Silistra Province

Coordinates: 43°55′N 27°10′E / 43.917°N 27.167°E / 43.917; 27.167

Silistra Province (Bulgarian: Област Силистра, transliterated Oblast Silistra, former name Silistra okrug) is a province of Bulgaria, named after its main city - Silistra. It is divided into seven municipalities with a total population, as of December 2009, of 127,659.

Silistra Province is a traditionally agricultural province, mainly because of its fertile soil. The province is known for its pelicans and apricot brandy.

Besides the administrative centre, other municipalities are Alfatar, Dulovo, Glavinitsa, Kaynardzha, Sitovo, and Tutrakan.

Municipalities

The Silistra Province contains 7 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.

Population

The Silistra province had a population of 142,000 according to a 2001 census, of which 7001497000000000000♠49.7% were male and 7001503000000000000♠50.3% were female. As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 127,659 of which 7001256000000000000♠25.6% are inhabitants aged over 60 years.

Silistra

Silistra (Bulgarian: Силистра, pronounced [siˈlistrɐ]) is a port city in the far northeast of Bulgaria, lying on the southern bank of the lower Danube at the country's border with Romania. Silistra is the administrative centre of the Silistra Province and one of the important cities of the historical region of Southern Dobrudzha.

Silistra is a major cultural, industrial, transportation, and educational center of northeastern Bulgaria. There are many historical landmarks including a richly-decorated Late Roman tomb, remains of the Medieval fortress, an Ottoman fort, and an art gallery.

Etymology

The name Silistra is possibly derived from the root of the old Thracian name of the lower part of the Danube "Istrum". By another theory, the city's name comes from the Latin words "silo" and "stra", meaning "awl" and "strategy".

Geography

Silistra is in the northeastern part of Bulgaria on the southern bank of the Danube River. It is located in the Bulgarian part of Dobrudzha.

The municipality of Silistra covers an area of 516 km² and includes the city and 18 villages. The area of the city-proper is 27.159 km².