Smolyan Province in the context of "Pamporovo"

Pirin Macedonia or Bulgarian Macedonia (Bulgarian: Пиринска Македония; Българска Македония) (Pirinska Makedoniya or Bulgarska Makedoniya), which today is in southwestern Bulgaria, is the third-biggest part of the geographical region of Macedonia. This part coincides with the borders of Blagoevgrad Province, as well as the surrounding area of Barakovo from Kyustendil Province. After World War I, Strumica and the surrounding area were broken away from the region and were ceded to Yugoslavia.

It covers an area of about 6,798 km, which is 10.18% of the geographical region of Macedonia. One of the regional centers is Blagoevgrad. The region borders Kyustendil Province and Sofia Province to the north, Pazardzhik Province and Smolyan Province to the east, Greece to the south, and North Macedonia to the west. The population is estimated around 290,000 people.

The Trigrad Gorge (Bulgarian: Триградско ждрело, pronounced [triˈɡratsko ʒdrɛˈɫɔ]) is a canyon of vertical marble rocks in the Rhodope Mountains, part of the Dobrostan Formation (Proterozoic). It is in Smolyan Province, one of the southernmost provinces of Bulgaria.

The gorge encloses the course of the Trigradska River, which plunges into the Devil's Throat Cave and 530 metres (1,740 ft) further emerges as a large karst spring. It later flows into the River Buynovska.

Smolyan (Bulgarian: Смолян) is a town and ski resort in the south of Bulgaria near the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the Smolyan Province. The town is built along the narrow valley of the Cherna ('black') and the Byala ('white') river in the central Rhodope Mountains. It is located at the foot of the mountain's highest peak Golyam Perelik (2191 m). Popular ski resorts of Pamporovo and Chepelare lie in the vicinity. As of June 2022 the town has a population of 30 689 inhabitants.

Islam in Bulgaria is a minority religion and the second largest religion in the country after Christianity. According to the 2021 Census, the total number of Muslims in Bulgaria stood at 638,708 corresponding to 9.8% of the population. Ethnically, Muslims in Bulgaria are Turks, Bulgarians and Roma, living mainly in parts of northeastern Bulgaria (mainly in Razgrad, Targovishte, Shumen and Silistra Provinces) and in the Rhodope Mountains (mainly in Kardzhali Province and Smolyan Province).

The Muslim Bulgarians (Bulgarian: Българи-мохамедани, romanized: Bǎlgari-mohamedani, lit. 'Bulgarian Mohammedans', as of recently also Българи-мюсюлмани, Bǎlgari-mjusjulmani, locally called Pomak, ahryan, poganets, marvak, or poturnak) are Bulgarians who follow the faith of Islam. They are generally thought to be the descendants of the indigenous Slavs who converted to Islam during Ottoman rule. Most scholars have agreed that the Bulgarian Muslims are a "religious group of Bulgarian Slavs who speak Bulgarian as their mother tongue and do not understand Turkish, but whose religion and customs are Islamic". Bulgarian Muslims live mostly in the Rhodopes – Smolyan Province, the southern part of the Pazardzhik and Kardzhali Provinces and the eastern part of the Blagoevgrad Province in Southern Bulgaria. They also live in a group of villages in the Lovech Province in Northern Bulgaria. The name Pomak is pejorative in Bulgarian and is resented by most members of the community, The name adopted and used instead of Pomak is Bulgarian Muslims.

Bulgarian Muslims do not represent a homogenous community and have a multitude of ethnic and religious identities. A clear majority of them (127,350 according to the latest census in 2001) declare themselves to be ethnic Bulgarians of Islamic faith. However, a significant percentage, in particular in the Central and Eastern Rhodopes (the Smolyan and Kardzhali Province) are strongly religious and have preserved the Muslim name system, customs and clothing, the Smolyan Province, which is largely populated by Bulgarian Muslims (approximately 117,000 or 71% of the population according to the Ministry of Interior in 1989). According to the 2001 census, 43 municipalities out of 262 have a Muslim majority. There were five municipalities with a Muslim population over 90 percent: Chernoochene (96.8 percent) has the highest share of Muslims, followed by Venets (95.9 percent), Satovcha (91.3 percent), Ruen (90.9 percent) and Kaolinovo (90.0 percent)(122,806 or 87.7%) and that only 58,758 people or 41.9% of the population of the province declared to profess Islam in 2001.

Arda (Bulgarian: Арда) is a village in Smolyan Municipality, located in the Smolyan Province of southern Bulgaria. It is located 173.424 km from Sofia and the village covers an area of 17.928 km. As of 2007, the village had a population of 314 people.

The village is located 30 km south of Smolyan. The village is mentioned in records of the Ottoman Empire, indicating 13 soldiers in the army were from the village. A census in 1912-1913 indicated a population of 200.

Rudozem (Bulgarian: Рудозем [rudoˈzɛm]) is a town in southern Bulgaria, near the Greek border, located in the Rhodope Mountains, where the Elhovo and Chepino rivers flow into the Arda, and is part of Smolyan Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Rudozem Municipality. As of December 2009, the town had a population of 3,583.

The name Rudozem is a compound word made up of Bulgarian ruda (руда) meaning "ore"; and the root zem (зем) meaning "land". It refers to the wealth of the area in mineral resources. Its former name is Palas. During the rule of the Ottoman Empire, it was part of the Ottoman İskeçe sanjak in Edirne vilayet between 1867 and 1912.