The light industry is one of the main and most important priority industries in the Bulgarian economy. It includes the production of textiles, clothing, and leather. Its development affects the state of the overall economy in the country. Despite the numerous studies that use GIS, in Bulgaria, there are no publications on the application of statistical analysis with the ArcGIS software. The study aims to apply Geographic cluster analysis using ArcGIS software in a study of the light industry in Bulgaria for the period 2010-2020. The grouping of the areas by the considered indicators in the present study was performed with the Grouping Analysis tool. NO_SPATIAL_CONSTRAINT is selected for the Spatial Constraints parameter and FIND_SEED_LOCATIONS for the Initialization Method. In this case, using the K-Means algorithm to partition features into groups. It is one of GIS applications’ most popular and widely used clustering algorithms. The areas are grouped into 10 clusters. The selection of indicators based on which the clusters are formed follows the generally accepted indicators for assessing the state and importance of the food industry in the economy’s structure and their information accessibility. The following indicators were used output for 2010, 2015, and 2020, employees for 2010, 2015, and 2020, and export earnings for 2010, 2015, and 2020 for the given territorial unit the territorial distribution of the population, in combination with the historical and modern economic development of the settlements, forms the regional differences in the development of the light industry in the country. The cluster analysis of certain indicators for the assessment of the light industry at the NUTS 3 level for 2010, 2015, and 2020 shows some change in the trends in the territorial development of the industry. The cluster analysis shows that there are slight territorial differences at the NUTS 3 level in production, with large consumer centers and markets being

Aleksandra Ravnachka, Velimira Stoyanova
National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy, and Geography – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
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