DEFINITION, BORDERS AND CLASSIFICATION OF RURAL AREAS IN BULGARIA

The article is devoted to the essence, borders and classification of rural areas in Bulgaria. The base is the various author's views on the specifics of rural areas and their immanent traits. The positions of National and European institutions are taking prime place through which economic and social criteria, normative constraints and parameters for classifying areas are developed. National characteristics, typifying and differentiating characteristics of rural areas in various European countries are discussed.