Vrav

) [Romanian (Vlach) name according to " [http://www.centruldestudii.ro/acub_pro/05_Revista.pdf Timocul însângerat: 132 de ani de la rãscoala timoceanã] ". In Bulgarian, the name is identical to the word for "string" or "twine", but in Romanian, "vârf" means "peak", which is the more likely etymology given the village's location and linguistic history.] is a village in northwestern Bulgaria, part of Bregovo municipality, Vidin Province. Located on the right bank of the Danube at the place where the Timok River empties into it, Vrav is the northernmost populated place in Bulgaria and the first Bulgarian port along the Danube's course. The village has a Vlach population and lies 30 kilometres from the provincial capital Vidin and 12 kilometres from Bregovo.

As of 2008, the village has a population of 423. [cite web |url=http://grao.bg/tna/tab02.txt |publisher=Главна дирекция "Гражданска регистрация и административно обслужване" |language=Bulgarian |title=Таблица на населението по постоянен и настоящ адрес |date=2008-06-16 |accessdate=2008-09-12 ] and the mayor is Sofroni Nikov. Vrav is situated at coord|44|11|N|22|44|E, at an elevation of 42 metres above mean sea level.

Vrav lies opposite the Romanian village Gârla Mare in Mehedinţi County, to which the residents of Vrav are related through kinship ties. [cite journal |title=Власите в Българияmdash между "голямата" и "малката" история (The Vlachs from Bulgaria between the ‘Great’ and the ‘Little’ History) |last=Şerban |first=Stelu |language=Bulgarian |issue=1 |year=2005 |pages=pp. 59-73 |journal=Bulgarian Folklore ] The area is known for its characteristic "horo" dance. The locals are part of the ethnographic group of the "wet Vlachs" (мокри власи, "mokri vlasi"), known as such because they live at the confluence of the Timok and the Danube, [cite book |title=Живо наследство |chapter=Брегово |year=2008 |publisher=Фондация "Работилница за граждански инициативи" |language=Bulgarian |url=http://www.eurofootball.bg/downloads/Jivo_nasledstvo_08.pdf ] to contrast them with the "bushy Vlachs" (рунтави власи, "runtavi vlasi") of the mountains to the southwest along the Serbian border. [cite journal |title=Власите mdash портрет и автопортрет (The Wallachians: A Portrait and a Self-Portrait) |language=Bulgarian |year=1995 |issue=5 |pages=pp. 107-120 |journal=Bulgarian Ethnology |last=Nikolov |first=Ivan |coauthors=Svetla Rakshieva] The population is Eastern Orthodox and speaks an old Romanian dialect or "Vlach language" alongside Bulgarian. According to some researchers, the Vlachs came to those areas in the 18th century. [cite web |title=Етнически малцинствени общности |url=http://www.nccedi.government.bg/page.php?category=92&id=247 |publisher=Национален съвет за сътрудничество по етническите и демографските въпроси |language=Bulgarian |accessdate=2008-09-12 ] They declare themselves to be Bulgarians, however, as the 2001 census recorded only 155 Vlachs and 16 Romanians in the entirety of Vidin Province. [cite web |url=http://www.nsi.bg/Census/Ethnos.htm |title=Население към 01.03.2001 г. по области и етническа група |publisher=Национален статистически институт |language=Bulgarian |accessdate=2008-09-12 ]

There are some Ancient Roman ruins near the village, presumably part of the Danubian limes: to the west was the Roman post of "Dorticum" and to the east was what the locals call "chetate" ("cetate", "fortress"). Vrav already existed in the early 18th century, as it was marked on Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli's map of the area of 1711. According to semi-legendary evidence, the village was founded by seven refugee families from the Banat, with the remainder of the population coming from the surrounding Vlach villages in Serbia and Romania. Its old name was "Kosheritse", but as the locals moved it to a hilltop, they changed the name accordingly. In 1900, the village had a population of 1,974 and in 1926: 2,178. [cite web |title=История на Ново село |chapter=Част първа |language=Bulgarian |url=http://www.novoselo.org/books_n_history/part_one.html |publisher=NovoSelo.org |accessdate=2008-09-12 ]

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