Kyustendil

Kyustendil
Кюстендил
Town
Coat of arms of Kyustendil
Kyustendil is located in Bulgaria
Kyustendil
Kyustendil
Location of Kyustendil
Coordinates: 42°17′N 22°41′E / 42.283°N 22.683°E / 42.283; 22.683
CountryBulgaria
Province
(Oblast)
Kyustendil
Government
 • MayorOgnyan Atanasov
Area
 • Town28.72 km2 (11.09 sq mi)
 • Urban
979.91 km2 (378.35 sq mi)
Elevation
560 m (1,840 ft)
Population
 (2024)
 • Town43,594
 • Density2,329/km2 (6,030/sq mi)
 • Urban
61,642
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal Code
2500
Area code078
Vehicle registrationKH

Kyustendil (Bulgarian: Кюстендил [kʲustenˈdiɫ]) is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of the Kyustendil Province, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see.

The town is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Valley, near the borders of Serbia and North Macedonia; 90 km southwest of Sofia, 130 km northeast of Skopje and 243 km north of Thessaloniki. The population is 37 799, with a Bulgarian majority and a Roma minority. During the Iron Age, a Thracian settlement was located within the town, later known as Roman in the 1st century AD. In the Middle Ages, the town switched hands between the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria and Serbia, prior to Ottoman annexation in 1395. After centuries of Ottoman rule, the town became part of an independent Bulgarian state in 1878.