If you open any tourist guide of Europe or the world, you will no doubt come across a few lines about Bulgaria:
“A country in South-Eastern Europe, in the Balkan Peninsula, extending over an area of 111, 000 sq km, with a population of about nine million, an attractive tourist country, with beautiful scenery and hospitable people.”
These are the generally known facts.
Yet, every country has something that is typical, different and unique!

These are more basic facts about Bulgaria:
  The birth date of Bulgaria is the year 681. At that time there were only three states in Europe: The Frankish kingdom, The eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) and Bulgaria.
  The oldest crafted gold in the history of mankind, as well as the Thracian gold treasures which conquered the world, were discovered in the Bulgarian lands.
  Out of the 300 cultural and natural sites in the UNESCO List of World Heritage, nine are in Bulgaria: Kazanlyk and Sveshtari tombs – unique monuments of Thracian art; the Madara Horseman – a monumental bas-relief hewn into the sheer rock, unparalleled in Europe; the Boyana Church – making the beginnings of portrait painting in European art; the majestic Rila Monastery and the ancient museum-town of Nessebyr; the Ivanovo Rock Monasteries – a natural museum of medieval Bulgarian paintings; the Pirin National Park and the Srebarna Wildlife Reserve.

  The world’s perfume and cosmetics industry could not do without the Bulgarian attar of roses – the Bulgarian oleaginous rose yields 80 percent of the world’s production.
  Bulgaria is the country of yogurt – the food of centenarians.
  Small Bulgaria is one of the world’s largest wine producers, together with France, Spain, Italy and Greece. It is only in Bulgaria, however, that the wine of the ancient Thracians is still produced and drunk – the full-bodied red Mavrud.
  The land of the mythical singer Orpheus has produced some of the most outstanding voices of world operatic art: Boris Christoff and Nikolay Ghiaurov, Raina Kabaivanska and Ghena Dimitrova.
Besides Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the Golden Record traveling to extraterrestrial civilizations aboard the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spaceships also includes a Bulgarian Rhodope Mountain song, performed by Valja Balkanska.

GENERAL FACTS

Geographical location: Bulgaria is situated in South-Eastern Europe, in the North-Eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula between 41014’ and 44014’ northern latitude and 22021’ and 28036’ eastern longitude. Bulgaria has a territory of 110 911 square kilometers, which is 22 % of the Balkan Peninsula, 60 % of the territory of the country is hilly and mountainous. Its length is 520 km and its width is 330 km. The overall length of its borders is 2245 km. Bulgaria borders to the north with Romania (the frontier line runs along the Danube river and continues on land to the north-east), to the south – with Greece and Turkey, to the west – with Serbia and Macedonia (former Yugoslavia) and to the east – with the Black Sea.
Population: 8 230 371 citizens, incl. 7 200 000 Bulgarians; 800 000 Bulgarian Turks; 300 000 Gypsies and small groups of Jews, Wallachs, Russians, Greeks. The density of the population is 74,2 per square km.

Capital: Sofia (1 122 302 citizens).
Principal cities: Plovdiv (342 584), Varna (299 801), Burgas (195 255), Ruse (166 467), Stara Zagora (147 939), Pleven (121 952), Dobrich (100 399), Sliven (105 530), Shoumen (94 686). 28,1 % of the population is urban.
Administrative-territorial division: 28 regions and 262 municipalities.
Official language: Bulgarian. Uses only the Cyrillic alphabet. To facilitate tourists, road and direction signs in populated areas, resorts, railway station, airports and along the main highways are also spelled in Latin letters. English, German, French, Russian and other languages are spoken in the country.
Religion: Eastern Orthodox Christians 86,6 % of the population. In separate regions Islam is professed 13,1 %. Other religions 0,3 %.
Currency: 1 Lev (BGN) = 100 stotinki. The Bulgarian economy operates under the auspices of a Currency Board where 1,95583 BGN is equal to 1 EURO; in place since 1 January 1999.
Climate: Temperate continental. Distinguished four seasons. South Bulgaria is reached by the Mediterranean influence. The climate in Northern Bulgaria is moderate continental, while the climate in Southern Bulgaria is intermediate continental tending to Mediterranean. The climate in the regions with an altitude of 1900-2000 m above sea level is mountainous and along the Black Sea coast it is maritime. The climate of the seaside regions is milder in the winter and cooler in the summer than the climate of the interior of the country. The average annual temperature is 10.5°C, in winter about 0°C.
Highest mountain peak: Musala (in the Rila Mountains) 2925 m, which is the highest peak in the whole Balkans.