Anton, Sofia Province Explained

Official Name:Anton
Native Name:Bulgarian: Антон
Pushpin Map:Bulgaria
Pushpin Label Position:right
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of Anton
Pushpin Relief:1
Coordinates:42.75°N 41°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Province (Oblast)
Subdivision Name1:Sofia
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Name:Stoyan Garchev
Elevation M:807
Population Total:1,631
Population Footnotes:http://grao.bg/tna/tab02.txt
Population As Of:2008
Timezone:EET
Utc Offset:+2
Timezone Dst:EEST
Utc Offset Dst:+3
Postal Code Type:Postal Code
Postal Code:2089
Area Code:07186

Anton (Bulgarian: Антон, in Bulgarian pronounced as /ɐnˈtɔn/) is a village in western Bulgaria, part of Sofia Province. It is the administrative centre of Anton Municipality, which lies in the easternmost part of Sofia Province. Anton is situated in the Zlatitsa–Pirdop Valley, 80 kilometres east of the capital Sofia. The village is the only place in the eponymous municipality, which has an area of 76 square kilometres and includes the Vartopa area, part of the Central Balkan National Park. Anton's old name was Ladzhene (Лъджене).

A notable sight in the area is the Elenska Basilica, a partially preserved imposing Late Roman or early Byzantine (5th-6th century) Christian basilica.

Demography

Ethnicity

According to the 2011 Bulgarian census, 87.99% of the population of Anton are Bulgarians, 2.31% are Gypsies, 0.18% are Turks and 0.5% were others. Some 9% of the population did not declare their ethnicity.

Anton is one of the few settlements in Bulgaria where the Aromanians live.[1] [2] The Aromanian minority of this country is small, composed of around 2,000 to 3,000 people nationwide.

Religion

According to the latest Bulgarian census of 2011, the religious composition, among those who answered the optional question on religious identification, was the following:

References

  1. The ethno-cultural belongingness of Aromanians, Vlachs, Catholics, and Lipovans/Old Believers in Romania and Bulgaria (1990–2012). Marin. Constantin. Revista Română de Sociologie. 25. 3–4. 255–285. 2014.
  2. The Aromânians: an ethnos and language with a 2000-year history. Nikolai. Kyurkchiev. International Journal of the Sociology of Language. 179. 115–129. 2006. 2006. 10.1515/IJSL.2006.029. 144939846.