Samuil (village) explained

Official Name:Samuil
Native Name:Самуил
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Provinces
(Oblast)
Timezone:EET
Utc Offset:+2
Timezone Dst:EEST
Utc Offset Dst:+3
Pushpin Map:Bulgaria
Pushpin Label Position:right
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of Samuil
Leader Title:Mayor
Postal Code Type:Postal Code
Subdivision Name1:Razgrad
Population Total:1,543
Population As Of:December 2009
Elevation M:501
Postal Code:7454
Area Code:08377
Coordinates:43.5167°N 71°W
Leader Name:Beytula Myumyun

Samuil (Bulgarian: Самуил in Bulgarian pronounced as /sɐmuˈiɫ/; Turkish: Işıklar) is a village in northeastern Bulgaria, part of Razgrad Province, located in the geographic region of Ludogorie. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Samuil Municipality, which lies in the southeastern part of the Province. As of December 2009, the village has a population of 1,543 inhabitants.[1]

Samuil lies among the Samuil Heights in the Ludogorie Plateau, near the second highest hill in the Danubian Plain (501 metres). The population consists of Bulgarians, Turks and Romani. The area was inhabited by the Getae and the Romans in Antiquity and by the Slavs and Bulgars in the Middle Ages. It was part of the First Bulgarian Empire and the Second Bulgarian Empire, but fell under Ottoman rule as early as 1388. The construction of Baron Hirsch's Rousse-Kaspichan-Varna railway line in 1867-1868 turned the small village of Ishiklar into a railway station of local importance, with the first settlers being Greek merchants and harvesters. After the Liberation of Bulgaria, many Bulgarians settled in the village, which was renamed to Gara Samuil ("Samuil Station") and then to Samuil in honour of the medieval tsar Samuil of Bulgaria.

Municipality

See main article: Samuil Municipality.

Samuil municipality covers an area of 250 square kilometres and includes the following 14 places:

  • Bogdantsi
  • Bogomiltsi
  • Golyam Izvor
  • Golyama Voda
  • Huma
  • Harsovo
  • Kara Mihal
  • Krivitsa
  • Nozharovo
  • Pchelina
  • Samuil
  • Vladimirovtsi
  • Zdravets
  • Zhelyazkovets

Ethnic Turks constitute 75% of the population, Bulgarians being 14% and Roma 11%.

External links

43.5167°N 71°W

Notes and References

  1. Bulgarian National Statistical Institute – Bulgarian Settlements 1000–5000 inhabitants – December 2009