Pernik

Pernik is a town in western Bulgaria, the administrative center of Pernik district and Pernik municipality. According to the latest NSI data, as of December 31, 2018, its population is 73,111, which makes it the most numerous city in Western Bulgaria after the capital Sofia and ranks it 11th in the country.

The city hosts one of the largest festivals in Europe - the international masquerade mummer festival "Surva". Pernik is a member of the Federation of European Carnival Cities, as well as its headquarters for Bulgaria. In 2009 it was officially declared the European Carnival Capital because of this festival.

Since its inception in the 9th century, the city is called Pernik. The first records of sedentary life in the region of Pernik date back to 6000 BC (early Neolithic). In the years before it finally fell under Byzantine rule, the city served as the capital of the lands between the Danube and the Balkan Mountains. Today the city is among the industrial centers of Bulgaria.

Location
It is located 25 km southwest of Sofia, 59 km northeast of Kyustendil, 70 km north of Blagoevgrad.

Transport
Pernik is an important transport center with convenient railway connections to the capital Sofia, to the regional cities of Blagoevgrad and Kyustendil and to the border checkpoint Kulata - Promahon. Road transport is developed in the city. Passenger transport is carried out mainly by the municipal transport company.

In the past, one of the oldest and most important trade routes in the Balkans, Sofia-Thessaloniki, passed through Pernik. In addition to part of the railway line connecting Central Europe and Greece, sections of the Pan-European Transport Corridors 4 and 8 also pass by the city today, respectively via Tabliczka E79.svg European road E79 - Lyulin motorway, Struma motorway, European road E871.

Climate
Pernik is in the temperate-continental climate area, and only the Vitosha slope is in the mountain climate area. Climatic conditions are determined by the relatively high average altitude - 750 m.

A characteristic feature of the climate are the ground temperature inversions, especially during the winter months. Spring comes relatively late - in late March and early April. The average spring temperature is +9 ° С. For summer the average seasonal temperature is 19.9 ° С. The hottest month is July - average monthly temperature 29.6 ° С. The absolute maximum temperature is 38.1 ° C. Autumn is warmer than spring, the average seasonal temperature is 10 ° С. With westerly and southwesterly winds, which are prevalent, on the northern slopes of Golo Bardo there is a fyon, which is most typical in spring. The number of foggy days during the year is relatively large - 28.8 days. In the warm half of the year they are 2.5, and in the cold - 26.3 days.

Precipitation has a pronounced continental character. They play a major role in the processes of pollution and self-cleaning of the atmosphere from pollutants. Their quantity, together with the relatively low summer temperatures, is the reason for the weaker summer droughts than in the lowlands in Northern and Central Bulgaria. The average annual amount of precipitation is 550 - 606 mm, and the average precipitation by seasons is as follows: spring - 162, summer - 165, autumn - 152, winter - 128 mm. The wettest month is May, and the least rainfall is in March. The relatively high amount of precipitation is a positive factor for only the purification of the atmosphere, but reduces dissipation and leads to a significantly higher load on soils and surface waters.