ABOUT BULGARIA

Bulgaria (bŭlgâr'ēu) [key], Bulgarian Balgarija, officially Republic of Bulgaria, republic (2005 est. pop. 7,450,000), 42,823 sq mi (110,912 sq km), SE Europe, on the E Balkan Peninsula. It is bounded by the Black Sea on the east, by Romania on the north, by Serbia and Macedonia on the west, by Greece on the south, and by European Turkey on the southeast. Sofia is the capital....
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GENERAL INFORMATION

Bulgaria is situated in the South-East part of Europe.
Area: 110,993.6 km2.
Population: 7.97 million
To the north Bulgaria borders Romania.
To the south - with Greece and Turkey.
To the west - with Serbia and Montenegro and Macedonia.
To the east - with the Black Sea.
Capital City: Sofia (population: 1,122,302)
The capital city Sofia is situated in the Western...Read more !

NATIONAL SYMBOLS – FLAG, COAT-OF-ARMS, ANTHEM

Bulgaria’s National Flag
The national flag of the Republic of Bulgaria is rectangular in shape and consists of three colors: white, green and red, placed horizontally from the top downwards. The coloured pieces are the same in shape and dimensions:
Shape: rectangular, the width-length ratio being 3:5.
When hoisted vertically, the flag’s maximum length can reach...Read more !

HISTORY

The territory of Bulgaria has been inhabited since the earliest historical times.

Bulgaria’s historical heritage is related to the rich culture of Ancient Thrace. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Bulgarian land was incorporated in the Byzantine Empire.

In the second half of the 7^th century, today’s northeastern Bulgaria was inhabited by Proto-Bulgarians. In...Read more !

BULGARIAN PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

1 January – New Year’s Day
3 March – National Holiday (Bulgaria’s Day of Liberation from the Ottoman Rule)
1 May – Labour Day
6 May – St. George’s Day, Day of the Bulgarian Army
24 May – Day of Bulgarian Enlightenment and Culture and of Slavonic Alphabet
6 September –...Read more !

Economy

Until 1989, Bulgaria had a Soviet-style economy in which nearly all agricultural and industrial enterprises were state-controlled. A stagnant economy, shortages of food, energy, and consumer goods, an enormous foreign debt, and an obsolete and inefficient industrial complex instigated attempts at market-oriented reform in the 1990s. Traditionally an agricultural country, Bulgaria has been...Read more !

Land and People

Central Bulgaria is traversed from east to west by ranges of the Balkan Mts. (Stara Planina, or “Old Mountains” in Bulgarian). A fertile plateau runs north of the Balkans to the Danube River, which forms most of the northern border. In the southwest is the Rhodope range, which includes Bulgaria's highest point, Musala Mt. (9,592 ft/2,923 m). The Thracian plain lies south of the...Read more !