Bulgaria

Bulgaria (officially called the Republic of Bulgaria) is a country in south-eastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bulgaria is the south of the River Danube and west of the Black Sea. To the south of Bulgaria is European Turkey, Greece, and North Macedonia. To the north of the Danube is Romania, while to the west of Bulgaria is Serbia.

Republic of Bulgaria Република България  (Bulgarian) Republika Balgariya
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Unity makes strength Съединението прави силата  (Bulgarian) Saedinenieto pravi silata (transliteration)
Anthem:  "Dear Motherland" "Мила Родино"  (Bulgarian) "Mila Rodino" (transliteration)
Location of  Bulgaria  (green) – on the European continent  (light-green & grey) – in the European Union  (light-green)  —  [Legend]
Capital and largest city	Sofia 42°41′N 23°19′E
Official languages	Bulgarian
Official script	Cyrillic
Ethnic groups (2011)	84.8% Bulgarians 8.8% Turks 4.9% Roma 0.1% Russians 0.1% Armenians 0.5% others 1.2% indeterminate
Demonym(s)	Bulgarian
Government	Unitary semi-presidential republic
• President	Rumen Radev
• Prime Minister	Boyko Borisov
Legislature	National Assembly
Establishment history
• 1st Bulgarian Empire	681–1018
• 2nd Bulgarian Empire	1185–1396
• Principality of Bulgaria	3 March 1878
• Declaration of Independence	5 October 1908
Area
• Total	110,993.6 km2 (42,854.9 sq mi) (103rd)
• Water (%)	2.16
Population
• 2019 estimate	7,000,039 (104th)
• Density	63/km2 (163.2/sq mi) (118th)
GDP (PPP)	2020 estimate
• Total	$180.170 billion (74th)
• Per capita	$26,034 (60th)
GDP (nominal)	2020 estimate
• Total	$70.126 billion (72nd)
• Per capita	$10,133 (68th)
Gini (2018)	39.6 medium · decrease
HDI (2018)	0.816 very high · 52nd
Currency	Lev (BGN)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+359
ISO 3166 code	BG
Internet TLD	.bg .бг

The capital and the biggest city is Sofia. Their money is called the lev. The Bulgarian government is a member of the European Union and NATO. Rumen Radev became President in 2017. The population of Bulgaria is a little more than 7 million people.

Bulgaria has its own language, called Bulgarian. It is a type of Slavic language. It is related to languages like Serbian and Russian. Bulgaria borders Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, and the Black Sea. One of the national heroes of Bulgaria is Vasil Levski who led the fight for independence in the late 1800s. Bulgaria is an ancient country, some places have had people living there for over 6,000 years.

History

In what is now Bulgaria, many different people and different cultures lived over time. This includes Neolithic, Hamangia culture, Vinča culture, eneolithic, Varna culture (5th millennium BC) and the Bronze Age Ezero culture. The Thracians lived in the area of modern Bulgaria. King Tere united the people in Odrysian kingdom around 500 BC. Alexander the Great had influence over the people on the 4th century and later by the Roman Empire during the time of Christ. Eurasian Avars, South Slavs and Huns settled all over the territory of modern Bulgaria during the 6th century.

The first Bulgarian empire was established in 681 AD. The second Bulgarian empire started about 1185 AD, with Tarnovo as the capital. The Ottoman Empire took over in 1396, and ruled Bulgaria for about 500 years. The Ottomans had very strict rules and the Bulgarians suffered. The Bulgarians rebelled several times against the Turkish rulers. After the first Balkan war (1876), Bulgaria pulled away from Ottoman Empire's influence with the help of the Russian Empire who were already fighting the Ottomans. But it was not until 1908 that the whole country of Bulgaria was united as modern Bulgaria.

Bulgaria joined the side of Germany in World War I and lost. Bulgaria had hoped to get part the lands Bulgaria lost in the Balkan Wars.

During the first year of World War II Bulgaria said it was neutral and refused to join sides with Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. Bulgaria's military and economy were had a close connection with Germany. Bulgaria's leaders signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany in March 1941. This let German forces go through Bulgaria to reach Greece. Bulgaria's troops invaded Greece and Yugoslavia just after the governments of those countries surrendered. Bulgaria occupied the lands of modern North Macedonia and parts of Greece. (Both areas had been part of Bulgaria before the Balkan Wars.) The Bulgarian government also sent Jews to concentration camps and ghettoes in the Holocaust. The king of Bulgaria, Tsar Boris III, died after talking to Hitler in August 1943. Before the Tsar died, the Kingdom of Bulgaria had sent at least 11,343 Jews to the extermination camps.

In 1944 when it became clear that the Allied Powers would win the war, Bulgaria had to find another solution. Their leaders declared that they withdrew from the Axis forces and they let the Soviets come in. But the Soviet Union didn't respect Bulgaria's wish to be neutral. The Red Army invaded Bulgaria in September 1944. At the same time, a new pro-Soviet government took power in Sofia. At this point, the Jews were released from the ghettoes and concentration camps in Bulgaria. The new government joined the Allies, and the military started to attack the German army, which the Bulgarian government had allowed to leave Bulgarian lands. The Soviets replaced the royal monarchy with Communism in 1947 before they withdrew from Bulgaria. For 40 years, under their leader Todor Zhivkov, Bulgaria was very close to the Soviet Union and followed their instructions.

Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, on November 10 1989, the Bulgarian Communist Party gave up their rule and allowed the country to elect leaders of their own choice. But in a few years Bulgaria had serious money problems under the new socialist government. Since that time Bulgaria has recovered in many ways, and is much more stable. It is still one of the poorest countries in Europe. Problems in the administration, a weak court system and organized crime are the biggest issues for Bulgaria.

