BULGARIA Location Bulgaria officially the Republic of Bulgaria

BULGARIA

Location Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. With a territory of 110, 994 square kilometers, Bulgaria is Europe's 16 th-largest country.

Demographics The population of Bulgaria is 7, 364, 570 people. All ethnic groups speak Bulgarian, either as a first or as a second language. Bulgarian is the only language with official status. The oldest written Slavic language, Bulgarian is distinguishable from the other languages in this group through certain grammatical peculiarities such as the lack of noun cases and infinitives, and a suffixed definite article.

Culture Traditional Bulgarian culture contains mainly Thracian, Slavic and Bulgar heritage, along with Greek, Roman, Ottoman, Persian and Celtic influences. Nine historical and natural sites have been included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Madara Rider, the Thracian tombs in Sveshtari and Kazanlak, the Boyana Church, the Rila Monastery, the Rockhewn Churches of Ivanovo, Pirin National Park, Srebarna Nature Reserve and the ancient city of Nesebar.

Folk Music Bulgaria's written musical composition can be traced back to the early Middle Ages and the works of Yoan Kukuzel. It contains Far Eastern, Oriental, medieval Eastern Orthodox and standard Western European tonalities and modes. Bulgarian folk music is by far the most extensive traditional art. The music has a distinctive sound and uses a wide range of traditional instruments, such as gadulka, gaida (bagpipe), kaval and tapan. One of its most distinguishing features is extended rhythmical time, which has no equivalent in the rest of European music.

Folk Dances Bulgaria is a relatively small country but within its modern boundaries a wide diversity of folk dance styles can be found. The dances that we learn range from the simple village dance with one basic pattern that repeats itself to highly complex choreographies. Professional performing groups perform more complex choreographies than the amateur groups and in the past travelled abroad quite extensively.

Kukeri are elaborately costumed Bulgarian men who perform traditional rituals intended to scare away evil spirits. The kukeri traditionally visit people’s houses at night so that "the sun would not catch them on the road. After parading around the village they usually gather at the village square to dance wildly and amuse the people.

Cuisine Yogurt, lukanka, banitsa, shopska salad, lyutenitsa and kozunak are among the bestknown local foods. Oriental dishes such as moussaka, gyuvech, and baklava are also present. Bulgarian yogurt is the best in the world, no doubt about it. This is thanks to the unique Lactobacillus bulgaricus bacteria used for its production that can only be found on the territory of the country.

Rakia is a traditional fruit brandy which was consumed in Bulgaria as early as the 14 th century.

Wine Bulgarian wine is known for its Traminer, Muskat and Mavrud types, of which up to 200, 000 tonnes are produced annually. Until 1989, Bulgaria was the world's second-largest wine exporter.

Natural Phenomena This delightful natural phenomenon has been carved by rainwater and winds. Erosion has turned the cold rocks into sculptures resembling mythical creatures, human silhouettes, animals and birds. These are unique sand formations which rise high above the town of Melnik. The sand giants are in a variety of shapes – mushrooms, cones, needles. They have been formed by the action of the natural forces – rain, wind and sun. The Belogradchik Rocks The Melnik Pyramids

The Wonderful Bridges are among the most beautiful natural phenomena in Bulgaria. They are huge marble archs connecting the two banks of the River Dalbok Dol. The largest and most beautiful is the first bridge – the Big Bridge. The Magura cave It is one of the largest caves in the country. The cave has one main gallery and three side branches. Here you can see surprising formations which are unique in shape and size – stalactites, stalagmites, cave pearls.

Capital Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. The city is located at the foot of Vitosha Mountain in the western part of the country. Sofia has been an area of human habitation since at least 7000 BC. Being Bulgaria's primate city, Sofia is a hometown of many of the major local universities, cultural institutions and commercial companies. Sofia is one of the top 10 best places for start-up business in the world, especially in IT technologies. Sofia is Europe's most affordable capital to visit of 2013.

Sofia is one of the most visited tourist destinations in Bulgaria. Among its highlights is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, one of the symbols of Bulgaria, constructed in the late 19 th century. Sofia holds Bulgaria's largest museum collections. Vitosha Boulevard, also called Vitoshka, is a pedestrian zone with numerous cafes, restaurants, fashion boutiques, and luxury goods stores.

We are ancient. . . Bulgaria is the oldest country in Europe that hasn’t changed its name since it was first established. This happened in 681 AD. Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, was founded 7000 years ago. This makes it the second oldest city in Europe. The gold treasure discovered in the Varna Necropolis is the oldest one in the world. It dates back to 5000 BC. Bulgaria comes third in the list of countries with most valuable archaeological sites discovered on their territories, preceded only by Greece and Italy.

We are unique. . . The famous Bulgarian rose oil is used for making some of the world’s most popular and expensive perfumes. One gram rose oil is produced out of 1000 rose blossoms. The Bulgarian folk song Izlel e Delio Haydutin has been flying around open space together with Bach’s and Mozart’s greatest works since 1977 when the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes left the Earth. Bulgaria is the country with the highest number of natural mineral springs in Continental Europe – over 600.

We are unique. . . The Bulgarian army has never lost a single flag in battle. In 1976 UNESCO declared the ancient Bulgarian calendar as the most accurate in thе world. With the accession of Bulgaria to the EU on January 1, 2007, Cyrillic became third official alphabet of the EU.

Made by Mirela Dancheva and Maria Gancheva