Plovdiv municipal triangle of Plovdiv, including Maritsa municipality and Rodopi municipality. Population of Plovdiv: At the first census after the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1880 with 24,053 citizens, Plovdiv is the second largest city behind Ruse, which had 26,163 citizens then, and ahead of the capital Sofia, which had 20,501 citizens then. As of the 1887 census, Plovdiv was the largest city in the country for several years with 33,032 inhabitants compared to 30,428 for Sofia. According to the 1946 census, Plovdiv was the second largest city with 126,563 inhabitants compared to 487,000 for the capital. In its ethnic character Plovdiv
PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv Another merger follows in 1945 with the "Catholic" club "Parchevich". After this wave of mergers, like many others in the country, the club is renamed to an abbreviation of the biggest clubs merged - the new name is "S.P.-45", meaning "Sportclub Parchevich - 1945". However, because of the "Western" phrasing ("sport" and "club" are non-Slavic words) the team is renamed again before the start of the season - the name of the club becomes ""Slavia" Plovdiv". In 1947 a new wave of consolidations of the sport organisations in the country sees Slavia Plovdiv merge with the team of the cooperative