Варна облысының тарихы мен мәдениеті

Province of Bulgaria

The area has been populated at least since the Neolith and was a major centre of an Eneolithic culture with unique skills in metallurgy and seafaring, with a developed social structure and religion (see Varna Necropolis, site of arguably the oldest man made gold treasure in the world). Solnitsata, the earliest known European town, was in what is today Varna Province. By the first millennium BC, it was inhabited by Thracians who dominated it throughout classical antiquity; by the end of the period they were largely Romanized. In the 6th century BC, an ancient Greek trading colony (apoikia), Odessos (Varna), was founded, becoming an enduring contact zone between Thracians and Greeks. In the 4th century, the province was included in the empire of Philip II, Alexander the Great and his diadochus Lysimachus. By the first century AD, it was conquered by the Roman Empire. Under Emperor Diocletian, Marcianopolis (Devnya) became the centre of the Roman province of Moesia Secunda of the Diocese of Thrace. During Emperor Valens' wars with the Goths (366 369), this city was temporary capital of the empire. Both Marcianopolis and Odessus (the Roman name of Odessos) were major early Christian centres. It is believed that Saint Andrew founded the local Christian church and his disciple Ampliatus served as bishop at Odessus. In the 6th century, Slavs' migrations altered the ethnic composition of the then Byzantine province. Between 680 and 681, it became the heartland of the First Bulgarian Empire, whose capital was perhaps initially near Varna, before it moved to Pliska. Two of the most significant scriptoria of the Preslav Literary School were at Ravna (near Provadiya) and Varna. The latter two cities were major fortresses and trade emporia of the Second Bulgarian Empire as well. The peasant war of Ivailo in the late 13th century started from the region, which at the time was plagued by Tatar raids and was finally subdued by the Ottomans in 1389. In 1444, the Battle of Varna was fought, as were several ground and naval battles of the Russo Turkish wars of the 18th and 19th century. Under the Ottomans, the population became extremely diverse, with significant number of Turks and other Muslim peoples arriving from Asia Minor, the steppes north of the Black Sea, and the Caucasus, along with Orthodox Christian Gagauz, Armenians, and Sephardic Jews from Thessaloniki. Many Bulgarians from the region were forcibly relocated to Asia Minor and, in the wake of the Russo Turkish wars, up to 250,000 eastern Bulgarians were transferred to Russian Bessarabia and Crimea. Compact Bulgarian population persisted throughout the Provadiya Plateau, Devnya Valley, and Eastern Stara Planina. Villagers from places such as Chenge (modern Asparuhovo, municipality of Dalgopol), Gulitsa (modern Golitsa, municipality of Dolni Chiflik), and neighbouring Erkech (modern Kozichino, Burgas Province) later colonized and returned the Bulgarian ethnic character to dozens of villages throughout northeastern and southeastern Bulgaria, including much of Varna province. After the liberation of 1878, with the exodus of most Turks and Greeks and the migrations of Bulgarians from other parts of Bulgaria, mostly Stara Planina, as well as North Dobruja, Asia Minor, Bessarabia, and later from Macedonia and Eastern Thrace, ethnic diversity gradually gave way to Bulgarian predominance. One of the versions of a folk song, inspired by the Ruse blood wedding, can be heard in the province.

The province is second only to Sofia in foreign direct investment; its GDP per capita is higher and its unemployment is the lowest in the country. Per capita income is fifth highest in the nation (2007). The economy is service oriented; it was responsible for over 30% of the nation's revenue in tourism (2004). (See the list of coastal resorts, beaches, and locales below.) It is an important communications and transportation hub with the Port of Varna on the Black Sea and inland waterways, the International Airport of Varna, the Varna railway ferry terminal, parts of several railway lines (including the oldest one in Bulgaria, Rousse Varna, opened 1866) and junctions (Sindel, Razdelna, Komunari), and portions of two of the nation's motorways (Haemus and Cherno More). Varna is the easternmost destination of Pan European transport corridor 8 and is closely connected to corridors 7 and 9 via Rousse. In June 2007, Eni and Gazprom disclosed the South Stream project whereby a 900 km long offshore natural gas pipeline from Russia's Dzhubga with annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters is planned to come ashore possibly at Pasha dere, near the Galata offshore gas field, en route to Italy and Austria. Manufacturing is concentrated mostly in the Varna Devnya Industrial Complex and Provadiya. Agriculture (notably wheat, fruit, wineries) and forestry are also of economic significance. The province is a major education and international culture centre with five universities, several other higher learning and research institutions, museums, performing arts institutions, and hosted international events. Real estate has been booming over the last few years in Varna and rural villages near the coast and inland. "English villages" of Britons settling in Bulgaria emerged in the rural countryside at Avren, Banovo (municipality of Suvorovo), and General Kantardzhievo (municipality of Aksakovo), among others.