Satovcha Municipality

Satovcha Municipality
Община Сатовча
Coat of arms of Satovcha Municipality
Location in Blagoevgrad province
Location on map of Bulgaria
CountryBulgaria
Province (Oblast)Blagoevgrad
Area
 • Total332.59 km2 (128.41 sq mi)
Population
 • Total16,003
 • Density48/km2 (120/sq mi)

Satovcha Municipality is a municipality in southwestern Bulgaria and is one of the municipalities in the Blagoevgrad Province.

Geography

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It covers the Southwestern Rhodope Mountains. 14 settlemements belong to the municipality with a total of 18,997 inhabitants (21.07.05) and a territory of 334,245 km2. Administrative, industrial and cultural center of the municipality is the village of Satovcha.

Population

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As of December 2018, there are 14,263 inhabitants living in the municipality of Satovcha, down from 18,265 inhabitants in 2000. The municipality of Satovcha has a Muslim majority (over 85% of the total population). Nearly all of them are Bulgarian Muslims (on the contrary, most Muslims in Bulgaria are ethnic Turks).

Population Live births Deaths Natural growth Birth rate (‰) Death rate (‰) Natural growth rate (‰)
2000 18,265 204 130 74 11.2 7.1 4.1
2001 17,770 146 156 -10 8.2 8.8 -0.6
2002 17,635 186 121 65 10.5 6.9 3.7
2003 17,576 185 142 43 10.5 8.1 2.4
2004 17,501 188 122 66 10.7 7.0 3.8
2005 17,428 181 148 33 10.4 8.5 1.9
2006 17,318 178 156 22 10.3 9.0 1.3
2007 17,269 192 158 34 11.1 9.1 2.0
2008 17,264 216 157 59 12.5 9.1 3.4
2009 17,152 168 154 14 9.8 9.0 0.8
2010 17,009 140 143 -3 8.2 8.4 -0.2
2011 15,290 135 167 -32 8.8 10.9 -2.1
2012 15,138 121 145 -24 8.0 9.6 -1.6
2013 14,970 117 169 -52 7.8 11.3 -3.5
2014 14,829 138 157 -19 9.3 10.6 -1.3
2015 14,681 121 141 -20 8.2 9.6 -1.4
2016 14,498 121 142 -21 8.3 9.8 -1.4
2017 14,353 93 163 -70 6.5 11.4 -4.9
2018 14,263 87 166 -79 6.1 11.6 -5.5

Satovcha has a declining birth rate as young women are moving out of the villages.

Religion

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According to the latest Bulgarian census of 2011, the religious composition, among those who answered the optional question on religious identification, was the following:

Religious composition of Satovcha Municipality [1]
Orthodox Christianity
8.95%
Catholicism
0.00%
Protestantism
0.19%
Islam
85.91%
No religion
0.71%
Prefer not to answer, others and aindefinable
4.24%

Settlements in the municipality

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References

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  1. ^ "Religious composition of Bulgaria 2011". pop-stat.mashke.org.
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41°37′N 23°58′E / 41.617°N 23.967°E / 41.617; 23.967