Funded by European Commission DG Research, 6th Framework Programme

Kyustendil Province is a province in western Bulgaria, neighbouring the Republic of Macedonia and Serbia. Its main city is Kyustendil, while other towns include Dupnitsa, Bobov dol, Kocherinovo, Boboshevo, Separeva banya, and Rila.

The Kyustendil Province is situated in the South-Western part of Bulgaria, extends over an area of 3084,30 sq.km. (constituting 2,7% of the total territory of the Republic of Bulgaria), and has a population of 173 889. It borders the Provinces of Sofia, Pernik and Blagoevgrad, while to the west, its limits coincide with the state borders between Bulgaria and the FYROM, and Bulgaria and the Republic of Serbia.

The administrative, commercial and cultural center of the Province is Kyustendil.

The Region of Kyustendil includes 9 municipalities: Kyustendil, Dupnitsa, Bobov dol, Sapareva banya, Rila, Kocherinovo, Nevestino, Boboshevo, Treklyano with a total of 182 settlements. The regional administrative center is the town of Kyustendil situated in its Southwestern part: the Kyustendil lowerland. The town also serves as the administrative center of the municipality of Kyustendil (with an area of 923 sq.km., this Municipality represents 30,2% of the total territory of the Region), with a population of 73 346, of whom 51 300 are residents of the town area.

Four main transport routes pass through Kyustendil: from the FYROM on the Skopie-Sofia high-way; from the FRY on the Nish-Bosilegrad-Kyustendil high-way; through Dupnitsa and Kyustendil passes the oldest commercial road that for centuries has linked Constantinople and the Adriatic Sea. Kyustendil has managed to preserve is historical, ecological and cultural heritage. It is a contemporary Bulgarian administrative center, whose future is mostly seen in the development of cultural tourism, and modern rehabilitation resort centers by the hot mineral water springs.