YAMBOL - Geography and history
Between Upper Thrace and Mount Strandzha
Yambol Region is situated in the south-eastern part of Bulgaria. It has a population of 151 793 inhabitants (as of 31/122002) or 1.9% of the national total, making it one of Bulgaria's smaller region by population size. The population density of 45 inhabitants per km2 is significantly below the national average. It has an area of 3 356 km2 (3.0% of the total area of Bulgaria) and borders the regions of Bourgas to the east, Sliven, Haskovo and Stara Zagora to the west and the state frontier with the Republic of Turkey to the south. It consists of 5 municipalities, within which there are 4 cities and 102 villages. The relative share of the urban population at 65% is below the national average.
The diverse relief of the region extends over parts of Mount Sakar to the south, while there are several hills and flat areas to the north. The climate is transient-continental. The rivers traversing the area are small, except for the river Tundzha, and are of no economic significance.
Numerous archaeological landmarks and remains of Thracian (Kabile) and Roman (Dianopolis) settlements have been discovered.
Mineral deposits in the region, such as lignite coal, lead-zinc ore and iron ore, are not exploited. There are also deposits of marble, granite and clay. Mineral springs can be found in Yambol and the village of Stefan Karadjovo.
Opportunities not exploited
The favourable climatic and soil conditions have spurred agricultural development. Agriculture employs 44% of the employees in the region (in 2000) and contributes to 29% of the regional value added (in 2002). The agricultural sector has close ties with industry, which supplies it with machines and fertilizers.
Another significant feature here is the well developed chemical industry, the main employer in the region being a manufacturer of man-made fibres.
Other regional advantages include its advantageous transport and geographic location, as well as its archaeological monuments and natural landmarks, which should provide good opportunities for the development of tourism.
The setting up of a new border-crossing point with the Republic of Turkey is forthcoming. It will enhance the opportunities for cross-border co-operation and should increase international transit traffic.
Unemployment is growing as a consequence of the process of restructuring industry and agriculture. The available mineral water springs are not adequately used for spa cures. Neither is full use made of the opportunities for attracting foreign capital offered by the border location. Due to migration of the population for economic reasons some depopulation has been noted in the southern areas along the border.
Low activity rate
Natural population growth in the region is negative. The birth rate (8.3 per 1 000 inhabitants in 2002) is slightly below the national average whereas the death rate (15.5 per 1 000 inhabitants) is above the average. Infant mortality at 15.7 per 1 000 live births (in 2002) is also above the national average of 13.3.
45.8% of the population is active (in 2002), which is below the national average. The number of those employed per 1 000 inhabitants in working age (between 15 and 65) was 366 people in 2002, which is below the national average. The gainfully employed account for 1.8% of the national total of those employed (in 2000), while the unemployment rate of 20.0% (in 2002) is above the national average.
Yambol Region's main industrial sectors are the chemical industry, textile industry, machine tool engineering and food and beverages production (canned vegetables and fruit).
Arable land accounts for 45.5% of the region's total area, 19% of it requiring irrigation. The main agricultural products are cereals and oil-bearing plants (sunflower, tobacco), vegetables, viticulture, fruits. Stockbreeding covers all animal types.
With the region having a total road length of 570 km (in 2002), this gives a below average density of 170 km per thousand km2. The most important roads traversing the region are the Sofia-Plovdiv-Stara Zagora-Yambol road which continues on to Bourgas and the Sliven-Yambol-Elhovo via Mount Sakar road which runs as far as the city of Svilengrad in Haskovo Region. This road will gain in importance after the opening of a new border crossing with the Republic of Turkey at Lessovo. The Sofia-Plovdiv-Yambol-Bourgas railroad with a transfer connection at Zimnia to the Sofia-Karlovo-Bourgas railroad runs through the northern end of the region. At Yambol there is a branch line to Elhovo.
All settlements in the region are electrified and connected to a water supply. 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 53 895 of which 87% for households.
As well as primary schools, high schools and vocational high schools, there are three museums, two cinemas and two theatres and numerous houses of culture. During the 2002/2003 school year, there were 271 students in colleges. Furthermore, 100 teachers were registered, representing 10% of all the teachers registered in the South-East region.
Medical services are provided by one regional and several district hospitals. Provisions in the health sector are poorer than average, as only 5.8 hospital beds are provided per 1 000 inhabitants as against 7.1 nationally. At the first of January 2003, there were 381 physicians, out of which 27% were all-practical, 97 dentists as well as 655 people with intermediate level of medical education. Taken together, this represented 19% of the staff of the South-East region.
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