Sofia District General Information
Sofia district is unique district for Bulgaria. It is the only region that does not have a major city, but includes many small, but important towns situated around Sofia city. There are 22 municipalities in Sofia region. The district borders Montana, Vratza, Lovech, Plovdiv, Pazardjik, Blagoevgrad, Kyustendil, Pernik and Sofia city districts.

The region has varied relief; it includes mountains, kettles, plains and hills. Many rivers pass through the district. The most notable are Iskur - the longest river in Bulgaria; and Maritza – the largest river in Bulgaria by volume.

Three European transport corridors are passing through the district. This is due to the fact that the district surrounds Sofia city: number 4 (Budapest – Vidin – Sofia – Thessalonнki), number 8 (Skopje – Sofia – Burgas – Varna), number 10 (Belgrade – Sofia – Plovdiv – Istanbul).

Sofia District Economy
The proximity to Sofia city has a very positive effect on the development of the district as a whole, particularly Bozhourishte, Svoge, Ihtiman, Elin Pelin and Kostinbrod. There has been a 45 % increase in the GDP of the region between 1999 and 2002. The district takes third place in FDI after Sofia city district and Varna.

The extracting industry is very developed in the district, because it is relatively rich in ores and nonmetallic minerals. There are finds of manganese ores in Bozhourishte. One the biggest finds of copper are in Etropole. There is also gold in the copper ores there, but the biggest % of gold in copper ores is in Chelopech. There are limestone finds in Slivnitsa and Dragoman, clay in Godech, Botevgrad, Kostenets and Kostinbrod, quartz sands in Bozhourishte and Elin Pelin, china clay in Elin Pelin.

The district has 280,000 ha of arable land. 23,000 ha are cultivated with grain crops and 10,000 ha with sunflower. The forests account for 300,000 ha.

Here are the industries that are developed in the district according to the town:

1. Chelopech – extracting industry. The biggest and richest copper-gold find in Europe is situated next to the village.
2. Botevgrad – bus industry, microelectronics, chemical industry
3. Dolna Banya – balneological tourism
4. Koprivshtica – historical and cultural tourism. The town is visited by 175,000 Bulgarians and 35,000 foreigners annually.
5. Samokov – tourism. The ski resort Borovetz is situated close to the village. It is a very popular ski resort in Bulgarian with many deluxe hotels and high-end restaurants. Borovetz has been hosting Alpine Skiing World Cup competitions and is one of Bulgaria's most spectacular winter landscapes and well-recognized tourist destination in Europe.
6. Pirdop – metallurgy and extracting industries
7. Bozhourishte - there are ecologically clean places where agriculture is concentrated in herb-planting.