More about Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country located in south-eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbiaand Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. With a territory of 110,994 square kilometres, Bulgaria is Europe's 14th-largest country.
Organised prehistoric cultures began developing on Bulgarian lands during the Neolithic period. Its ancient history saw the presence of the Thracians and later the Greeks and Romans. The emergence of a unified Bulgarian state dates back to the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 681 CE, which dominated most of the Balkans and functioned as a cultural hub forSlavs during the Middle Ages. With the downfall of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1396, its territories came under Ottoman rule for nearly five centuries. The Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) led to the formation of the Third Bulgarian State. The following years saw several conflicts with its neighbours, which prompted Bulgaria to align with Germany in both world wars. In 1946 it became a single-party socialist state as part of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc. In December 1989 the ruling Communist Party allowed multi-partyelections, which subsequently led to Bulgaria's transition into a democracy and a market-based economy.
Bulgaria's population of 7.4 million people is predominantly urbanised and mainly concentrated in the administrative centres of its28 provinces. Most commercial and cultural activities are centred on the capital and largest city, Sofia. The strongest sectors of the economy are heavy industry, power engineering, and agriculture, all of which rely on local natural resources.
Prehistory and antiquity
Human activity in the lands of modern Bulgaria can be traced back to the Paleolithic. Animal bones incised with man-made markings from Kozarnika cave are assumed to be the earliest examples of symbolic behaviour in humans. Organised prehistoric societies in Bulgarian lands include the Neolithic Hamangia culture, Vinča culture and the eneolithic Varna culture (fifth millennium BC). The latter is credited with inventing gold working and exploitation. Some of these first gold smelters produced the coins, weapons and jewellery of the Varna Necropolis treasure, the oldest in the world with an approximate age of over 6,000 years. This site also offers insights for understanding the social hierarchy of the earliest European societies.
Thracians, one of the three primary ancestral groups of modern Bulgarians, began appearing in the region during the Iron Age. Most of their numerous tribes were united in the Odrysian kingdom around 500 BC by king Teres, but they were eventually subjugated by Alexander the Great and later by the Romans in 46 AD. After the division of the Roman Empire in 5th century the area fell under Byzantine control. By this time, Christianity had already spread in the area. A small Gothic community inNicopolis ad Istrum produced the first Germanic language book in the 4th century, the Wulfila Bible. The first Christian monastery in Europe was established around the same time by Saint Athanasius in central Bulgaria. From the 6th century the easternmost South Slavs gradually settled in the region, assimilating the Hellenised or Romanised Thracians.
In sum
Capital: Sofia
Official languages: Bulgarian
Official script: Cyrillic
Ethnic groups:
70.7% Bulgarians
8.9% Turks
12.8% Roma
1.7% others
Demonym: Bulgarian
Government: Unitary parliamentary republic
President: Rosen Plevneliev
Prime Minister: Plamen Oresharski
Currency: Lev (BGN)
Organised prehistoric cultures began developing on Bulgarian lands during the Neolithic period. Its ancient history saw the presence of the Thracians and later the Greeks and Romans. The emergence of a unified Bulgarian state dates back to the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 681 CE, which dominated most of the Balkans and functioned as a cultural hub forSlavs during the Middle Ages. With the downfall of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1396, its territories came under Ottoman rule for nearly five centuries. The Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) led to the formation of the Third Bulgarian State. The following years saw several conflicts with its neighbours, which prompted Bulgaria to align with Germany in both world wars. In 1946 it became a single-party socialist state as part of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc. In December 1989 the ruling Communist Party allowed multi-partyelections, which subsequently led to Bulgaria's transition into a democracy and a market-based economy.
Bulgaria's population of 7.4 million people is predominantly urbanised and mainly concentrated in the administrative centres of its28 provinces. Most commercial and cultural activities are centred on the capital and largest city, Sofia. The strongest sectors of the economy are heavy industry, power engineering, and agriculture, all of which rely on local natural resources.
Prehistory and antiquity
Human activity in the lands of modern Bulgaria can be traced back to the Paleolithic. Animal bones incised with man-made markings from Kozarnika cave are assumed to be the earliest examples of symbolic behaviour in humans. Organised prehistoric societies in Bulgarian lands include the Neolithic Hamangia culture, Vinča culture and the eneolithic Varna culture (fifth millennium BC). The latter is credited with inventing gold working and exploitation. Some of these first gold smelters produced the coins, weapons and jewellery of the Varna Necropolis treasure, the oldest in the world with an approximate age of over 6,000 years. This site also offers insights for understanding the social hierarchy of the earliest European societies.
Thracians, one of the three primary ancestral groups of modern Bulgarians, began appearing in the region during the Iron Age. Most of their numerous tribes were united in the Odrysian kingdom around 500 BC by king Teres, but they were eventually subjugated by Alexander the Great and later by the Romans in 46 AD. After the division of the Roman Empire in 5th century the area fell under Byzantine control. By this time, Christianity had already spread in the area. A small Gothic community inNicopolis ad Istrum produced the first Germanic language book in the 4th century, the Wulfila Bible. The first Christian monastery in Europe was established around the same time by Saint Athanasius in central Bulgaria. From the 6th century the easternmost South Slavs gradually settled in the region, assimilating the Hellenised or Romanised Thracians.
In sum
Capital: Sofia
Official languages: Bulgarian
Official script: Cyrillic
Ethnic groups:
70.7% Bulgarians
8.9% Turks
12.8% Roma
1.7% others
Demonym: Bulgarian
Government: Unitary parliamentary republic
President: Rosen Plevneliev
Prime Minister: Plamen Oresharski
Currency: Lev (BGN)