The Black Sea coast is hilly and verdant, mostly cliff, with a couple of rocky headlands (Cape Galata, Cape St. Athanasius), several expansive sand beaches, the largest of which, at the mouths of the rivers Kamchiya and Shkorpilovska, is nearly 13 km (8.1 mi) long and up to 200–300 m wide, and many small cove beaches.

Agricultural lands cover 60% of the area, with fertile chernozem soils mostly in the north and west; forests—28.1% (with some of the oldest oak massives in the nation), mostly in the south; and urban zones—6.8%.

The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town (in bold) or village, and the population of each in December 2009.

Ethnic groups according to the 2001 census, when 462 013 people of the population of 462,013 of Varna Province identified themselves (with percentage of total population):[12] The ethnic composition at the 2001 census included Bulgarians—85.3%; Turks—8.1%; Romani—3.4% (there are a few mostly Roma-populated villages such as Lyuben Karavelovo in Aksakovo municipality—inhabited by Boyash of the Kopanari subgroup); Armenians—0.6%; Russians—0.3% (including about 340 Cossacks in the Lipovan village of Kazashko); and smaller numbers of Ukrainians, Jews, Greeks, Crimean Tatars, Circassians, Vlachs, and others.

Several rural villages in the municipalities of Aksakovo, Suvorovo, and Valchidol, as well as the Vinitsa district of Varna, have historically been populated mostly by Gagauz.

Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:[14] The area has been populated at least since the Neolith and was a major centre of an Eneolithic culture with unique skills in metallurgy and seafaring, with a developed social structure and religion (see Varna Necropolis, site of arguably the oldest man-made gold treasure in the world).

It is believed that Saint Andrew founded the local Christian church and his disciple Ampliatus served as bishop at Odessus.

The peasant war of Ivailo in the late 13th century started from the region, which at the time was plagued by Tatar raids and was finally subdued by the Ottomans in 1389.

Under the Ottomans, the population became extremely diverse, with significant number of Turks and other Muslim peoples arriving from Asia Minor, the steppes north of the Black Sea, and the Caucasus, along with Orthodox Christian Gagauz, Armenians, and Sephardic Jews from Thessaloniki.

In June 2007, Eni and Gazprom disclosed the South Stream project whereby a 900 km-long offshore natural gas pipeline from Russia's Dzhubga with annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters is planned to come ashore possibly at Pasha dere, near the Galata offshore gas field, en route to Italy and Austria.

Nowadays it is the nation's main port for both naval and commercial shipping and, adjacent as it is to the coastal resorts of Constantine and Helena, Riviera, Golden Sands, and Kamchia.

Sailors on shore-leave in unfamiliar ceremonial uniforms, mingle with foreign tourists and locals as they promenade along shady boulevards, lined by dignified 19th and early 20th century buildings.

The 19th century Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral is an imposing landmark, which contains a finely carved iconostasis and bishop's throne, some interesting murals and stained glass.

During this century enough has been revealed by archaeologists to give a good impression of the original layout, though some parts of the building remain hidden under nearby streets.

Coming across an extensive ancient building amidst the streets and houses of a modern city is not unusual in Bulgaria and is a delight.