The municipality embraces a territory of 630 km2 (240 sq mi) with a population of 101,597 inhabitants, as of December 2009.

[1] Currently, the eastern operating section of Hemus motorway connects the main town with the port of Varna.

Aside from the rich cultural landmarks of the main city, the area is most known with the National Historical and Archaeological Reserve that includes the famous Madara Rider near the homonymous village.

Shumen Municipality includes the following 27 places (towns are shown in bold): The following table shows the change of the population during the last four decades.

According to the 2011 census, among those who answered the optional question on ethnic identification, the ethnic composition of the municipality was the following: According to the latest Bulgarian census of 2011, the religious composition, among those who answered the optional question on religious identification, was the following: