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Republic of Bulgaria
Република България
Republika Bâlgariya
Flag of Bulgaria Coat of arms of Bulgaria
Motto: 
  • Съединението прави силата(Bulgarian)
  • "Saedinenieto pravi silata"  (transliteration)
  • "Unity makes strength"
Anthem: 
Мила Родино(Bulgarian)
Mila Rodino  (transliteration)
Dear Motherland
Location of  Bulgaria  (green) – on the European continent  (light-green & grey) – in the European Union  (light-green)  —  [Legend]
Location of  Bulgaria  (green)

– on the European continent  (light-green & grey)
– in the European Union  (light-green)  —  [Legend]

Capital
and largest city
Sofia
42°41′N 23°19′E / 42.683, 23.317
Official languages Bulgarian
Official script Cyrillic
Ethnic groups (2011[1])
  • 84.6% Bulgarians
  • 8.9% Turks
  • 4.8% Roma
  • 1.7% others
Demonym Bulgarian
Government Unitary parliamentary republic
 -  President Rosen Plevneliev
 -  Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski
Legislature National Assembly
Formation
 -  Medieval states:  
 -  First Bulgarian Empire 681-1018 
 -  Second Bulgarian Empire 1185-1396 
 -  Modern state:  
 -  Principality of Bulgaria 13 July 1878 
 -  Independence from the Ottoman Empire 5 October 1908[note 1] 
Area
 -  Total 110,994 km2 (105th)
42,823 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) 0.3
Population
 -  2011 census 7,364,570[2] (98th)
 -  Density 66.2/km2 (139th)
171/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2013 estimate
 -  Total $106.8 billion[3] (66th)
 -  Per capita $14,870[3] (77th)
GDP (nominal) 2013 estimate
 -  Total $54.446 billion[3] (75th)
 -  Per capita $7,582[3] (76th)
Gini (2011)35.1[4]
medium
HDI (2013)increase 0.782[5]
high · 57th
Currency Lev (BGN)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 -  Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Drives on the right
Calling code +359
Internet TLD .bg

Bulgaria /bʌlˈɡɛəriə/ (Bulgarian: България, IPA: [bɐɫˈɡarijɐ]), officially the Republic of Bulgaria (Bulgarian: Република България, IPA: [rɛˈpublikɐ bɐɫˈɡarijɐ]), 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 kilometres (42,855 sq mi), Bulgaria is Europe's 14th-largest country.

Organised prehistoric cultures began developing on Bulgarian lands during the Neolithic period. Its ancient history saw the presence of the Thracians and later the Greeks and Romans. The emergence of a unified Bulgarian state dates back to the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 681 CE, which dominated most of the Balkans and functioned as a cultural hub for Slavs during the Middle Ages. With the downfall of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1396, its territories came under Ottoman rule for nearly five centuries. The Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) led to the formation of the Third Bulgarian State. The following years saw several conflicts with its neighbours, which prompted Bulgaria to align with Germany in both world wars. In 1946 it became a single-party socialist state as part of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc. In December 1989 the ruling Communist Party allowed multi-party elections, which subsequently led to Bulgaria's transition into a democracy and a market-based economy.

Bulgaria's population of 7.4 million people is predominantly urbanised and mainly concentrated in the administrative centres of its 28 provinces. Most commercial and cultural activities are centred on the capital and largest city, Sofia. The strongest sectors of the economy are heavy industry, power engineering, and agriculture, all of which rely on local natural resources.

The country's current political structure dates to the adoption of a democratic constitution in 1991. Bulgaria is a unitary parliamentary republic with a high degree of political, administrative, and economic centralisation. It is a member of the European Union, NATO, and the Council of Europe; a founding state of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE); and has taken a seat at the UN Security Council three times.

History[]

Prehistory and antiquity[]

Human activity in the lands of modern Bulgaria can be traced back to the Paleolithic. Animal bones incised with man-made markings from Kozarnika cave are assumed to be the earliest examples of symbolic behaviour in humans.[6] Organised prehistoric societies in Bulgarian lands include the Neolithic Hamangia culture,[7] Vinča culture[8] and the eneolithic Varna culture (fifth millennium BC). The latter is credited with inventing gold working and exploitation.[9][10] Some of these first gold smelters produced the coins, weapons and jewellery of the Varna Necropolis treasure, the oldest in the world with an approximate age of over 6,000 years.[11] This site also offers insights for understanding the social hierarchy of the earliest European societies.[12][13]

Thracians, one of the three primary ancestral groups of modern Bulgarians,[14] began appearing in the region during the Iron Age.[15] Most of their numerous tribes were united in the Odrysian kingdom around 500 BC by king Teres,[16][17] but they were eventually subjugated by Alexander the Great and later by the Romans in 46 AD. After the division of the Roman Empire in 5th century the area fell under Byzantine control. By this time, Christianity had already spread in the area. A small Gothic community in Nicopolis ad Istrum produced the first Germanic language book in the 4th century, the Wulfila Bible.[18][19] The first Christian monastery in Europe was established around the same time by Saint Athanasius in central Bulgaria.[20] From the 6th century the easternmost South Slavs gradually settled in the region, assimilating the Hellenised or Romanised Thracians.[21][22]

First Bulgarian Empire[]

Krum feasting with his nobles after the battle of Pliska, detail from the Manasses chronicle

Khan Krum feasts with his nobles after the battle of Pliska. His servant (far right) brings the wine-filled skull cup of Nicephorus I.

