At the first census after the\u00a0Liberation of Bulgaria<\/a>\u00a0in 1880 with 24 053 citizens\u00a0Plovdiv is the second largest city behind\u00a0Ruse<\/a>, which had 26 163 citizens then,\u00a0while the capital\u00a0Sofia<\/a>\u00a0had 20 501 citizens then. As of the 1887 census Plovdiv was the largest city in the country for several years with 33,032 inhabitants compared to 30,428 for Sofia. According to the 1946 census Plovdiv was the second largest city with 126,563 inhabitants compared to 487,000 for the capital.<\/p>\n In its ethnic character Plovdiv is the second or the third largest cosmopolitan city inhabited by\u00a0Bulgarians<\/a>\u00a0after\u00a0Sofia<\/a>\u00a0and possibly\u00a0Varna<\/a>. According to the 2001 census from population of 338 224 inhabitants the Bulgarians were 302 858 (90%).\u00a0Stolipinovo<\/a>\u00a0in Plovdiv is the largest Gypsy neighbourhood in the\u00a0Balkans<\/a>, having a population of around 20,000 alone, further Gypsy ghettos are\u00a0Hadji Hassan Mahala<\/a>\u00a0andSheker Mahala<\/a>. Therefore the census number is a deflation of the number of the Gypsies and they are most likely the second largest group after the Bulgarians, most of all because the Muslim Gypsies in Plovdiv claim to be of Turkish ethnicity and Turkish-speaking at the census (“Xoraxane<\/a>\u00a0Roma”).\u00a0For further information see the article\u00a0The Gypsies in Plovdiv<\/a>.<\/p>\n After the Wars for National Union (Balkan Wars<\/a>\u00a0and World War I) the city became home for thousands of refugees from the former Bulgarian lands in\u00a0Macedonia<\/a>,\u00a0Western<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Eastern Thrace<\/a>. Many of the old neighbourhoods are still referred to as\u00a0Belomorski<\/em>,\u00a0Vardarski<\/em>. Most of the Jews left the city after the foundation of\u00a0Israel<\/a>\u00a0in 1948, as well as most of the Turks and Greeks. Prior to the population exchange, as of 1 January 1885, the city of Plovdiv had a population of 33,442, of which 16,752 were\u00a0Bulgarians<\/a>\u00a0(50%), 7,144\u00a0Turks<\/a>\u00a0(21%), 5,497\u00a0Greeks<\/a>\u00a0(16%), 2,168 Jews (6%), 1,061\u00a0Armenians<\/a>\u00a0(3%), 151\u00a0Italians<\/a>, 112Germans<\/a>, 112\u00a0Romani people<\/a>, 80\u00a0French people<\/a>, 61\u00a0Russians<\/a>\u00a0and 304 people of other nationalities.<\/p>\n The vast majority of the inhabitants are Christians \u2013 mostly\u00a0Eastern Orthodox<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 and there are Catholics,\u00a0Eastern Catholics<\/a>\u00a0and Protestant trends (Adventists<\/a>,\u00a0Baptists<\/a>\u00a0and others). There are also someMuslims<\/a>\u00a0and Jews. In Plovdiv there are many churches, two mosques and one synagogue (see\u00a0Plovdiv Synagogue<\/a>)<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.plovdiv.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/057eb12577b385e0258d69d761f94815.png\" "\\"057eb12577b385e0258d69d761f94815\\"")
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