Pleven

Pleven (Bulgarian: Плевен pronounced [ˈplɛvɛn]) is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality.

Internationally known for the Siege of Plevna of 1877, it is today a major economic centre of the Bulgarian Northwest and Central North and the third largest city of Northern Bulgaria after Varna and Rousse.

Name

The name comes from the Slavic word "plevnya" ("barn") or from "plevel", meaning "weed", which share the same root + the Slavic suffix or ending -en.

Geography

Pleven is located in an agricultural region in the very heart of the Danubian Plain, the historical region of Moesia, surrounded by low limestone hills, the Pleven Heights. The city's central location in Northern Bulgaria defines its importance as a big administrative, economic, political, cultural and transport centre. Pleven is located 170 kilometres (106 miles) away from the capital city of Sofia, 320 km (199 miles) west of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and 50 km (31 miles) south of the Danube.

Pleven Province

Coordinates: 43°25′N 24°40′E / 43.417°N 24.667°E / 43.417; 24.667

Pleven Province (Bulgarian: Област Плевен or Plevenska Oblast Bulgarian: Плевенска Област, former name Pleven okrug) is a province located in central northern Bulgaria, bordering the Danube river, Romania and the Bulgarian provinces of Vratsa, Veliko Tarnovo and Lovech. It is divided into 11 subdivisions, called municipalities, that embrace a territory of 4,333.54 km² with a population, as of February 2011, of 269 752 inhabitants. The province's capital is the city of Pleven.

Naming

The following Bulgarian terms may be used:

Geography

The province is part of the central Danubian Plain. It is crossed from south to north by the rivers Iskar, Vit and Osam (in west-east order); the river valleys are separated by limestone plateaus.

Municipalities

The Pleven province (oбласт, oblast) contains 11 municipalities (Bulgarian: singular: oбщина, obshtina - plural: oбщини, obshtini). The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town (in bold) or village, and the population of each as of December 2009.

Pleven horse

The Pleven breed of horse is essentially Anglo-Arabian, and the breed was officially recognized in 1951. It is a competition horse with a natural jump, and has free-flowing gaits.

Characteristics

The Pleven is essentially Anglo-Arabian, a cross between an Arabian horse and a Thoroughbred.

The Pleven's head has a straight profile, a long, muscular neck, and a nice topline. They are excellent movers, whose free-flowing gaits make them excel in dressage. They have fairly long backs and high withers, with quarters that are muscular, croups which are slightly sloping, and a tail that is carried well. Their legs are well-conformed and muscular, have good bone joints, well-defined tendons, and hard feet. Their temperament is calm and willing. The Pleven is usually sound, tough, and economical to feed.

Plevens are always chestnut in color, and stand at 15.2 to 16 hands high.

History

The Pleven breed of horse was developed in 1898 in the Klementina stud (now called the Georgi Dimitrov Agricultural Center) in Bulgaria. Plevens are mostly Anglo-Arab, but Gidran stallions were later added to the breed. The breed was officially recognized in 1951, and English Thoroughbred blood was further added to add refinement and size to the Pleven.