In the 7th century, Bulgar tribes,[14] migrated to the lower courses of the rivers Danube, Dniester and Dniepr under the leadership of Asparukh. After 670 he moved into the Balkan Peninsula with a horde of 50,000 Bulgars across the Danube[23] and in 680 severed Scythia Minor from the Byzantine Empire.[24] A peace treaty with Byzantium in 681 and the establishment of a permanent capital at Pliska south of the Danube marked the beginning of the First Bulgarian Empire. The Bulgars gradually mixed up with the local population, adopting a common language on the basis of the local Slavic dialect.[25]

Succeeding khans strengthened the Bulgarian state throughout the 8th and 9th centuries—Tervel established Bulgaria as a major military power by defeating a 26,000-strong Arab army during the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople.[26] Krum doubled the country's territory, killed Byzantine emperor Nicephorus I in the Battle of Pliska,[27] and introduced the first written code of law. In 864 Boris I abolished paganism in favour of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.[28] Simeon the Great's 34-year rule began in 893 and saw the largest territorial expansion of Bulgaria, along with a golden age of Bulgarian culture.[29]

Wars with Croatians, Magyars, Pechenegs and Serbs and the spread of the Bogomil heresy weakened Bulgaria after Simeon's death.[28][30] Two consecutive Rus' and Byzantine invasions resulted in the seizure of the capital Preslav by the Byzantine army in 971.[31] Under Samuil, Bulgaria somewhat recovered from these attacks and managed to conquer Serbia and Albania,[32] but this rise ended when Byzantine emperor Basil II defeated the Bulgarian army at Klyuch in 1014. Samuil died shortly after the battle,[33] and by 1018 the Byzantines had ended the First Bulgarian Empire.[34]

Second Bulgarian Empire[]

After his conquest of Bulgaria, Basil II prevented revolts and discontent by retaining the rule of the local nobility and recognising the autocephaly of the Archbishopric of Ohrid.[35] After his death Byzantine domestic policies changed and a series of unsuccessful rebellions broke out, the largest being led by Peter Delyan. In 1185 Asen dynasty nobles Ivan Asen I and Peter IV organised a major uprising which resulted in the re-establishment of the Bulgarian state. Ivan Asen and Peter laid the foundations of the Second Bulgarian Empire with Tarnovo as a capital.[36]

Map of the Bulgarian Empire under Ivan Asen II

The Bulgarian Empire under Tsar Ivan Asen II.

Kaloyan, the third of the Asen monarchs, extended his dominion to Belgrade and Ohrid. He acknowledged the spiritual supremacy of the Pope and received a royal crown from a papal legate.[37] The empire reached its zenith under Ivan Asen II (1218–1241), when commerce and culture flourished.[37] The strong economic and religious influence of Tarnovo made it a "Third Rome", unlike the already declining Constantinople.[38]

The country's military and economic might declined after the Asen dynasty ended in 1257, facing internal conflicts, constant Byzantine and Hungarian attacks and Mongol domination.[37][39] By the end of the 14th century, factional divisions between the feudal landlords and the spread of Bogomilism had caused the Second Bulgarian Empire to split into three tsardoms—Vidin, Tarnovo and Karvuna—and several semi-independent principalities that fought each other, along with Byzantines, Hungarians, Serbs, Venetians and Genoese. By the late 14th century the Ottoman Turks had started their conquest of Bulgaria and had taken most towns and fortresses south of the Balkan mountains.[37]

Ottoman rule[]

Tarnovo was captured by the Ottomans after a three-month siege in 1393. After the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396 brought about the fall of the Vidin Tsardom, the Ottomans conquered all Bulgarian lands south of the Danube. The nobility was eliminated and the peasantry was enserfed to Ottoman masters,[40] with much of the educated clergy fleeing to other countries.[41] Under the Ottoman system, Christians were considered an inferior class of people. Thus, Bulgarians, like other Christians, were subjected to heavy taxes and a small portion of the Bulgarian populace experienced partial or complete Islamisation,[42] and their culture was suppressed.[41] Ottoman authorities established the Rum Millet, a religious administrative community which governed all Orthodox Christians regardless of their ethnicity.[43] Most of the local population gradually lost its distinct national consciousness, identifying as Christians.[44][45] However, the clergy remaining in some isolated monasteries kept it alive, and that helped it to survive as in some rural, remote areas,[46] as well as in the militant Catholic community in the northwestern part of the country.[47]

Several Bulgarian revolts erupted throughout the nearly five centuries of Ottoman rule, most notably the Habsburg-backed[48] Tarnovo uprisings in 1598 and in 1686, the Chiprovtsi Uprising in 1688 and Karposh's Rebellion in 1689.[40] In the 18th century, the Enlightenment in Western Europe provided influence for the initiation of a movement known as the National awakening of Bulgaria.[40] It restored national consciousness and became a key factor in the liberation struggle, resulting in the 1876 April Uprising. Up to 30,000 Bulgarians were killed as Ottoman authorities put down the rebellion. The massacres prompted the Great Powers to take action.[49] They convened the Constantinople Conference in 1876, but their decisions were rejected by the Ottomans. This allowed the Russian Empire to seek a solution by force without risking military confrontation with other Great Powers, as had happened in the Crimean War.[49] In 1877 Russia declared war on the Ottoman empire and defeated its forces with the help of Bulgarian volunteers.

Third Bulgarian state[]

The Defence of the Eagle's Nest, painting by Alexey Popov from 1893, depicting the Defence of Shipka Pass

The Russian and Bulgarian defence of Shipka Pass was crucial for the independence of Bulgaria.[50]

The Treaty of San Stefano was signed on 3 March 1878 by Russia and the Ottoman Empire, and included a provision to set up an autonomous Bulgarian principality roughly on the territories of the Second Bulgarian Empire.[51][52] It never went into effect, as the Great Powers immediately rejected the treaty out of fear that such a large country in the Balkans might threaten their interests. It was superseded by the subsequent Treaty of Berlin, signed on 13 July, provided for a much smaller state comprising Moesia and the region of Sofia, leaving large populations of Bulgarians outside the new country.[51][53] This played a significant role in forming Bulgaria's militaristic approach to foreign affairs during the first half of the 20th century.[54]

The Bulgarian principality won a war against Serbia and incorporated the semi-autonomous Ottoman territory of Eastern Rumelia in 1885, proclaiming itself an independent state on 5 October 1908.[55] In the years following independence, Bulgaria increasingly militarised and was often referred to as "the Balkan Prussia".[56][57] Between 1912 and 1918, Bulgaria became involved in three consecutive conflicts—two Balkan Wars and World War I. After a disastrous defeat in the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria again found itself fighting on the losing side as a result of its alliance with the Central Powers in World War I. Despite fielding more than a quarter of its population in a 1,200,000-strong army[58][59] and achieving several decisive victories at Doiran and Dobrich, the country capitulated in 1918. The war resulted in significant territorial losses, and a total of 87,500 soldiers killed.[60] More than 253,000 refugees emigrated to Bulgaria from 1912-1929 due to the effects of these wars,[61] placing additional strain on the already ruined national economy.[62]

The political unrest resulting from these losses led to the establishment of a royal authoritarian dictatorship by tsar Boris III (1918–1943). Bulgaria entered World War II in 1941 as a member of the Axis but declined to participate in Operation Barbarossa and saved its Jewish population from deportation to concentration camps.[63] The sudden death of Boris III in the summer of 1943 pushed the country into political turmoil as the war turned against Germany and the Communist guerrilla movement gained momentum. The government of Bogdan Filov subsequently failed to achieve peace with the Allies. Bulgaria did not comply with Soviet demands to expel German forces from its territory, resulting in a declaration of war and an invasion by the USSR in September 1944.[64] The Communist-dominated Fatherland Front took power, ended participation in the Axis and joined the Allied side until the war ended.[65]

Photograph of Bulgarian soldiers cutting enemy barbed wire during World War I

World War I: Bulgarian soldiers cutting barbed wire laid by the Entente Powers and preparing to advance.

