Rila Municipality

Municipality in Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria

Rila Municipality Община Рила
Municipality
Country	Bulgaria
Province	Kyustendil Province
Seat	Rila
Area
• Total	360.96 km² (139.37 sq mi)
Population
• Total	3,190
• Density	8.8/km² (23/sq mi)

Rila Municipality (Bulgarian: Рила) is located in southeastern Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria. Its administrative centre is Rila. The municipality covers an area of 361 square kilometres (139 sq mi), of which 54.84% is forests and only 19.3% is arable.^{[citation needed]}. As of 2009^[update], the population was 3606.^[1]

Locations in Rila Municipality include:

Padala
Pastra
Rila (administrative centre)
Rila Monastery
Smochevo

Several peaks higher than 2,000 metres are part of the municipality, including Rilets (2,731 m), Yosifitsa (2,697 m), Kanarata (2,619 m), Zliya Zab (2,678 m), Kalin (2,667 m), Elenin Vrah (2,654 m) and Tsarev Vrah (2,378 m). The municipality also boasts 28 mountain lakes. The area is also rich in medieval Bulgarian Orthodox churches and monasteries.

Demography

Religion

According to the latest Bulgarian census of 2011, the religious composition, among those who answered the optional question on religious identification, was the following:

Religious composition of Rila Municipality ^[2]

Orthodox Christianity			91.6%
Catholicism			0.9%
Protestantism			0.7%
Islam			0.4%
No religion			1.6%
Prefer not to answer, others and indefinable			4.8%

References

^ "Population table by permanent and present address" (in Bulgarian). Head Direction of Residential Registration and Administrative Service. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
^ "Religious composition of Bulgaria 2011". pop-stat.mashke.org.