Petrich

Petrich
Petrich; Петрич
	Petrich Location of Petrich
	Coordinates: 41°24′N 23°13′E / 41.4°N 23.217°ECoordinates: 41°24′N 23°13′E / 41.4°N 23.217°E
Country	Bulgaria
Province; (Oblast)	Blagoevgrad
	Government
• Mayor	Velyo Iliev
Elevation	168 m (551 ft)
	Population (2009-12-31)
• Total	29,920
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal Code	2850
Area code(s)	0745

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For other uses, see Petrich (disambiguation).

Petrich (Bulgarian: Петрич) is a town in Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of the Belasica Mountains in the Strumeshnitsa Valley. As of 31 December 2009 (2009 -12-31)^[update], the town has 29920 inhabitants.^[1]

Petrich is located close to the borders with Greece and the Republic of Macedonia. The crossing into Macedonia is known as Novo Selo-Petrich, as the first town across the border is Novo Selo.

Petrich Peak on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named for Petrich.

[edit] History

World War I memorial

Petrich was included in the territory of the Bulgarian State during the reign of Knyaz Boris I (852-889). During the Middle Ages it was a Bulgarian fortress of importance during Tsar Samuil's wars (997-1014) with Byzantium. During Ottoman rule, it was initially part of the Serez sanjak of the Rumeli vilayet. After that it became a kaza of the Serez sanjak in the Selanik vilayet. From 19 January 1892 Petrich and its district were included in the Bulgarian Exarchate, before being included in Bulgaria following the Balkan Wars in 1912-13. The Greek army attempted to capture the town in 1925 but was stopped at the outskirts; this event is known as the Incident at Petrich.

[edit] Economy

The town is an agricultural centre for fruit, vegetables and tobacco. It has two factories, making water level detectors and details for cranes.

[edit] Municipality

Petrich is also the name of a municipality that is part of Blagoevgrad Province, of which Petrich town is the administrative seat. The municipality includes the following 55 settlements:

[edit] Broadcasting station

There is a 500 kW mediumwave broadcasting station working on 747 kHz. It uses as antenna a 205 metre tall guyed mast insulated with an additional cage antenna. This mast was built in 1977.