The left-wing uprising of 9 September 1944 led to the abolition of monarchic rule, but it was not until 1946 that a single-party people's republic was established.[66] It became a part of the Soviet sphere of influence under the leadership of Georgi Dimitrov (1946–1949), who laid the foundations for a rapidly industrialising stalinist state which was also highly repressive with thousands of dissidents executed.[67][68][69] By the mid-1950s standards of living rose significantly,[70] while political repressions were lessened.[71] By the 1980s both national and per capita GDP quadrupled,[72] but the economy remained prone to debt spikes, the most severe taking place in 1960, 1977 and 1980.[73] The Soviet-style planned economy saw some market-oriented policies emerging on an experimental level under Todor Zhivkov (1954–1989).[74] His daughter Lyudmila bolstered national pride by promoting Bulgarian heritage, culture and arts worldwide.[75] In an attempt to erase the identity of the ethnic Turk minority, an assimilation campaign was launched in 1984. This resulted in the emigration of some 300,000 of them to Turkey.[76][77]

Under the influence of the collapsing Eastern Bloc, on 10 November 1989 the Communist Party gave up its political monopoly, Zhivkov resigned, and Bulgaria embarked on a transition to a parliamentary democracy.[78] The first free elections in June 1990 were won by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP, the freshly renamed Communist Party).[79] A new constitution that provided for a relatively weak elected President and for a Prime Minister accountable to the legislature was adopted in July 1991. The new system initially failed to improve living standards or create economic growth—the average quality of life and economic performance remained lower than under Communism well into the early 2000s.[80] A 1997 reform package restored economic growth, but living standards continued to suffer.[81] After 2001 economic, political and geopolitical conditions improved greatly,[82] and Bulgaria achieved high Human Development status.[83] It became a member of NATO in 2004[84] and of the European Union in 2007.[85]

Geography[]

Bulgaria occupies a portion of the eastern Balkan peninsula, bordering five countries—Greece and Turkey to the south, Macedonia and Serbia to the west, and Romania to the north. The land borders have a total length of 1,808 kilometres (1,123 mi), and the coastline has a length of 354 kilometres (220 mi).[86] Its total area of 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi) ranks it as the world's 105th-largest country.[87][88] Bulgaria's geographic coordinates are 43° N 25° E.[89]

Pirin-mountains-Bansko Oilcape
Left: Pirin Mountain in western Bulgaria.
Right: Maslen nos on the Black Sea coast.

The most notable topographical features are the Danubian Plain, the Balkan Mountains, the Thracian Plain, and the Rhodope Mountains.[86] The southern edge of the Danubian Plain slopes upward into the foothills of the Balkans, while the Danube defines the border with Romania. The Thracian Plain is roughly triangular, beginning southeast of Sofia and broadening as it reaches the Black Sea coast.[86]

The Balkan mountains run laterally through the middle of the country. The mountainous southwest of the country has two alpine ranges—Rila and Pirin, which border the lower but more extensive Rhodope Mountains to the east.[86] Bulgaria is home to the highest point of the Balkan peninsula, Musala, at 2,925 metres (9,596 ft)[90] and its lowest point is sea level. Plains occupy about one-third of the territory, while plateaus and hills occupy 41 per cent.[91] The country has a dense network of about 540 rivers, most of which are relatively small and with low water levels.[92] The longest river located solely in Bulgarian territory, the Iskar, has a length of 368 kilometres (229 mi). Other major rivers include the Struma and the Maritsa in the south.[86]

Bulgaria has a dynamic climate, which results from its being positioned at the meeting point of Mediterranean and continental air masses and the barrier effect of its mountains.[86] Northern Bulgaria averages 1 °C (1.8 °F) cooler and registers 200 millimetres (7.9 in) more precipitation annually than the regions south of the Balkan mountains. Temperature amplitudes vary significantly in different areas. The lowest recorded temperature is −38.3 °C (−36.9 °F), while the highest is 45.2 °C (113.4 °F).[93] Precipitation averages about 630 millimetres (24.8 in) per year, and varies from 500 millimetres (19.7 in) in Dobrudja to more than 2,500 millimetres (98.4 in) in the mountains. Continental air masses bring significant amounts of snowfall during winter.[94]

Environment[]

Bulgaria adopted the Kyoto Protocol[95] and achieved the protocol's objectives by reducing carbon dioxide emissions from 1990 to 2009 by 30 percent.[96] However, pollution from factories and metallurgy works and severe deforestation continue to cause major problems to the health and welfare of the population.[97] In 2013, air pollution in Bulgaria was more severe than any other European country.[98] Urban areas are particularly affected by energy production from coal-based powerplants and automobile traffic,[99][100] while pesticide usage in the agriculture and antiquated industrial sewage systems produce extensive soil and water pollution with chemicals and detergents.[101] Bulgaria is the only EU member which does not recycle municipal waste,[102] although an electronic waste recycling plant opened in June 2010.[103] The situation has improved in recent years, and several government-funded programmes have been put into place in an attempt to reduce pollution levels.[101] According to Yale University's 2012 Environmental Performance Index, Bulgaria is a "modest performer" in protecting the environment.[104]

Surface waters in Bulgaria as a whole are in good condition. Over 75% of the length of rivers in the country meet the standards for good quality. The improvement of water quality started 1998 - there is a clear trend of sustainability and slight improvement of all indicators for water quality between 1998 and 2007.[105]