Economy and Social Welfare

Bulgaria's economy was dependent on the COMECON market. This was a group of communist countries (Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania) that agreed to work together. This group fell apart in 1989 with the fall of communism in Europe. While this was good for personal freedom, it was too much of a change for the businesses and jobs. Also Yugoslavia, their neighbor, fell into a civil war as their country broke apart, and that did not help Bulgaria. Living standards fell by 40 percent as people lost their jobs and their savings were not worth much, and even some new-born babies were sent to orphanages when their parents could not take care of them.

In 1994 Bulgaria had a short economic boom. But that slowed down in 1996 from bad finance deals and other banking problems. In 1997 there was high inflation (the money could not buy as much as it did before). Retired people had little income (their pension did not go up as fast as inflation did) and their savings were not worth very much. Many retired people were begging in the streets for food. But since then the economy has grown steadily. People from outside the country started putting money into businesses and houses, and Bulgarians learned how to make their own businesses.

Today Bulgaria has Europe's lowest income and corporate tax, 10 percent for both individuals and businesses. This makes Bulgaria a very good place for business. Bulgaria also has skilled and educated workers. The average monthly salary in Bulgaria is still cheap at 400 euro or $541 USD.

The state no longer has free health care. This system has been replaced by an insurance plan that people pay for, and drug costs are based on income. Private health care is encouraged nowadays. Help for people who lose their jobs is no longer automatic, but some help is available, based on family status and length of unemployment.

The retirement age for men is 64 years and for women 61 years. It will be 63 years and 9 months for woman and 65 years and 3 months for man in 2032.

Provinces

Since 1999, Bulgaria has been divided into 28 provinces or regions. Each province is named after its local capital. The provinces are divided into municipalities, there are 264 in total.

Province	Population (Census 2001)	Population (Census 2011)	Population growth (2001/2011)	Land area (km²)	Population density (/km²)	Municipalities
Blagoevgrad	341,173	323,552	-5.2%	6,478	49.95	14
Burgas	423,547	415,817	-1.8%	7,618	54.58	13
Dobrich	215,217	189,677	-11.9%	4,700	40.36	8
Gabrovo	144,125	122,702	-14.9%	2,053	59.77	4
Haskovo	277,478	246,238	-11.3%	4,033	61.06	11
Kardzhali	164,019	152,808	-6.8%	4,032	37.90	7
Kyustendil	162,534	136,686	-15.9%	3,027	45.16	9
Lovech	169,951	141,422	-16.8%	4,134	34.21	8
Montana	182,258	148,098	-18.7%	3,595	41.20	11
Pazardzhik	310,723	275,548	-11.3%	4,393	62.72	11
Pernik	149,832	133,530	-10.9%	2,377	56.18	6
Pleven	311,985	269,752	-13.5%	4,216	63.98	11
Plovdiv	715,816	683,027	-4.6%	5,973	114.35	18
Razgrad	152,417	125,190	-17.9%	2,648	47.28	7
Ruse	266,157	235,252	-11.6%	2,616	89.93	8
Shumen	204,378	180,528	-11.7%	3,365	53.65	10
Silistra	142,000	119,474	-15.9%	2,862	41.74	7
Sliven	218,474	197,473	-9.6%	3,646	54.16	4
Smolyan	140,066	121,752	-13.1%	3,532	34.47	10
Sofia-Capital	1,170,842	1,291,591	+10.3%	1,349	957.44	1
Sofia (province)	273,240	247,489	-9.4%	7,277	34.01	22
Stara Zagora	370,615	333,265	-10.1%	4,959	67.20	11
Targovishte	137,689	120,818	-12.3%	2,735	44.17	5
Varna	462,013	475,074	+2.8%	3,819	124.40	12
Veliko Tarnovo	293,172	258,494	-11.8%	4,684	55.19	10
Vidin	130,074	101,018	-22.3%	3,071	32.89	11
Vratsa	243,036	186,848	-23.1%	4,098	45.59	10
Yambol	156,070	131,447	-15.8%	4,209	31.23	5

Society

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Development region	Area (km2)	Population (Census 2011)	Most populous urban center
Severen tsentralen	14,974	848,863	Rousse
Severoiztochen	14,487	952,264	Varna
Severozapaden	19,070	835,587	Pleven
Yugoiztochen	19,798	1,059,359	Burgas
Yugozapaden	20,306	2,199,712	Sofia
Yuzhen tsentralen	22,365	1,455,449	Plovdiv
Bulgaria	111,000	7,351,234	Sofia (1,359,520)

There are 6 Bulgarian development regions of 27 smaller provinces. See List of settlements in Bulgaria for a list of all large locations.

In Bulgaria there are 5,664,624 citizens of Bulgarians, 1,200,000 citizens of Turks and 800,000 Citizens of Roma/Gypsies.

Bulgaria is classified as an development country by the EU.

• Number of people living in Bulgaria: 7,351,234
• Female: 3,770,897 (51%)
• Male: 3,580,337 (49%)
• Those living in cities: 5,357,633 (73%)
• Those living in villages: 1,993,601 (27%)
• Number of dwellings (houses, apartments, summer house/villa, any place where people can live): 3,898,688
• Number of households (people living together - families, roommates, etc.): 2,826,740

Related pages

• List of rivers of Bulgaria

Other websites

• Media related to Bulgaria at Wikimedia Commons
• Bulgaria travel guide from Wikivoyage