белоградчишки скали, ''Belogradchishki skali'') are a group of strangely shaped sandstone and Conglomerate (geology), conglomerate rock formations located on the western slopes of the Balkan Mountains ...

, impressive rock formations located just south of the main town as well as the medieval

Belogradchik Fortress The Belogradchik Fortress ( bg, Белоградчишка крепост, ''Belogradchishka krepost''), also known as Kaleto (Калето, "the fortress" from Turkish ''kale''), is an ancient fortress located on the north slopes of the Balkan M ...

situated in the same rocky area. Another place of interest is the

Magura Cave The Magura Cave (Bulgarian "пещера Магура") is located in north-western Bulgaria close to the village of Rabisha, from the town of Belogradchik in Vidin Province. The prehistoric wall paintings of Magura have great resemblance with t ...

, with its beautiful prehistoric cave paintings.

Settlements

Belogradchik Municipality includes the following 18 places (towns are shown in bold):

Demography

The following table shows the change of the population during the last four decades.

Religion

According to the latest Bulgarian census of 2011, the religious composition, among those who answered the optional question on religious identification, was the following: An overwhelming majority of the population of Belogradchik Municipality identify themselves as

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. At the 2011 census, 71.7% of respondents identified as

Orthodox Christians Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churc ...

belonging to the

Bulgarian Orthodox Church The Bulgarian Orthodox Church ( bg, Българска православна църква, translit=Balgarska pravoslavna tsarkva), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria ( bg, Българска патриаршия, links=no, translit=Balgarsk ...

References

External links

Website
{{Vidin Province

Settlements

Demography

Religion

See also

References

External links