GABROVO - Geography and history
The smallest region
With the exception of Sofia-City this is the smallest region in Bulgaria in terms of area with 2 023 km2, which represents only 1.8% of the country's area. Gabrovo is situated in the centre of Northern Bulgaria, bordering on the regions of Lovech, Veliko Turnovo and Stara Zagora. The settlements in the four municipalities of Gabrovo region consist of the four municipal centres, one town that is not a centre of a municipality, 74 villages and numerous hamlets. This number of small settlements is typical for this part of the country and for the southern Balkan slopes. The regional centre, Gabrovo, is the largest town in the region, followed by Sevlievo.
This part of Bulgaria has been inhabited since ancient times. The regional centre of Gabrovo emerged as an urban centre during the time of the Ottoman invasion. Its name was mentioned for the first time in the 16th century. During the 18th and at the beginning of the 19th century manufacturing began to develop rapidly there. Gabrovo merchants established offices in many European cities. In 1835, the first Bulgarian secular school opened its doors in Gabrovo. After the Liberation of Bulgaria (1878), the city turned into one of the largest industrial centres in the country with numerous textile, leather and other enterprises.
The relief is predominantly undulating and mountainous. Valleys such as the Sevlievo Valley offer good opportunities for agriculture. Black coal, marble, limestone and clay are the region's main natural resources. The climate is moderately continental with frequent temperature inversions in the valleys. The major rivers cutting across the region are the Yantra, Rossitsa, Vidima and Dryanovska. One of the biggest dams in Bulgaria, the Alexander Stamboliyski Dam, has been built on the river Yantra. Soil is less fertile in the hilly Balkan mountain range areas, although there are many large pastures, used for animal-rearing.
High employment rate and low unemployment level
Gabrovo region is highly attractive for investors. It has an abundant supply of skilled labour, a variety of production facilities and a heterogeneous economy. Furthermore, its environment is well-preserved and there are valuable architectural and ethnological sites (Bozhentsi, Tryavna, Dryanovo, Etara). The famous Dryanovo Monastery, commemorating the Bulgarians' struggle for national liberty in the 19th century, is situated here too.
The well-developed economic structure of the region is reflected in the favourable employment indicators. The unemployment rate (15.1% in 2002) is one of the lowest nationally (the national unemployment rate for the same year is 16.8%). A note-worthy feature is the high percentage of employment in industry, 43.8% of the total, which is the highest among the regions.
Nevertheless, the region faces a number of problems, the most significant ones concerning the negative natural growth due to the ageing of the population, and depopulation of the mountainous areas. In these zones, substantial areas of arable land are being abandoned and becoming overgrown.
In order to continue to attract local and foreign investors, the right conditions for the management of these processes have to be created, which should then generate sufficient guarantees for the future successful development of this part of the country.
Developed economy with considerable investment
Gabrovo is the smallest region in terms of its population size, with 140 991 people at first of January 2003 (1.8% of the national total). Its density (69.7 inhabitants per km2) is just under the national average. In 2002, people under 25 represented a quarter of the population while those of 65 and over had a share of 20%. The number of inhabitants is diminishing due to the very low birth rate (7.1 per thousand in 2002, the lowest in Bulgaria) and to the large share of ageing population. Infant mortality is, however, below the national average.
With an activity rate of 50.0% (in 2002) and a high employment rate of 425 per 1 000 inhabitants in working age (between 15 and 65), the region is in a better position than the rest of the country (which has an employment rate of 403 per 1000). The higher level of urbanisation is evident from the fact that 77% of the population are urban dwellers as against 67.7% nationally.
The economy has a predominantly industrial bent, the major sectors being processing industries, textile and knitwear industries. Other manufacturing branches include electric hoists, cables and plastic products. A modern enterprise for the manufacture of sanitary fittings, as well as a factory for the manufacturing and repair of railway wagons and carriages are situated in the vicinity of Gabrovo. Due to the significant foreign investment in plants in Sevlievo the region is in second place in Bulgaria in terms of its per capita investment.
Stock-breeding is the principal agricultural activity, mainly in the mountain areas, while cereal crops are grown in the plains. The arable land had a total area of 202 301 hectares, representing 1.8% of the total arable land of the country and 12.1% of the total area of the region (2002 figures)
The good road network is evident from the high road density of 0.25 km per km2 (the highest in Bulgaria), compared to 0.17 km per km2 nationally. The region is crossed by two major roads: the Sofia-Varna and Veliko Turnovo - Stara Zagora roads, as well as by the railway line which runs from Ruse via Gorna Oryahovitsa to Stara Zagora and Podkova.
At the end of 2002, the number of telephone posts (including the installed direct, party-line and supplementary telephone apparatus to the settlements' telephone exchanges) was 61 825 of which 85% for households.
Gabrovo is one of Bulgaria's main university centres, with a Technical University which has several faculties there. There are 65 schools in the municipality of Gabrovo. During the 2002/2003 school year, there were 7 678 students in colleges and universities, representing 21% of the North Central region. There were also 265 teachers, or 11% of the regional average.
Medical care is better than average thanks to the hospital and clinics based here and the available skilled medical staff. On average, there are 7.7 hospital beds per 1 000 inhabitants. At the first of January 2003, Gabrovo registered 492 physicians, out of which 19% were all-practical, 117 dentists and 919 people with intermediate level of medical education. Taken together, this represented 14% of the staff of the North Central region.
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