Summary: The article traces the demographic development of the Municipality of Bosilegrad, based on Bulgarian population census data from the peri¬od 1880–1910. The observed processes appear to be following trends that were typical of the whole state. One of them was the stable rate of population growth, which was primarily due to natural growth in the studied territory. Migration to the municipality was confined to the district and was typically prompted by marriage or employment opportunities. As was the case throughout the rest of Bulgaria, the marriage rate in Bosilegrad was very high and the divorce rate was almost non-existent. There was a clear trend towards smaller households and an increase in the number of single-person households. The Bosilegrad municipality had a very low literacy rate, particularly among women. Of all the settlements studied during the research period, only the village of Bosilegrad showed more distinct development. In 1890 it became the center of the district, a status it held for the following ten years.
Keywords: population, censuses, Bosilegrad Municipality, historical demography
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