Shumen is the tenth-largest city in Bulgaria and the capital of Shumen Province. As of February 2011, the town has a population of

80,885 inhabitants.

The city lies 80 km west of Varna. It’s built within a cluster of hills, northern outliers of the eastern Balkans, which curve round it on the west and north in the shape of a horse-shoe. A rugged ravine intersects the ground longitudinally within the horse-shoe ridge. From Shumen roads radiate northwards to the Danubian cities of Rousse and Silistra and to Dobruja, southwards to the passes of the Balkans, and eastwards to Varna and Balchik.

According to Census 2011, Shumen has a population of 82,557 inhabitants as of February 2011. The number of the residents of the city reached its peak in the period 1990-1991 when exceeded 110,000. The following table presents the change of the population after the liberation of the country in 1878.

During the Golden Age of Bulgarian culture under Simeon the Great (866-927), Shumen was a centre of cultural and religious activity, and had the name Simeonis. Until the 15th century, the city was located around the Shumen Fortress, a sophisticated complex of defensive installations, religious and civil buildings.

In 1388 the sultan Murad I forced it to surrender to the Ottoman Turks. After Władysław Warneńczyk's unsuccessful crusade in 1444, the city was destroyed by the Ottomans and moved to its present location. On the 22nd June 1878 Shumen finally capitulated to the Russians and became part of the newly-independent Principality of Bulgaria. In 1882 the Shumen Brewery, one of the first breweries in Bulgaria, was founded.

Shumen has 11 primary and 5 secondary schools, as well as 2 high schools. The University of Shumen and the Artillery and Air Defense Faculty are the only higher education establishments in the city. The former operates a small astronomical observatory.

PFC Panayot Volov is the local football club, and uses a stadium of the same name as its home ground. Basketball, volleyball and handball are also performed, and most of the games are held at the Mladost sports centre.Other sporting activities include martial arts (mostly karate) and horse racing.

Shumen boasts the Monument to 1300 Years of Bulgaria, regarded as the only monument in the world to depict the history of a whole country from its creation to the present day.

The Madara Horseman, a World Heritage Site and an only such example of medieval rock art in Europe, is an ancient (710 AD) monument usually attributed to the Bulgarian culture, and lies some 20 km from Shumen.

The Shumen Fortress, partially restored after being destroyed by the Ottomans in the past, is an important historical monument of the medieval Bulgarian Empire. It is located not far from the city on the Shumen Plateau.