Biodiversity[]

Photo of an Eastern Imperial Eagle, a rare bird in Bulgaria

Bulgaria's population of Imperial Eagles is gradually growing.[106]

The interaction of different climatic, hydrological, geological and topographical conditions have produced a relatively wide variety of plant and animal species.[107] Bulgaria's biodiversity is conserved in three national parks, 11 nature parks[108] and 17 biosphere reserves.[109] Nearly 35 per cent of its land area consists of forests,[110] where some of the oldest trees in the world, such as Baikushev's pine and the Granit oak,[111] grow. Most of the plant and animal life is central European, although representatives of Arctic and alpine species are present at high altitudes.[112] Its flora encompass more than 3,800 species of which 170 are endemic and 150 are considered endangered.[113] A checklist of larger fungi of Bulgaria reported that more than 1,500 species occur in the country.[114] Animal species include owls, rock partridges, wallcreepers[112] and brown bears.[115] The Eurasian lynx and the Eastern imperial eagle have small, but growing populations.[116]

In 1998, the Bulgarian government approved the National Biological Diversity Conservation Strategy, a comprehensive programme seeking the preservation of local ecosystems, protection of endangered species and conservation of genetic resources.[117] Bulgaria has some of the largest Natura 2000 areas in Europe covering 33.8% of its territory.[118]

Politics[]

The National Assembly building in Sofia

The National Assembly building in Sofia.

Bulgaria is a parliamentary democracy in which the most powerful executive position is that of prime minister.[82] The political system has three branches—legislative, executive and judicial, with universal suffrage for citizens at least 18 years old. The Constitution of Bulgaria provides also possibilities of direct democracy.[119] Elections are supervised by an independent Central Election Commission that includes members from all major political parties. Parties must register with the commission prior to participating in a national election.[120] Normally, the prime minister-elect is the leader of the party receiving the most votes in parliamentary elections, although this is not always the case.[82]

Political parties gather in the National Assembly, which consists of 240 deputies elected to four-year terms by direct popular vote. The National Assembly has the power to enact laws, approve the budget, schedule presidential elections, select and dismiss the Prime Minister and other ministers, declare war, deploy troops abroad, and ratify international treaties and agreements. The president serves as the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and has the authority to return a bill for further debate, although the parliament can override the presidential veto by a simple majority vote of all members of parliament.[82] Plamen Oresharski of the Bulgarian Socialist Party became prime minister on 29 May 2013,[121] while GERB-backed Rosen Plevneliev was elected president in 2011, after receiving 52.5 per cent of the votes on the second round against 47.5 per cent for his Socialist Party opponent Ivaylo Kalfin.[122] Until February 2013 GERB had 117 seats in the National Assembly and no permanent political allies, ruling as a minority government.[123]

The government resigned on 20 February 2013 after nationwide protests caused by high costs of utilities, low living standards[124] and the failure of the democratic system.[125] The protest wave was marked by self-immolations, spontaneous demonstrations and a strong sentiment against political parties.[126] As a consequence, the Parliament was dissolved and a new provisional government was set up by the President. The subsequent snap elections in May 2013 elections resulted in a narrow GERB win.[127]

Diagram of political parties in the Bulgarian parliament

Political groups in the Parliament and number of representatives (2013):[128]
     GERB (centre-right, 97)
     BSP (centre-left, 84)
     DPS (centrist, 36)
     ATAKA (far-right, 23)

Bulgaria has a typical civil law legal system.[129] The judiciary is overseen by the Ministry of Justice. The Supreme Administrative Court and Supreme Court of Cassation are the highest courts of appeal and oversee the application of laws in subordinate courts.[120] The Supreme Judicial Council manages the system and appoints judges. Bulgaria's judiciary, along with other institutions, remains one of Europe's most corrupt and inefficient.[130][131][132][133]

Law enforcement is carried out by organisations mainly subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior.[134] The National Police Service (NPS) combats general crime, maintains public order and supports the operations of other law enforcement agencies.[135] NPS fields 27,000 police officers in its local and national sections.[136] The Ministry of Interior also heads the Border Police Service and the National Gendarmerie—a specialised branch for anti-terrorist activity, crisis management and riot control. Counterintelligence and national security are the responsibility of the State Agency for National Security, established in 2008.[137]

Administrative divisions[]

Bulgaria is a unitary state.[138] Since the 1880s, the number of territorial management units has varied from seven to 26.[139] Between 1987 and 1999 the administrative structure consisted of nine provinces (oblasti, singular oblast). A new administrative structure was adopted in parallel with the decentralisation of the economic system.[140] It includes 27 provinces and a metropolitan capital province (Sofia-Grad). All areas take their names from their respective capital cities. The provinces subdivide into 264 municipalities.

Municipalities are run by mayors, who are elected to four-year terms, and by directly elected municipal councils. Bulgaria is a highly centralised state, where the national Council of Ministers directly appoints regional governors and all provinces and municipalities are heavily dependent on it for funding.[120]

Bulgaria Aministrative Provinces numbered
  1. Blagoevgrad
  2. Burgas
  3. Dobrich
  4. Gabrovo
  5. Haskovo
  6. Kardzhali
  7. Kyustendil
  8. Lovech
  9. Montana
  10. Pazardzhik
  11. Pernik
  12. Pleven
  13. Plovdiv
  14. Razgrad
  1. Rousse
  2. Shumen
  3. Silistra
  4. Sliven
  5. Smolyan
  6. Sofia Province
  7. Stara Zagora
  8. Targovishte
  9. Varna
  10. Veliko Tarnovo
  11. Vidin
  12. Vratsa
  13. Yambol

Foreign relations and the military[]

Bulgaria became a member of the United Nations in 1955 and since 1966 has been a non-permanent member of the Security Council three times, most recently from 2002 to 2003.[141] Bulgaria was also among the founding nations of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 1975. It joined NATO on 29 March 2004, signed the European Union Treaty of Accession on 25 April 2005,[84][142] and became a full member of the European Union on 1 January 2007.[85] Polls carried out seven years after the country's accession to the EU found only 15% of Bulgarians felt they had personally benefited from membership, with almost 40% of the population saying they would not bother to vote in the 2014 EU elections.[143] Euro-Atlantic integration became a priority for the country since the fall of Communism, although the Communist leadership also had aspirations of leaving the Warsaw Pact and joining the European Communities by 1987.[144][145][146] Bulgaria's relationship with its neighbours since 1990 has generally been good. The country also plays an important role in promoting regional security.[147] Bulgaria has an active tripartite economic and diplomatic collaboration with Romania and Greece,[148] maintains strong relations with EU members, the United States and Russia, and continues to improve its traditionally good ties with China[149] and Vietnam.[150] The HIV trial in Libya, which followed after the imprisonment of several Bulgarian nurses in Benghazi in 1998, had a significant impact on relations between Bulgaria, the European Union, and Libya. It resulted in the release of the nurses by Muammar Gaddafi's government, which was granted a contract to receive a nuclear reactor and weapons supplies from France in exchange.[151]

Bulgarian MiG-29 fighters in flight

Mikoyan MiG-29 jet fighters of the Bulgarian Air Force.

