Pazardzhik Province

Pazardzhik Province (Bulgarian: Област Пазарджик Oblast Pazardzhik, former name Pazardzhik okrug) is a province in Southern Bulgaria, named after its administrative and industrial centre - the city of Pazardzhik. It embraces a territory of 4,456.9 km² that is divided into 11 municipalities with a total population of 290,614 inhabitants, as of December 2009. The territory of the Pazardzhik Province has been inhabited since very early times. There are more than 50 discovered Stone Age and Bronze Age settlements. The earliest civilization to inhabit the region were the Thracians. The remains of the Thracian town Besapara are located in the hills near the provincial capital Pazardzhik. The Panagyurishte Treasure unearthed near the northern...