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Bulgaria

Area 110 910 sq km (42 823 sq m)
Bulgaria is a small country, situated in the Northern Hemisphere. It covers the north eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. Bulgaria is in the most southern parts of the temperate climate zone, which influences its climate, water, soils, flora and fauna.
Situated in South Eastern Europe the country have an outlet to the Black Sea to east and the river Danube to north and strategic transport importance – at the passage between Europe and Asia.

The landscape is very varied. A comparatively small territory, vast valleys, plains, hills, low and high mountains, hollows and gorges take turns. The mountains are very attractive with the varied landscape and the clean air. Best known are Rila, Pirin and The Rodopes. The Black Sea with its beautiful scenery, clean beaches and historical monuments is an attractive place for tourists.

The climate of Bulgaria is temperate. The warm summer and the cold winter help the development of the seasonal maritime and mountain tourism. The huge sea strip and the thermal springs extend the tourism season.

The flora is very abundant. More than 3000 plant species are known. The faun a is varied as well – more than 15,500 species of the animal kingdom inhabit Bulgaria.

The first inhabitants of the lands of Bulgaria were Prehistoric, which is proved by the numerous artifacts and mural paintings found in places such as the Magura cave.

The Thracians are the first tribes described by the historians (such as Herodotus). They settled down in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula around 3500 B.C. They were known as fearless warriors, but with high culture. They excelled in wine production and bee keeping. The Thracians believed in the afterlife and they buried the dead in burial mounds. Many of these mounds can be found around the country. The most famous of the Thracians is Spartacus – the leader of the biggest slave insurgence in the Roman Empire and Orpheus – most known for his incredible talent as a musician and a singer.
The Thracians lived in tribal communities before the Thracian king. Theres managed to unite them into the Odrysae kingdom around 500 B.C.

The ancient Greeks have settled down along the Black Sea coast (they founded Appolonia-the present day cities of Sozopol and Messembria – Nessebar). They started the assimilation of the Thracians. The city of Plovdiv (Philippopolis) was named after Filip of Macedonia. His son - Alexander the Great continues his deeds and conquered almost the whole known world.

At the time of the Roman Empire Bulgaria was known as the Thracia province, a strategic crossroad. Remains of Roman roads, aqueducts, fortresses can be found in many towns of Bulgaria.
After the separation of the Roman Empire to Western and Eastern, Bulgaria was within the borders of the Eastern - Byzance

In the 6th century, many Slavic tribes from northern Europe settled down in north Bulgaria. In the 7th century a nomadic tribe from Central Asia (Pamir and Hindukush), known as Proto Bulgarians, formed an alliance with the Slavs and managed to hold  decisive victories in the war against the Byzantine Empire. The Bulgarian state was officially recognized in the peace treaty of 681.
The Bulgarians converted from Paganism to Christianity during the reign of Prince Boris.

The first Slavonic alphabet was created by the brothers Cyril and Methodius, canonized as saints from the Christian church. The Bulgarians adopted the alphabet in 9th century.

According to history, three empires dominated the Middle Ages – the Frankish kingdom, the Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria. For more than 50 years the Bulgarian territory reached 3 seas – to the east the Black sea, to west the Adriatic Sea, to south the Aegean Sea.

At the end of 14th century, Bulgaria with many of the other countries of Eastern and Central Europe fell under Ottoman rule. For nearly 5 centuries the Bulgarian state didn’t exist. However, the Bulgarian spirit was still alive and many small insurgences were organized but without a result. In 1876 the April uprising was crushed with an unprecedented cruelty. This act attracted the attention of all the European states and was the reason of the Russo-Turkish liberation war (1877-1878) On the 3rd of March 1878 the Ottoman empire capitulated and signed the peace treaty, recognizing the independence of Bulgaria and dividing it into three parts – the Principality of Bulgaria, Eastern Rumelia (under Ottoman administration) and Macedonia (still under Ottoman rule).
In 1885 the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia united.

After new attempts to regain the third part – Macedonia, without a result, until the beginning of the 20th century. 1912 is the year in which Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria made an alliance against Turkey for the only territory on the Balkan Peninsula still under Ottoman rule – Macedonia.

The alliance was successful, but the 3 countries couldn’t divide the liberated land. This resulted in the The Second Balkan War (1913) - Serbia, Greece, Romania and Turkey against Bulgaria, which led to new territory losses for Bulgaria.

After this Bulgaria participated in the First and the Second World War – twice on the side of Germany – the result was two national disasters.

After the dividing of Europe to spheres of influence by Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill, Bulgaria fall under Soviet control. For nearly 45 years our country became a communist state – with all the good and the bad sides.
1989 marks the end of the communism and Bulgaria enters the democracy. Bulgaria slowly moved forward and became a member of NATO in 2004, and EU – from 1st January 2007