Bulgaria hosted six KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft and 200 support personnel for the war effort in Afghanistan in 2001, which was the first stationing of foreign forces on its territory since World War II.[13] International military relations were further expanded in April 2006, when Bulgaria and the United States signed a defence cooperation agreement providing for the usage of Bezmer and Graf Ignatievo air bases, the Novo Selo training range, and a logistics centre in Aytos as joint military training facilities.[152] The same year Foreign Policy magazine listed Bezmer Air Base as one of the six most important overseas facilities used by the USAF due to its proximity to the Middle East.[153] A total of 756 troops are deployed abroad as part of various UN and NATO missions. Historically, Bulgaria deployed significant numbers of military and civilian advisors in Soviet-allied countries, such as Nicaragua[154] and Libya (more than 9,000 personnel).[155]

Domestic defence is the responsibility of the all-volunteer military of Bulgaria, consisting of land forces, navy and air force. The land forces consist of two mechanised brigades and eight independent regiments and battalions; the air force operates 106 aircraft and air defence systems in six air bases, and the navy operates a variety of ships, helicopters and coastal defence measures.[156] Following a series of reductions beginning in 1990, the number of active troops contracted from 152,000 in 1988[157] to about 32,000 in the 2000s,[158] supplemented by a reserve force of 302,500 soldiers and officers and 34,000 paramilitary servicemen.[159] The inventory is mostly of Soviet origin, such as MiG-29 fighters, SA-10 Grumble SAMs and SS-21 Scarab short-range ballistic missiles. By 2020 the government will spend $1.4 billion for the deployment of new fighter jets, communications systems and cyber warfare capabilities.[160] Total military spending in 2009 cost $819 million.[161]

Economy[]

Aerial view of central Sofia, the financial heart of the country

Sofia, the financial heart of the country.

Bulgaria has an emerging market economy[162] in the upper middle income range,[163] where the private sector accounts for more than 80 per cent of GDP.[164] From a largely agricultural country with a predominantly rural population in 1948, by the 1980s Bulgaria had transformed into an industrial economy with scientific and technological research at the top of its budgetary expenditure priorities.[165] The loss of COMECON markets in 1990 and the subsequent "shock therapy" of the planned system caused a steep decline in industrial and agricultural production, ultimately followed by an economic collapse in 1997.[166][167] The economy largely recovered during a period of rapid growth several years later,[166] but individual mean income remains one of the lowest in the EU at 768 leva (€393) per month.[168] More than a fifth of the labour force are employed on a minimum wage of €1 per hour.[169] Wages, however, account for only half of the total household income,[170] owing to the substantial informal economy which amounts to almost 32% of GDP.[171] Bulgarian PPS GDP per capita stood at 47 per cent of the EU average in 2012 according to Eurostat data,[172] while the cost of living was 49 per cent of the average.[173] The currency is the lev, which is pegged to the euro at a rate of 1.95583 levа for 1 euro.[174] Bulgaria is not part of the eurozone and has abandoned its plans to adopt the euro.[175]

File:WIKI Economic Growth in Bulgaria.gif

Rates of economic growth (green and red) and unemployment (blue).

Economic indicators have worsened amid the late-2000s financial crisis. After several consecutive years of high growth, GDP contracted 5.5 per cent in 2009 and unemployment remains above 12 per cent.[176][177] Industrial output declined 10 per cent, mining by 31 per cent, and ferrous and metal production marked a 60 per cent drop.[178] Positive growth was restored in 2010,[177] although investments and consumption continue to decline steadily due to rising unemployment.[179] The same year, intercompany debt exceeded €51 billion, meaning that 60 per cent of all Bulgarian companies were mutually indebted.[180] By 2012, it had increased to €83 billion, or 227 per cent of GDP.[181] The government implemented strict austerity measures with IMF and EU encouragement to some positive fiscal results, but the social consequences of these measures have been "catastrophic" according to the International Trade Union Confederation.[182] Corruption remains another obstacle to economic growth. Bulgaria is one of the most corrupt European Union members and ranks 75th in the Corruption Perceptions Index.[183] Weak law enforcement and overall low capacity of civil service remain as challenges in curbing corruption. However, fighting against corruption has become the focus of the government because of the EU accession, and several anti-corruption programs have been undertaken by different government agencies.[184]

Map showing Bulgaria and its main export partners by share of total exports

Bulgaria (orange) and its largest export partners by share of total exports.

Economic activities are fostered by the lowest personal and corporate income tax rates in the EU,[185] and the second-lowest public debt of all member states at 16.5 per cent of GDP in 2012.[186] In 2013, GDP (PPP) was estimated at $106.8 billion, with a per capita value of $14,870.[3] Sofia and the surrounding Yugozapaden planning area are the most developed region of the country with a per capita PPS GDP of $23,162 in 2009.[187] Bulgaria is a net receiver of funds from the EU. The absolute amount of received funds was €589 million in 2009.[188]

