571 Villages in Bulgaria have no Population or a Single-digit Number of Inhabitants

A total of 571 villages in Bulgaria are unpopulated or have a one-digit number of inhabitants, according to a BTA report made in the NSI National Settlement Register for the number of residents in settlements as of December 31, 2017.

As of December 31, 2017 there are 5256 settlements in the country, of which the cities are 257, the villages are 4 997, and two are the monasteries with the status of the settlement - Klisurski and Rilski. Out of the 4 997 villages in Bulgaria, 571 are without population or one-digit number of inhabitants or 5 more in comparison with the previous year - 2016, according to data.

The total number of villages with a one-digit number of inhabitants is 409 and 162 are the settlements where there is not a single resident. 

With one resident in the country are exactly 71 villages. Two people live in 61 settlements and three in 49 villages. 48 settlements in Bulgaria have four inhabitants. With five people a permanent population is 47 villages, and with six inhabitants - 40 villages. A total of 27 villages have seven inhabitants, another 35 are with eight inhabitants, and 31 villages have a population of nine people.

Non-populated villages are located in 11 areas of the country, and those with a one-digit population are scattered across 22 districts. The report in the register shows that the largest number of villages without inhabitants (61) and at most with a one-digit number of population (112) are in the Gabrovo region - a total of 173. There are 349 settlements in the Gabrovo region, which means that almost half of them are either uninhabited or with a one-digit number of inhabitants.

It is interesting to note that 2453 villages or almost half of them are bigger than the smallest town in Bulgaria - Melnik,...