Pirin Macedonia (region)
It covers an area of about 6,798 km2 which is 10.18% of the geographical region Macedonia. One of the regional centers is Blagoevgrad, also known as Gorna Dzumaya, the old name of the city. The region is bordering with Kyustendil Province and Sofia Province on the north, Pazardzhik Province and Smolyan Province on the east, Greece on the south and Republic of Macedonia on the west. The population is estimated around 325.000 people.
Blagoevgrad Province
Total population (2011 census): 323 552
Ethnic groups (2011 census):
Identified themselves: 283,556 persons:
The issue of the current number of ethnic Macedonians in the province is complicated. In 2008, the local ethnic Macedonian political activist Stojko Stojkov, head of the United Macedonian Organization Ilinden–Pirin, claimed the number of the native ethnic Macedonians to be between 5,000 and 10,000 in the whole of Bulgaria. However, in 2017 there were 18,000 ethnic Macedonian nationals registered as residents only in the Blagoevgrad Municipality. Their number in the whole of the province is higher. They are citizens of the Republic of Macedonia, but have also Bulgarian citizenship, based on declared Bulgarian ethnic origin. The ethnic Bulgarian population in the province, has on the other hand, also a regional Macedonian identity. Indeed it is said there is no clear ethnic difference between both groups. According to the 2011 census only 561 persons (0.2%) declared themselves as ethnic Macedonians in Blagoevgrad Province.