Bulgaria

Bulgaria is a country in the eastern Balkans, between the Danube to the north and the Black Sea to the east. It borders Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece and Turkey and covers 110,994 km² (42,855 sq mi), with Musala as the highest point of the Balkans. Sofia is the capital, and Bulgarian, a Slavic language, is the only official language.

The Varna culture made gold jewelry more than 6,000 years old, and Thracians, Persians, Celts and Macedonians fought over the land until Rome conquered it in AD 45. Slavs settled in the 6th century, and Bulgars under Asparuh founded the First Bulgarian Empire, recognized by Byzantium in 681. Boris I adopted Orthodox Christianity in 864, the Cyrillic alphabet was developed at the capital Preslav, and Simeon the Great expanded the state. Byzantium ended the empire in the early 11th century, the year 1185 brought a Second Bulgarian Empire, and Ottoman rule began in 1396. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 restored a Bulgarian state, which declared full independence in 1908. Bulgaria became a socialist state in 1946 and turned to multiparty democracy after 1989.

Under the constitution of 1991 Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic, with a National Assembly of 240 deputies. It joined NATO in 2004 and the European Union in 2007 and now belongs to the Schengen Area and the eurozone. Mining, metals, chemicals, machine building and food processing are major industries, coal, iron, copper and lead are mined, and Oriental tobacco is an important crop. Bulgarian rose oil and lavender oil are used in perfumes worldwide, and Black Sea resorts such as Sunny Beach and Golden Sands draw many visitors.

The Rila Monastery, founded by Saint John of Rila, the Boyana Church, the Thracian tomb of Kazanlak and the old town of Nesebar are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Nestinarstvo, a fire dance of Thracian origin, is on the UNESCO intangible heritage list, and kukeri masked rituals and martenitsa tokens survive as folk customs. Yogurt, banitsa pastry and shopska salad are typical foods. Footballer Hristo Stoichkov won the Ballon d'Or and was top scorer at the 1994 World Cup, where Bulgaria finished fourth.