The labour force is 2.45 million people,[189] of whom 7.1 per cent are employed in agriculture, 35.2 per cent are employed in industry and 57.7 per cent are employed in the services sector.[190] Extraction of metals and minerals, production of chemicals, machinery and vehicle components,[191] petroleum refining[192] and steel are among the major industrial activities.[193] Mining and its related industries employ a total of 120,000 people and generate about five per cent of the country's GDP.[194] Bulgaria is Europe's sixth-largest coal producer.[194][195] Local deposits of coal, iron, copper and lead are vital for the manufacturing and energy sectors.[196] Almost all top export items of Bulgaria are industrial commodities such as oil products, copper products and pharmaceuticals.[197] Bulgaria is also a net exporter of agricultural and food products, of which two-thirds go to OECD countries.[198] It is the largest global producer of perfumery essential oils such as lavender and rose oil.[13][199] Agriculture has declined significantly in the past two decades. Production in 2008 amounted to only 66 per cent of that between 1999 and 2001,[197] while cereal and vegetable yields have dropped by nearly 40 per cent since 1990.[200] Of the services sector, tourism is the most significant contributor to economic growth.[201] In recent years, Bulgaria has emerged as a travelling destination with its inexpensive resorts and beaches outside the reach of the tourist industry.[202][203] Lonely Planet ranked it among its top 10 destinations for 2011.[204] Most of the visitors are British, Romanian, German and Russian.[205] The capital Sofia, the medieval capital Veliko Tarnovo,[206] coastal resorts Golden Sands and Sunny Beach and winter resorts Bansko, Pamporovo and Borovets are some of the locations most visited by tourists.[201]

Science and technology[]

An IBM Blue Gene/P supercomputer used by several Bulgarian scientific organisations

A supercomputer cabinet at NCSA.

Bulgaria spends 0.25 per cent of GDP on scientific research, thus having one of the lowest R&D budgets in Europe.[207][208] Chronic underinvestment in research since 1990 forced many scientific professionals to leave the country.[209] As a result, Bulgaria scores low in terms of innovation, competitiveness and high-value added exports.[210][211] Principal areas of research and development are energy, nanotechnology, archaeology and medicine.[207] The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) is the leading scientific establishment and employs most Bulgarian researchers in its numerous institutes. It has been active in the field of space science with RADOM-7 radiation monitoring experiments on the International Space Station[212] and Chandrayaan-1,[213] and domestically developed space greenhouses on the Mir space station.[214][215] Bulgaria became the sixth country in the world to have an astronaut in space with Georgi Ivanov's flight on Soyuz 33 in 1979. Bulgaria is an active member of CERN and has contributed to its activities with nearly 200 scientists since its accession in 1999.[216][217]

In the 1980s Bulgaria was known as the "Silicon Valley of the Eastern Bloc" because of its large-scale computing technology exports to COMECON states.[218] The ICT sector generates 10 per cent of GDP[219] and employs the third-largest contingent of ICT specialists in the world. A National Centre for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) operates the only supercomputer in Southeastern Europe.[220][221]

Internet usage has increased rapidly since 2000—the number of users grew from 430,000 to 3.4 million (48 per cent penetration rate) in 2010.[222] Average Broadband Internet speed is the second-highest in the world after that of South Korea.[223] Telephone services are widely available, and a central digital trunk line connects most regions.[224] More than 90 per cent of fixed lines are served by the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC),[225] while mobile services are provided by three operators—Mtel, GLOBUL and BTC/Vivacom.[226]

Infrastructure[]

Trakiya motorway, one of the main national motorways

Trakia motorway.

Bulgaria's strategic geographic location and well-developed energy sector make it a key European energy centre despite its lack of significant fossil fuel deposits.[227] Nearly 34 percent of its electricity is produced by the nuclear power station at Kozloduy[228] and public opinion strongly supports nuclear energy development.[229] The rapid expansion of alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power stations[230] make Bulgaria one of the fastest-growing wind energy producers in the world.[231] The country aims to produce 16 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020.[232]

The national road network has a total length of 40,231 kilometres (24,998 mi),[233] of which 39,587 kilometres (24,598 mi) are paved, but nearly half fall into the lowest international rating for paved roads.[224] Railroads are a major mode of freight transportation, although highways carry a progressively larger share of freight. Bulgaria has 6,238 kilometres (3,876 mi) of railway track[224] and currently a total of 81 km of high-speed lines are in operation.[234][235][236][237] Rail links are available with Romania, Turkey, Greece, and Serbia, and express trains serve direct routes to Kiev, Minsk, Moscow and Saint Petersburg.[238] Sofia and Plovdiv are the country's air travel hubs, while Varna and Burgas are the principal maritime trade ports.[224] Varna is also scheduled to be the first station on EU territory to receive natural gas through the South Stream pipeline.[239]

Demographics[]

Bulgarian women in traditional folk attire

Bulgarian women from Gabra, Sofia Province in traditional attire.

The population of Bulgaria is 7,364,570 people according to the 2011 national census. The majority of the population, or 72.5 per cent, reside in urban areas;[2] approximately one-sixth of the total population is concentrated in Sofia.[240][241] Bulgarians are the main ethnic group and comprise 84.8 per cent of the population. Turkish and Roma minorities comprise 8.8 and 4.9 per cent, respectively; some 40 smaller minorities comprise 0.7 per cent, and 0.8 per cent do not self-identify with an ethnic group.[242] All ethnic groups speak Bulgarian, either as a first or as a second language. Bulgarian is the only language with official status and native for 85.2 per cent of the population. 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.[243][244]

Bulgaria is in a state of demographic crisis.[245][246] It has had negative population growth since the early 1990s, when the economic collapse caused a long-lasting emigration wave.[247] Some 937,000 to 1,200,000 people—mostly young adults—left the country by 2005.[247][248] The total fertility rate (TFR) was estimated in 2013 at 1.43 children born/woman, which is below the replacement rate of 2.1.[249] A third of all households consist of only one person and 75.5 per cent of families do not have children under the age of 16.[246] Consequently, population growth and birth rates are among the lowest in the world[250][251] while death rates are among the highest.[252] The majority of children are born to unmarried women (of all births 57.4% were outside marriage in 2012).[253] Bulgaria ranks 113th globally by average life expectancy, which stands at 73.6 years for both genders.[254] The primary causes of death are similar to those in other industrialised countries, mainly cardiovascular diseases, neoplasms and respiratory diseases.[255]

Bulgaria has a universal healthcare system financed by taxes and contributions.[255] The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) pays a gradually increasing portion of the costs of primary healthcare.[256] Projected healthcare expenditures for 2013 amount to 4.1 per cent of GDP.[257] The number of doctors is above the EU average with 181 physicians per 100,000 people,[258] but distribution by fields of practice is uneven, there is a severe shortage of nurses and other medical personnel, and the quality of most medical facilities is poor.[259] Personnel shortages in some fields are so severe that patients resort to seeking treatment in neighboring countries.[260]

Interior of the Sofia University library

The library of Sofia University.

