The
Municipality of Chepelare has a total population of
around 8964 people with 5824 in the city itself and
the rest spread out amongst 11 smaller surrounding villages.
It is located 230 kilometers from the capital of Bulgaria
, Sofia , 80 kilometers from Plovdiv (the second largest
city in Bulgaria ) and 22 kilometers from the district
center of Smolyan. The average elevation of the area
is 1200 meters above sea level.
The area is located in the central Rhodopi mountains
by the Chepelare River . Located nearby are the municipalities
of Smolyan, Lucky, Devin, Assenovgrad and Rhodopi. The
territory of the municipality covers 384 square kilometers
of which 73% are forests, 14% are flatlands and meadows
and 11% is agricultural land. On the remaining 2% of
the land are located 12 habitable places of which 10
are villages, these are: Pavelsko, Hvoina, Zaburdo,
Malevo, Orehovo, Bogutevo, Ostritsa, Lilikevo, Zornitsa
, and Progled along with the winter resort of Pamporovo.
The ratio of the population that lives in Chepelare
itself to the villages is 65:35 and thousands of tourists
from across Bulgaria and abroad visit the area during
the winter and summer each year.
Climate wise Chepelare is one of the sunniest cities
in Bulgaria with 270 sunny days a year and an abundance
of snow in the winter. The area gets between 30 and
80 centimeters of snow annually which tends to remain
for 80 to 100 days. The fall is warm and dry with the
spring usually coming late and the summer tends to be
cool and refreshing. |