Bulgaria in brief

Bulgaria is a South-East European country with a territory of 110,910 sq km and a population of 7,537,929. Situated in the Central Balkans, it has never tried to 'escape' from its Balkan geography and identity - an identity that is thought to be historically and culturally negotiated with Europe. Geographically Bulgaria is very diverse. It features valleys and plains open to the Danube in the North and to the Mediterranean in the South. It has clusters of mountains and a coastline of 354 km. The Bulgarian landscape with its lowest and highest points, the Black Sea and the Musala mountain peak (2, 925 m) respectively, presents wonderful tourist opportunities, ranging over winter ski resorts, summer sea vacations based on the country's contemporary infrastructure, and village holidays where one can lead an organic lifestyle. The principal Bulgarian economic activities include agriculture, national cuisine, wood and timber, furniture, textile, leather, chemical and metal industries. Bulgaria boasts many historical monuments, some of them on the UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as its famous yogurt, yellow cheese, wines, Slivovitza (kind of brandy) and organic products of Rodopa Mountain.

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• World-famous Bulgarians include the opera singers Boris Hristov and Nikolaj Gjaurov and Zlatan Dudov, the closest co-director of Bertolt Brecht.



• The pre-eminent and influential 20^th-century intellectuals Tzvetan Todorov and Julia Kristeva were born in Bulgaria and studied at Sofia University.



• The oldest gold in the world bearing regal marks, dating from 4000 BC, has recently been discovered in Bulgaria.

Links relating to Bulgaria

• Travel Bulgaria: http://www.travel-bulgaria.com/index_.shtml
• http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/bu.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgaria
• SSEES Internet Resources on Bulgaria

This page last modified Thursday 16 December 2010.