Social Differences between the Territorial Entities – State and Changes

The objective of the study is to determine, analyze and evaluate the state and development of the social differences between the territorial entities in Bulgaria for the period 2003-2004. The study is carried out consecutively at three levels – municipalities, districts and planning regions. The concrete research tasks concern carrying out of: (a) at municipality level – analysis and evaluation of the ranking and differentiation of the municipalities by chosen social indicators in 2004; analysis and evaluation of the changes in the ranking and in the differentiation of the municipalities by generalizing evaluations of their state; (b) at district level – analysis and evaluation of the social differences between the districts and of the changes in the differentiation between them; (c) at planning regions level – analysis and evaluation of the social differences between these territorial entities and of the changes in the differentiation between them; (d) generalizations and conclusions for the identified territorial social differences. Using a model, based on the taxonomic method, are calculated and analyzed generalizing evaluations of the social state of the territorial entities in Bulgaria. The evaluations are based on statistical information for the following indicators: size of the average work salary; size of paid social benefits per inhabitant; share of the population in water-usage regime from the water-supplied population; number of doctors and number of dentists per 1000 inhabitants.