Coordinates: 41°50′N 25°55′E / 41.833°N 25.917°E / 41.833; 25.917
Haskovo Province (Bulgarian: Област Хасково - Oblast Haskovo, former name Haskovo okrug) is a province in southern Bulgaria, neighbouring Greece and Turkey to the southeast, comprising parts of the Thracian valley along the river Maritsa. It is named after its administrative and industrial centre - the city of Haskovo. The province embraces a territory of 5,533.3 km² that is divided into 11 municipalities with a total population, as of December 2009, of 256,408 inhabitants.
The Haskovo province (Област, oblast) contains 11 municipalities (singular: oбщина, obshtina - plural: Общини, 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.
The Haskovo province had a population of 277,483 (277,478 also given) according to a 2001 census, of which 7001489000000000000♠48.9% were male and 7001511000000000000♠51.1% were female. As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 256,408 of which 7001258000000000000♠25.8% are inhabitants aged over 60 years.
Haskovo (Bulgarian: Хасково), is a city and the administrative centre of the Haskovo Province in southern Bulgaria, not far from the borders with Greece and Turkey. According to Operative Program Regional Development of Bulgaria the urban area of Haskovo is the seventh largest in Bulgaria and has a population of 184,731 inhabitants.
The first settlement found in Haskovo is from circa 5000 BC. Haskovo celebrated its 1,000th anniversary as a town in 1985. To mark the event, a new clock tower was erected in the centre of the town.
Haskovo Cove in Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after the city of Haskovo.
Due to its relative proximity to the Aegean sea the climate in summer is very similar to Mediterranean climate, whilst in winter, especially with the winds coming from the north, the temperatures drop to the level of continental climate. The average yearly temperature is about 14 °C (57 °F). Winters are cold but not as snowy as the western and northern parts of the country. Summer in Haskovo begins around mid-May and lasts until October.