Government estimates from 2003 put the literacy rate at 98.6 per cent, with no significant difference between the sexes. Educational standards have been traditionally high,[261] although still far from European benchmarks and in continuing deterioration for the past decade.[262] Bulgarian students were among the highest-scoring in the world in terms of reading in 2001, performing better than their Canadian and German counterparts; by 2006, scores in reading, math and science had deteriorated. State expenditures for education are far below the European Union average.[262] The Ministry of Education, Youth and Science partially funds public schools, colleges and universities, sets criteria for textbooks and oversees the publishing process.[263] The State provides free education in primary and secondary public schools.[261] The educational process spans through 12 grades, where grades one through eight are primary and nine through twelve are secondary level.[263] High schools can be technical, vocational, general or specialised in a certain discipline, while higher education consists of a 4-year bachelor degree and a 1-year Master's degree.[264]

The Constitution of Bulgaria defines it as a secular state with guaranteed religious freedom, but designates Orthodoxy as a "traditional" religion.[265] The Bulgarian Orthodox Church gained autocephalous status in 927 AD,[266][267] and currently has 12 dioceses and over 2,000 priests.[268] More than three-quarters of Bulgarians subscribe to Eastern Orthodoxy.[269] Sunni Muslims are the second-largest community and constitute 10 per cent of the religious makeup, although a majority of them do not pray and find the use of Islamic veils in schools unacceptable.[270] Less than three per cent are affiliated with other religions, 11.8 per cent do not self-identify with a religion and 21.8 per cent refused to state their beliefs.[269]

Culture[]

Thracian golden wreath exhibited in the National Historical Museum

Thracian golden wreath in the National Historical Museum.

Traditional Bulgarian culture contains mainly Thracian, Slavic and Bulgar heritage, along with Greek, Roman, Ottoman, Persian and Celtic influences.[271][272][273] Nine historical and natural objects have been inscribed 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 Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo, Pirin National Park, Sreburna Nature Reserve and the ancient city of Nesebar.[274] Nestinarstvo, a ritual fire-dance of Thracian origin,[275] is included in the list of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.[276] Fire is an essential element of Bulgarian folklore, used to banish evil spirits and diseases. Bulgarian folklore personifies illnesses as witches and has a wide range of creatures, including lamya, samodiva (veela) and karakondzhul.[277] Some of the customs and rituals against these spirits have survived and are still practised, most notably the kukeri and survakari.[278] Martenitsa is also widely celebrated.[279]

Slavic culture was centred in both the First and Second Bulgarian Empires during much of the Middle Ages. The Preslav, Ohrid and Tarnovo literary schools exerted considerable cultural influence over the Eastern Orthodox world.[280][281][282] Many languages in Eastern Europe and Asia use Cyrillic script, which originated in the Preslav Literary School around the 9th century.[283] The medieval advancement in the arts and letters ended with the Ottoman conquest when many masterpieces were destroyed, and artistic activities did not re-emerge until the National Revival in the 19th century.[284] After the Liberation, Bulgarian literature quickly adopted European literary styles such as Romanticism and Symbolism. Since the beginning of the 20th century, several Bulgarian authors, such as Ivan Vazov, Pencho Slaveykov, Peyo Yavorov, Yordan Radichkov and Tzvetan Todorov have gained prominence.[285][286] In 1981 Bulgarian-born writer Elias Canetti was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.[287]

File:Big Air Package by Christo.jpg

Visitors inside the Big Air Package, an art installation by Christo, 2013

Bulgarian folk music is by far the most extensive traditional art and has slowly developed throughout the ages as a fusion of Eastern and Western influences. It contains Far Eastern, Oriental, medieval Eastern Orthodox and standard Western European tonalities and modes.[288] The music has a distinctive sound and uses a wide range of traditional instruments, such as gadulka, gaida (bagpipe), kaval and tupan. One of its most distinguishing features is extended rhythmical time, which has no equivalent in the rest of European music.[13] The State Television Female Vocal Choir is the most famous performing folk ensemble, and received a Grammy Award in 1990.[289] Bulgaria's written musical composition can be traced back to the early Middle Ages and the works of Yoan Kukuzel (c. 1280–1360).[290] Classical music, opera and ballet are represented by composers Emanuil Manolov, Pancho Vladigerov and Georgi Atanasov and singers Ghena Dimitrova, Boris Hristov and Nikolay Gyaurov.[291][292][293][294][295] Bulgarian performers have gained popularity in several other genres like progressive rock (FSB), electropop (Mira Aroyo) and jazz (Milcho Leviev).

The religious visual arts heritage includes frescoes, murals and icons, many produced by the medieval Tarnovo Artistic School.[296] Vladimir Dimitrov, Nikolay Diulgheroff and Christo are some of the most famous modern Bulgarian artists.[284] Film industry remains weak: in 2010, Bulgaria produced three feature films and two documentaries with public funding. Cultural events are advertised in the largest media outlets, including the Bulgarian National Radio, and daily newspapers Dneven Trud, Dnevnik and 24 Chasa.[297]

Tennis player Grigor Dimitrov

Tennis player Grigor Dimitrov at the 2013 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.

Bulgarian cuisine is similar to those of other Balkan countries and demonstrates a strong Turkish and Greek influence.[298] Yogurt, lukanka, banitsa, shopska salad, lyutenitsa and kozunak are among the best-known local foods. Oriental dishes such as moussaka, gyuvech, and baklava are also present. Meat consumption is lower than the European average, given a notable preference for a large variety of salads.[298] Rakia is a traditional fruit brandy which was consumed in Bulgaria as early as the 14th century.[299] Bulgarian wine is known for its Traminer, Muskat and Mavrud sorts, of which up to 200,000 tonnes are produced annually.[300][301] Until 1989, Bulgaria was the world's second-largest wine exporter.[302]

Bulgaria performs well in sports such as wrestling, weight-lifting, boxing, gymnastics, volleyball, football and tennis.[303] The country fields one of the leading men's volleyball teams, ranked sixth in the world according to the 2013 FIVB rankings.[304] Football is by far the most popular sport.[303] Some famous players are AS Monaco forward Dimitar Berbatov and Hristo Stoichkov, winner of the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball and the most successful Bulgarian player of all time.[305] Prominent domestic clubs include PFC CSKA Sofia[306][307] and PFC Levski Sofia. The best performance of the national team at FIFA World Cup finals came in 1994, when it advanced to the semi-finals by defeating consecutively Greece, Argentina, Mexico and Germany, finishing fourth.[303] Bulgaria has participated in most Olympic competitions since its first appearance at the 1896 games, when it was represented by Charles Champaud.[308] The country has won a total of 218 medals: 52 gold, 86 silver, and 80 bronze,[309] which puts it in 24th place in the all-time ranking.

