Anton (, ) is a village in western

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, part of

Sofia Province Sofia Province () is a province (''oblast'') of Bulgaria. The province does not include Sofia in its territories, but Sofia remains the seat of its administration. The province borders on the provinces of Pernik, Kyustendil, Blagoevgrad, Paz ...

. It is the administrative centre of

Anton Municipality Anton Municipality is located in Sofia Province, Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west ...

, which lies in the easternmost part of Sofia Province. Anton is situated in the Zlatitsa–Pirdop Valley, 80 kilometres east of the capital

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

. The village is the only place in the eponymous municipality, which has an area of 76 square kilometres and includes the ''Vartopa'' area, part of the

Central Balkan National Park The Central Balkan National Park () is a national park in the heart of Bulgaria, nestled in the central and higher portions of the Balkan Mountains. Its altitude varies from near the town of Karlovo to at Botev Peak, the highest summit in the ...

. Anton's old name was ''Ladzhene'' (Лъджене). Central-square-in-Anton

A notable sight in the area is the Elenska Basilica, a partially preserved imposing Late Roman or early

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

(5th-6th century)

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

Demography

Ethnicity

According to the 2011 Bulgarian census, 87.99% of the population of Anton are

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

, 2.31% are

Gypsies {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , ...

, 0.18% are Turks and 0.5% were others. Some 9% of the population did not declare their ethnicity. Anton is one of the few settlements in Bulgaria where the

Aromanians The Aromanians () are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgari ...

live. The Aromanian minority of this country is small, composed of around 2,000 to 3,000 people nationwide.

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:

References

Villages in Sofia Province Aromanian settlements in Bulgaria {{Sofia-geo-stub