Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

NSI: 201 ghost villages in Bulgaria without a single inhabitant

Photo: .nsi.bg

Sofia is the largest municipality in Bulgaria by population, while Plovdiv has overtaken Varna to take second place. Burgas retains its position as the country's fourth largest city, while Stara Zagora now ranks fifth, displacing Ruse. 


These shifts in the ranking of the 20 largest municipalities by population have been recorded by the National Statistical Institute for the period from 2014 to 2023. In particular, Kardzhali has experienced remarkable growth, rising from 19th to 16th place.


As of 31 December 2023, there were 201 settlements without a single inhabitant, mainly concentrated in the central Balkan region, in the regions of Veliko Tarnovo (67), Gabrovo (67), Kyustendil (10) and Kardzhali (9). In addition, 1,453 villages, representing 27.6% of the settlements, have populations ranging from 1 to 49 persons. Notably, there are six cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, accounting for 35.2% of the total population.




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

The forum at the National Museum of Archeology

The Untold Stories of Bulgarians programme gathers the legacy of our compatriots as ancestral memory

A short video kaleidoscope of the "untold stories" of worthy Bulgarians - scientists, entrepreneurs, engineers, artists - who have contributed to our country's good image in the eyes of the world opened an unconventional public forum that showcased the..

published on 11/14/24 12:48 PM

The film "Gundi: Legend of Love" has also thrilled the Bulgarians in USA

The film "Gundi: Legend of Love" caused a sensation across the Ocean. Screenings of the film story about the life of legendary football player Georgi Asparuhov – Gundi were held in Los Angeles and Las Vegas as the halls were full...

published on 11/14/24 11:12 AM

Monuments to the totalitarian past stand, but few memorials honour the victims

On this day 35 years ago, the authoritarian regime of communist dictator Todor Zhivkov collapsed. To mark the anniversary, the BGNES news agency carried out a survey of monuments to totalitarianism. The agency checked whether the monuments of the..

published on 11/10/24 7:45 AM