Nova Zagora ( bg, Нова Загора ) is a town located in the southeastern plains of

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 ...

Sliven Province Sliven Province ( bg, Област Сливен, former name Sliven okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria, named after its administrative and industrial centre—the city of Sliven. It embraces a territory of Nova Zagora Municipality Nova Zagora Municipality ( bg, Община Нова Загора) is a municipality in the Sliven Province of Bulgaria. Demography At the 2011 census, the population of Nova Zagora was 39,010. Most of the inhabitants were Bulgarians (70.65%) wi ...

. As of December 2009, the town had a population of 19,562 inhabitants,
/ref> while the entire municipality (including surrounding villages) had a population of 34,041.

Geography

Nova Zagora is located on the main

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

Burgas Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a popu ...

railroad, as well as the Trakia Highway that runs from Sofia to Burgas. It is 35 km east of

Stara Zagora Stara Zagora ( bg, Стара Загора, ) is the sixth-largest city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province. Name The name comes from the Slavic root ''star'' ("old") and the name of the medieva ...

and 30 km west of

Sliven Sliven ( bg, Сливен ) is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. Sliven is famous for its heroic Haiduts who fought against the Ottoman Turk ...

. Th
Nova Zagora Municipality
is part of the Sliven administrative district.

Climate

The climate is mild, with an average winter temperature of 1.2 °C and an average temperature in August of 23.5 °C.

Demography

Nova Zagora has

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

and Turkish minorities.

History

Dormition of the Theotokos Church - Nova Zagora

The first traces of life in the region date back thousands of years. Many archeological sites are located in the region, showing settlements dating back to the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

and the Stone-Copper age (

Eneolithic The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often v ...

). The most prominent archeological site is in the nearby village of Karanovo. Th
Nova Zagora Historical Museum
has many historically significant artifacts dating back to this era.

Economy

Nova Zagora is an agricultural center. The region is very fertile, growing a wide range of produce, including grapes, sunflowers, cereals and other. The surrounding region has many farms and vineyards, and various foods, herbs, and wines are produced in the towns and villages around Nova Zagora. The municipality has a manufacturing base including machine tools producer ZMM Ltd., agriculture equipment maker Perla Ltd., and textile manufacturer Miroglio Ltd.Municipality Website 2011
/ref>

Sports

The town has a variety of sports facilities, including tennis courts, a soccer and athletics stadium, and karate. Nova Zagora also has a football (soccer) team called

Zagorets Nova Zagora FC Zagorets (ФК Загорец) is a Bulgarian football club based in Nova Zagora, currently playing in the Third League, the third tier of Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded in 1922 as ''FC Trakiets''. They play their ho ...

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Nova Zagora is twinned with: * Feres, Greece *

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has host ...

, Portugal *

Petroșani Petroșani (; Hungarian: ''Petrozsény''; German: ''Petroschen'') is a city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania, with a population of 34,331 (2011). The city has been associated with mining since the 19th century. History "Pietros" means ...

, Romania *

Taraclia Taraclia (, russian: Тараклия, bg, Тараклия) is a city located in the south of Moldova. It is the capital of Taraclia District, bordered by the autonomous region of Gagauzia, by the Cahul District and the Odessa Oblast of Ukrain ...

, Republic of Moldova

References

Towns in Bulgaria Populated places in Sliven Province {{Sliven-geo-stub