Lovech General Information
Lovech is one of the oldest towns in Bulgaria. Its territory and surroundings have been inhabited ever since the remote past, a prerequisite for which is the favorable geographic situation between the mountain and the plain. Lovech is bordered by Pleven, Vratza, Sofia, Plovdiv, Gabrovo and Veliko Tarnovo districts Remains of the Old Stone Age, the New Stone Age, the Bronze and the Iron epoch have been found in the caves Tabashka and Vasil Levski in the town of Lovech. There is a lot of evidence for the life of the first citizens of Lovech - The Thracians, during ІV–ІІІ century BC.

Lovech municipality is situated in the middle part of the Danube hilly plain (lower lay-by of Osam river), it includes the most northern spur of the middle parts of Fore-Balkan to the south, crosses Devetashko plateau and part of Lovech high lands to the east, the eastern part of Begleshko-Radyuvenski plain and a hilly region to the west.

2/3 of the land is mountain land, the rest of it is semi-mountain and only a little portion is plain land. The climate is very mild, temperate-continental, in the plain part of the district and continental in the mountain part. The rivers Vit, Osam, and Vidima are the main water-suppliers of Lovech region. The forests account for 1,582,000 decares, which is 40% of the total area of the district.

Lovech is not very populated the density of 43.6 people per square km is far below the country average of 73.4. In terms of the age of the population, the common tendency for the country is that the portion of people 65 years old or more is growing up, while the portion of children 15 years old or less is going down – a proof of the fact that the nation is getting old. There is a decrease of the population over the last 10 years.

The town is of a compact shape and it occupies the river terraces of Osam river. The average above sea level is 200 m. A variety to the landscape is Akbair hill (450 above sea level), which bounds the town from the south and which east and south slopes come down the Osam valley with beautiful rock formations. The main part of the town of Lovech is located in its lower part of 150-190 m. above sea level with terrain inclination 3-8%. The earth formation is mainly a hilly one, to the north east part – hilly and plain one. The town of Lovech is located in the Middle Fore-Balkan. It is located in a valley, formed by Lovech high lands and it is widely opened to the north. Lovech high lands resemble long rising grounds and hills with predominantly plain ridges and steep on the top slopes along the Osam valley.

The pride of Lovech is the covered bridge over the river Osam. Built up in 1874 by Master Kolyo Ficheto - length 84 m, with 64 small shops on 23 of August 1925 it was burned by a fire. It was erected again in 1927-1931 as a ferro-concrete covered bridge, reconstructed and restored several times. Today its length is 106 m.

On the territory of Lovech district is situated the bigger part of the national park Central Balkan, which is stretching on 71,669.5 ha. The park is one of Europe’s biggest and most valuable protected areas because it has unique, self-supporting mountain ecosystems. There are more than 1900 different plants registered in the park, 11 of which exist only there. Central Balkan is Europe’s biggest protected old beech tree reserve.

Lovech Economy
Lovech district contributes with 3.5% to the GDP of Bulgaria. In accordance with the realized income the greatest share belongs to the Industry - 45 %, which comprises the following sectors: Output and manufacturing, Production of electricity, gas and water, Construction. Ranging next by importance are: Automobile and household trade and repair - 41.8 %, Agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishery - 3 %. Despite of the presence of favorable conditions and a number of natural landmarks, the tourism remains barely developed and is fully dominated (about 99%) by the inner country tourism.

The registered unemployment is a little less than 14%.

In terms of the GVA, the Services sector accounts for 50%, the Agricultural sector – 20% (2.8% of the Bulgaria’s total GVA coming from agriculture) and the Industry contributes with 30%.

Even though 2/3 of the land in the district is mountain land, the agriculture is developed very well. The mountain soils are also very rich and fertile and allow different kinds of cultivation. Lovech is very rich of natural resources as a whole. There are 1,700,000 decares of arable land in the district. The sowings are of industrial crops, fruits and vegetables; plums, apples, peaches, cherry trees, walnuts, vines and grasses.

Textile industry is developed very well – the biggest factory for leathers and leather clothes in Eastern Europe is in Lovech. Another big factory, which is also active on the international market, is the factory for electric hand appliances. Other manufacturing and products include: meat, flour and dairy products; juices; canned fruits and vegetables; dog and cat food; bicycles; woodwork and furniture.