Thursday, August 17, 2006

Montana in Bulgaria

Montana is a small town in north west Bulgaria and is situated on the river Ogosta.

Montana is an old town dating back to what is believed to be Thracian times although first real records show it was a Roman town which the Romans gave great importance for the region. The Romans at the time buit a fortress above the town on top of a hill for protection.

Since 1878, the year of Bulgaria's liberation the town of Montana has increased dramatically in population, in 1878 the population were only 750 inhabitants (of which 600 were Turkish), today Montana has a population of roughly 50,000.

Montana is a recent name for the town, the town became known as Montana in 1993 after a presidential decree.

Montana has changed names many times through out history as can be seen below

Municipio Montanensium - Romans (BC)
Kutlovitsa - Slavs
Ferdinand - 1890 Bulgarians upon liberation
Hristo Mihaylov - 1945 Communists, after a Red party activist
Mihaylovgrad - 1946
Montana - 1993 till today

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