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.
History of modern Macedonia (Greece)
In 1913 following the Treaty of Bucharest The region was divided among Greece that took Greek Macedonia (composed from the Vilayets of Salonica and Manastir), Serbia that took Vardar Macedonia (today Republic of Macedonia) and the areas of Ottoman Kosovo that were part of the Macedonian region today South Kosovo. Bulgaria took what is now Blagoevgrad Province from the Salonica Vilayet. This was followed by massive population movements. Thousands Macedonian Bulgarians fled to Bulgaria.