Vrav
| Vrav Връв |
|
|---|---|
 Vrav
|
|
| Coordinates: 44°11′N 22°44′E / 44.183°N 22.733°ECoordinates: 44°11′N 22°44′E / 44.183°N 22.733°E | |
| Country |  Bulgaria |
| Provinces (Oblast) |
Vidin |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Sofroni Nikov |
| Elevation | 42 m (138 ft) |
| Population (2008)[1] | |
| • Total | 423 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Postal Code | 3779 |
| Area code(s) | 09344 |
Vrav (Bulgarian: Връв [ˈvrəf], also translated as Vruv, Vrŭv or Vrǎv; Romanian: Vârf)[1] is the northernmost populated place in Bulgaria, part of Bregovo municipality, Vidin Province. Located on the right bank of the Danube at the place where the Timok River empties into it, Vrav is the first Bulgarian port along the Danube's course, it is situated at 44°11′N 22°44′E / 44.183°N 22.733°E, at an elevation of 42 metres above mean sea level, and lies 30 kilometres from the provincial capital Vidin and 12 kilometres from Bregovo. The mayor is Sofroni Nikov. The village along with Bregovo area is known for the best horo dance on the banks of the Danube.
As of 2008, the village has a population of 423.[2] The population is composed of two main linguistic groups, speakers of Bulgarian and Romanian dialects(or "Vlach language"), while the religion is Eastern Orthodox. The majority declare themselves to be Bulgarians, as the 2001 census recorded only 155 Vlachs and 16 Romanians in the entire Vidin Province.[3] It is likely that the majority speak the Bulgarian language as mother tongue, as the 2001 census recorded only 1 114 people which speak languages other than Bulgarian(118 412), Turkish(138) and Roma(9 363) in the entire Vidin Province.[4] Vrav lies opposite the Romanian village Gârla Mare in Mehedinţi County, to which the Vlachs in Vrav are related through kinship ties.[5] The local Vlachs are part of the ethnographic group of the "wet Vlachs" (мокри власи, mokri vlasi), known as such because they live at the confluence of the Timok and the Danube,[6] to contrast them with the "bushy Vlachs" (рунтави власи, runtavi vlasi) of the mountains to the southwest along the Serbian border.[7] According to some researchers, the Vlachs came to those areas in the 18th century.[8]
There are some Ancient Roman ruins near the village, presumably part of the Danubian limes: to the west was the Roman post of Dorticum and to the east was what the locals call chetate (cetate, "fortress"). Vrav already existed in the early 18th century, as it was marked on Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli's map of the area of 1711. According to semi-legendary evidence, the village was founded by seven refugee families from the Banat, with the remainder of the population coming from the surrounding Vlach villages in Serbia and Romania. Its old name was Kosheritse, but as the locals moved it to a hilltop, they changed the name accordingly. In 1900, the village had a population of 1,974 and in 1926: 2,178.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ Romanian (Vlach) name according to Timocul însângerat: 132 de ani de la rãscoala timoceanã. In Bulgarian, the name is identical to the word for "string" or "twine", but in Romanian, vârf means "peak", which is the more likely etymology given the village's location and linguistic history.
- ^ "Таблица на населението по постоянен и настоящ адрес" (in Bulgarian). Главна дирекция "Гражданска регистрация и административно обслужване". 2008-06-16. http://grao.bg/tna/tab02.txt. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- ^ "Население към 01.03.2001 г. по области и етническа група" (in Bulgarian). Национален статистически институт. http://www.nsi.bg/Census/Ethnos.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- ^ "Население към 01.03.2001 г. по области и майчин език" (in Bulgarian). Национален статистически институт. http://www.nsi.bg/Census/MotherTongue.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- ^ Şerban, Stelu (2005). "Власите в България — между "голямата" и "малката" история (The Vlachs from Bulgaria between the ‘Great’ and the ‘Little’ History)" (in Bulgarian). Bulgarian Folklore (1): 59–73.
- ^ "Брегово" (in Bulgarian). Живо наследство. Фондация "Работилница за граждански инициативи". 2008. http://www.eurofootball.bg/downloads/Jivo_nasledstvo_08.pdf.
- ^ Nikolov, Ivan; Svetla Rakshieva (1995). "Власите — портрет и автопортрет (The Wallachians: A Portrait and a Self-Portrait)" (in Bulgarian). Bulgarian Ethnology (5): 107–120.
- ^ "Етнически малцинствени общности" (in Bulgarian). Национален съвет за сътрудничество по етническите и демографските въпроси. http://www.nccedi.government.bg/page.php?category=92&id=247. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- ^ "История на Ново село" (in Bulgarian). NovoSelo.org. http://www.novoselo.org/books_n_history/part_one.html. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
