
Vidin Province

Vidin Province () is the northwesternmost province of Bulgaria. It borders Serbia to the west and Romania to the northeast. Its administrative centre is the city of Vidin on the Danube river. The area is divided into 11 municipalities. As of December 2009, the province has a population of 108,067 inhabitants.
There are remains of many castles, including Baba Vida, one of the last Bulgarian strongholds during the Ottoman invasion and the Belogradchik fortress.
Municipalities.
The Vidin Province contains 11 municipalities (singular: община, "obshtina" - plural: общини, "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.
Geography.
The territory of the province includes the most western parts of the Danubian Plain and Stara Planina, while the Danube forms the border with Romania. The slopes of Stara Planina are covered with dense forests, lush meadows and boasts the majestic rock phenomena, the Belogradchik Rocks. There are around 80 caves situated close to the border with Serbia, the most famous being the Magura Cave, which known with its cave painting from 10,000 BC. There is also a lake in the proximity of the cave.
Population.
The Vidin province had a population of 130,074 according to a 2001 census, of which were male and were female.
As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 108,067 of which are inhabitants aged over 60 years.
Vidin is the oldest province in Bulgaria, with 28.9% of its population 65 years or older at the end of 2016. There is a big difference between the percentage elderly living in urban and rural areas: in urban areas 21.1% of the population is 65 years or older while that percentage is 42.8% in rural areas. The percentage of children up to 15 years is 13.5% in urban areas and only 9.8% in rural areas.
The following table represents the change of the population in the province after World War II:
Ethnic groups.
Total population (2011 census): 101 018
Ethnic groups (2011 census):
Identified themselves: 95 126 persons:
Religion.
Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:
Towns and villages.
The place names in bold have the status of town (in Bulgarian: град, transliterated as "grad"). Other localities have the status of village (in Bulgarian: село, transliterated as "selo"). The names of localities are transliterated in Latin alphabet followed in parentheses by the original name in Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet (which links to the corresponding Bulgarian Wikipedia article).
Belogradchik Municipality.
The Belogradchik municipality has one town (in bold) and 17 villages:
Boynitsa Municipality.
The Boynitsa municipality has 9 villages:
Bregovo Municipality.
The Bregovo municipality has one town (in bold) and 9 villages:
Vidin Municipality.
The Vidin municipality has two towns (in bold) and 33 villages:
Gramada Municipality.
The Gramada municipality has one town (in bold) and 7 villages:
Dimovo Municipality.
The Dimovo municipality has one town (in bold) and 22 villages:
Kula Municipality.
The Kula municipality has one town (in bold) and 8 villages:
Makresh Municipality.
The Makresh municipality has 7 villages:
Novo Selo.
The Novo Selo municipality has 5 villages:
Ruzhintsi Municipality.
The Ruzhintsi municipality has 10 villages:
Chuprene Municipality.
The Chuprene municipality has 9 villages: