| Montana Province | |
| Native Name: | Област Монтана |
| Native Name Lang: | bul |
| Settlement Type: | Province |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Bulgaria |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Seat: | Montana |
| Parts Type: | Municipalities |
| Parts Style: | para |
| P1: | 11 |
| Leader Title: | Governor |
| Leader Name: | Rosen Belchev |
| Area Total Km2: | 3,635.5 |
| Population Total: | 148,098 |
| Population As Of: | Census February 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone1: | EET |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | EEST |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | +3 |
| Blank Name Sec1: | License plate |
| Blank Info Sec1: | M |
Montana Province (Bulgarian: Област Монтана, transliterated: Oblast Montana) is a province in northwestern Bulgaria, bordering Serbia in the southwest and Romania in the north. It spreads its area between the Danube river and the Balkan Mountains. As of February 2011, the province had a population of 148,098,[1] on territory of . It was named after its administrative centre the city of Montana.
The Montana province (Област, oblast) contains 11 municipalities (singular: община, obshtina - plural: Общини, obshtini). The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and in Cyrillic, the main town (in bold) or village, and the population as of 2011.
| Municipality | Cyrillic | Pop.[2] [3] [4] | Town/Village | Pop.[5] [6] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkovitsa | Берковица | 19,587 | Berkovitsa | 14,124 | |
| Boychinovtsi | Бойчиновци | 9,611 | Boychinovtsi | 1,588 | |
| Brusartsi | Брусарци | 5,140 | Brusartsi | 1,277 | |
| Chiprovtsi | Чипровци | 3,773 | Chiprovtsi | 1,937 | |
| Georgi Damyanovo | Георги Дамяново | 2,867 | Georgi Damyanovo | 494 | |
| Lom | Лом | 31,064 | Lom | 25,321 | |
| Medkovets | Медковец | 4,103 | Medkovets | 1,866 | |
| Montana | Монтана | 57,064 | Montana | 46,574 | |
| Valchedram | Вълчедръм | 9,988 | Valchedram | 3,748 | |
| Varshets | Вършец | 8,424 | Varshets | 6,439 | |
| Yakimovo | Якимово | 4,481 | Yakimovo | 1,711 |
The Montana province had a population of 148,098 according to a 2011 census, of which were male and were female.[7] As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 155,899 of which are inhabitants aged over 60 years.[8]
Total population (2011 census): 148 098[9]
Ethnic groups (2011 census):[10] Identified themselves: 143 467 persons:
123 820 (86,31%)
18 228 (12,71%)
In the 2001 census, 181,175 people of the population of 182,258 of Montana Province identified themselves as belonging to one of the following ethnic groups (with percentage of total population):[11]
| Ethnic group | Population | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 157,507 | |||
| 22,784 | |||
| 272 | |||
| 235 | |||
| 19 | |||
| Vlachs | 19 | ||
| 16 | |||
| 24 | |||
| 46 | |||
| 3 | |||
| Other | 250 |
In the 2001 census, 181,208 people of the population of 182,258 of Montana Province identified one of the following as their mother tongue (with percentage of total population): 160,494 Bulgarian, 19,849 Romani, 220 Turkish, and 645 other .[12]
In the 2011 census, 136,175 people of the population of 148,098 of Montana Province identified one of the following as their religion:
| Census 2011 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| religious adherence | population | % | |
| Orthodox Christians | 100,571 | 73.86% | |
| Protestants | 2,740 | 2.01% | |
| Roman Catholics | 438 | 0.32% | |
| Muslims | 94 | 0.07% | |
| Other | 163 | 0.12% | |
| Religion not mentioned | 17,323 | 12,72% | |
| Religion none | 14,842 | 10,9% | |
| total | 148,098 | 100% | |
In the 2001 census, 172,358 people of the population of 182,258 of Montana Province identified one of the following as their religion:[13]
| Census 2001 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| religious adherence | population | % | |
| Orthodox Christians | 168,171 | 92.27% | |
| Protestants | 3,680 | 2.02% | |
| Muslims | 283 | 0.16% | |
| Roman Catholics | 121 | 0.07% | |
| Other | 864 | 0.47% | |
| Religion not mentioned | 9,139 | 5.01% | |
| total | 182,258 | 100% | |
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,[14] [15] followed in parentheses by the original name in Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet which links to the corresponding Bulgarian Wikipedia article).
The Berkovitsa municipality has one town (in bold) and 19 villages:
The Boychinovtsi municipality has one town (in bold) and 12 villages:
The Brusartsi municipality has one town (in bold) and nine villages:
The Chiprovtsi municipality has one town (in bold) and nine villages:
The Georgi Damyanovo municipality has 13 villages:
The Lom municipality has one town (in bold) and nine villages:
The Medkovets municipality has five villages:
The Montana municipality has one town (in bold) and 23 villages:
The Valchedram municipality has one town (in bold) and ten villages:
See main article: Varshets Municipality. The Varshets municipality has one town (in bold), eight villages and one monastery (which has official status as a locality[16]):
The Yakimovo municipality has four villages: