DISCOVER BULGARIA

  • The territory of Bulgaria is 111 000 square kilometres.
  • The population is around 8 million.
  • Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic.
  • It is ruled by a government, elected from the National Assembly, headed by a Prime Minister, with a mandate of 4 years.
  • The main currency is the Bulgarian Lev. (1 BGN = 0.511 EUR)
  • The spoken language is Bulgarian, the alphabet is Cyrillic.
  • All the major signs at airports, main roads, and the big resorts, hotels and restaurants are written with Latin letters too.
  • English, Deutsch, Francais, Russian are spoken by the personnel in nearly every resort, hotel and restaurant.
  • Time zone: GMT+2.00 hours
  • Capital: Sofia
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION:

    Bulgaria is situated in the South-East Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula, and is one of the oldest European states. To the south it borders with the Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Greece, to the west - with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Danube river is the natural north border with the Republic of Romania, and to the east Bulgaria borders on the Black Sea.
    Extremely varied terrain: huge plains and lowlands, high and low mountains, plateaus,caves, basins and gorges. The lowest altitude is 0 metres (at Black Sea), the highest altitude is 2925 metres (the peak of Mussala in the Rila mountain).
    Favourable position in terms of location from national and international perspective, and easy accessibility by air, rail and road.
    The capital of Bulgaria- Sofia, is just one hour flight away from major tourist destinations as Croatia, Greece and Turkey.
HISTORY:

The Bulgarians are ancient people.
The First Bulgarian Kingdom was founded on the very same place as now in Europe back in 681 A.D.
The name of the state never changed.
Bulgaria is very proud of its cultural, archaeological, architectural and natural landmarks and beauties.
Major dates in the Bulgarian history:
681 A.D. - Formation of the First Bulgarian Kingdom by khan Asparuh.
855 A.D. - Creation of the Cyrillic Alphabet by the St. St. Cyril and Methodius (patrons of modern Europe).
864-866 A.D. - Bulgarians are christened.
1018 - 1185 A.D. - Bulgaria is part of the Byzantine Empire.
1185 A.D. - Formation of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom
1396 - 1878 A.D. - Bulgaria is part of the Ottoman Empire.
1878 A.D. - Formation of the Third Bulgarian Kingdom
1878 - 1944 A.D. - Bulgaria is a constitutional monarchy.
1944 - 1989 A.D. - Bulgaria is a people's republic, ruled by the Bulgarian Communist Party
1990 A.D. - Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic.

CLIMATE AND NATURE:

    The prevailing climate of Bulgaria is continental, with cold winter and hot summer. On the whole, the climate is more severe than in the other European countries on the same latitude and the average annual temperatures are higher than these of the neighbouring countries.
    Bulgaria is a piece of heaven on earth, combining the unprecedented beauty of the azure, warm sea with the grand peaks of the high mountains, topped with snow covers. Encompassing just 2 % of the territory of Europe, Bulgaria is richly endowed by nature with extremely varied landscape, mild, moderate continental climate, suitable for relaxation all the year round, a wealth of flora and fauna and numerous mineral springs. Bulgaria is a country of tranquil, ecologically clean, distinctive places of interest, where you can enjoy the scenery and be absorbed by the traditional Bulgarian customs and culture at the same time.
    Bulgaria is still a country, open to exploration, where the thrills and adventure of discovery are alive, and where one can explore places unvisited. You can tour villages, where the rhythm of life is characteristic of Europe several centuries ago, and gives an insight in an Europe, which vanishes quickly and would never exist again. Here the taste of food, the air and the landscape seem to come from another dimension back in time

FOOD & DRINKS:

    The Bulgarian taverns are famous for their traditional cuisine and specialties, mainly from the Bulgarian national cuisine. The wine cellars usually offer exquisite wines from different kinds of grapes.

    The effect of the yoghurt on the longevity of human life is known for years. The yoghurt is the traditional food for Bulgarians, and it is derived from cow's, goat's and sheep's milk in a process called milk fermentation. This mysterious for all foreigners phenomenon is possible due to the specific only for Bulgaria bacterium called Lactobacillus Bulgaricus. The quality and taste of this yoghurt is so different from the rest in the world, that it is exported only under the brand “Bulgarian yoghurt”. Licenses and technologies for its production are utilized in Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Finland and South Korea. The Japanese company MEIJI Dairies alone makes 200 000 tonnes of Bulgarian yoghurt each year.

    Recently the Bulgarian archaeologists discovered what is considered to be the ancient temple of the Dionesis. Anyway, it is proven that viticulture in the Bulgarian lands is 4 000 years old. The climate, to a great extent influenced from the Black and Mediterranean Seas is exceptionally favourable for vine-growing. The country produces the famous all around the world Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay wine sorts, as well as their local rivals Gamza, Mavrud, Melnik, Dimyat and Misket. 77 000 hectolitres of wine are annually exported, with major importers being the United Kingdom, Germany and Russia.

    Bulgaria is the world's second largest producer of rose oil. Over a tonne of rose oil is shipped to France, Germany and USA per annum.