Lovech (, ) is a city in north-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The city is located about northeast from the capital city of Sofia. Near Lovech are the towns of Pleven, Troyan and Teteven. Name The name is possibly derived from the Slavic root lov, "hunting" + the Slavic suffix -ech. Geography Lovech is situated in the Forebalkan area of northern Bulgaria, on both sides of the river Osam, and unifies both mountainous and plain relief. The eastern part of the town is surrounded by a 250 m high plateau, where the largest park in Lovech, Stratesh, is located, and the southwestern part is surrounded by the hills Hisarya and Bash Bunar. In the northwest the relief gradually changes to the plains of the neighbouring Pleven Province. The average altitude of Lovech is about 200 m above mean sea level. The highest point of the town is Akbair Hill at 450 m. In Stratesh Park, the highest place in the town, there are a great number of lilac bushes, easily seen from the whole town, which are a wonderful view in the spring. Due to this, Lovech is well known as the town of the lilacs. Climate Population According to the census, held in February, 2011, Lovech is populated by 36,600 inhabitants within city limits. In the 1880s the population of Lovech numbered about 7,000. Since then it started growing decade by decade, mostly because of the migrants from the rural areas and the surrounding smaller towns, with a peak in the period 1987-1991 when exceeded 50,000 residents. After this time, the population has started decreasing rapidly in consequence of the poor economic situation in the Bulgarian provinces during the 1990s that led to a new migration in the direction of the country capital Sofia and abroad. Ethnic, linguistic, and religious composition According to the latest 2011 census data, the individuals who declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows: Bulgarians: 32,706 (95.2%) Turks: 919 (2.7%) Gypsies: 411 (1.2%) Others: 120 (0.3%) Indefinable: 201 (0.6%) Undeclared: 2,243 (6.1%) Total: 36,600 The ethnic composition of Lovech Municipality is 43,223 Bulgarians, 2,321 Turks, and 665 Gypsies among others. Following the census of 1926 Professor Anastas Ishirkov noted the homogeneity of the population which is 95% of Bulgarian origin. History Ancient history Lovech is one of the oldest towns in Bulgaria.