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. |