See also[]

  • Outline of Bulgaria
  • International rankings of Bulgaria
  • List of twin towns and sister cities in Bulgaria

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ 22 September in the Julian calendar used at the time.

References[]

  1. ^ 2011 census, p. 4.
  2. ^ a b 2011 census, p. 3
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  4. ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income (source: SILC)". Eurostat Data Explorer. http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=ilc_di12. Retrieved 13 August 2013. 
  5. ^ "Human Development Report 2013". United Nations. 2013. http://hdr.undp.org/hdr4press/press/outreach/figures/HDI_Trends_2013.pdf. Retrieved 14 March 2013. 
  6. ^ "Early human marks are 'symbols'". BBC News. 16 March 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3512470.stm. Retrieved 8 June 2012. 
  7. ^ Slavchev, Vladimir (2004–2005). Monuments of the final phase of Cultures Hamangia and Savia on the territory of Bulgaria. 37–38. pp. 9–20. http://revistapontica.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/pontica-37-38-pag-9-20.pdf. Retrieved 20 December 2011. 
  8. ^ Chapman, John (2000). Fragmentation in Archaeology: People, Places, and Broken Objects. Routledge. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-415-15803-9. 
  9. ^ Roberts, Benjamin W.; Thornton, Christopher P. (2009). "Development of metallurgy in Eurasia". Department of Prehistory and Europe, British Museum. p. 1015. http://britishmuseum.academia.edu/BenjaminRoberts/Papers/340888/Development_of_metallurgy_in_Eurasia. Retrieved 8 June 2012. "In contrast, the earliest exploitation and working of gold occurs in the Balkans during the mid-fifth millennium BC, several centuries after the earliest known copper smelting. This is demonstrated most spectacularly in the various objects adorning the burials at Varna, Bulgaria (Renfrew 1986; Highamet al. 2007). In contrast, the earliest gold objects found in Southwest Asia date only to the beginning of the fourth millennium BC as at Nahal Qanah in Israel (Golden 2009), suggesting that gold exploitation may have been a Southeast European invention, albeit a short-lived one." 
  10. ^ Sigfried J. de Laet, ed (1996). History of Humanity: From the Third Millennium to the Seventh Century BC. UNESCO / Routledge. p. 99. ISBN 978-92-3-102811-3. http://books.google.bg/books?id=BnY0KYbJC6wC&pg=PA97&dq=history+of+metallurgy+bulgaria&hl=en&sa=X&ei=K-PRT-X7Be3Q4QSM-PmWAw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=bulgaria&f=false. Retrieved 8 June 2012. "The first major gold-working centre was situated at the mouth of the Danube, on the shores of the Black Sea in Bulgaria ..." 
  11. ^ Grande, Lance (2009). Gems and gemstones: Timeless natural beauty of the mineral world. The University of Chicago Press. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-226-30511-0. http://books.google.com/?id=RnE9Fa4pbn0C&pg=PA290&dq=varna+necropolis+oldest#v=onepage&q=varna%20necropolis%20oldest&f=false. Retrieved 20 December 2011. "The oldest known gold jewelry in the world is from an archaeological site in Varna Necropolis, Bulgaria, and is over 6,000 years old (radiocarbon dated between 4,600BC and 4,200BC)." 
  12. ^ "The Gumelnita Culture". Government of France. http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/harsova/en/dobro3.htm. Retrieved 4 December 2011. "The Necropolis at Varna is an important site in understanding this culture." 
  13. ^ a b c d "Bulgaria Factbook". United States Central Command. http://www.centcom.mil/bulgaria/. Retrieved December 2011. 
  14. ^ a b "Bulgar (people)". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/84067/Bulgar. Retrieved 24 May 2012. 
  15. ^ Boardman, John; Edwards, I.E.S.; Sollberger, E. (1982). The Cambridge Ancient History - part1: The Prehistory of the Balkans, the Middle East and the Aegean World, Tenth to Eighth Centuries BC. 3. Cambridge University Press. p. 53. ISBN 0521224969. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vXljf8JqmkoC&pg=PA53&dq=Yet+we+cannot+identify+the+Thracians&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ggBMUpuoMKGg0QX6o4HIBA&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Yet%20we%20cannot%20identify%20the%20Thracians&f=false. "Yet we cannot identify the Thracians at that remote period, because we do not know for certain whether the Thracian and Illyrian tribes had separated by then. It is safer to speak of Proto-Thracians from whom there developed in the Iron Age..." 
  16. ^ Nagle, D. Brendan (2006). Readings in Greek History: Sources and Interpretations. Oxford University Press. p. 230. ISBN 0-19-517825-4. "However, one of the Thracian tribes, the Odrysians, succeeded in unifying the Thracians and creating a powerful state" 
  17. ^ Hornblower, Simon (2003). The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press. p. 1515. ISBN 0-19-860641-9. "Shortly afterwards the first King of the Odrysae, Teres attempted to carve an empire out of the territory occupied by the Thracian tribes (Thuc.2.29 and his sovereignty extended as far as the Euxine and the Hellespont)" 
  18. ^ Ivanov, Lyubomir (2007). ESSENTIAL HISTORY OF BULGARIA IN SEVEN PAGES. Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. p. 2. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Essential_History_of_Bulgaria_in_Seven_Pages. Retrieved 20 December 2011. "In particular, in the mid-4th century a group of Goths settled in the region of Nikopolis ad Istrum (present Nikyup near Veliko Tarnovo in northern Bulgaria), where their leader Bishop Wulfila (Ulfilas) invented the Gothic alphabet and translated the Holy Bible into Gothic to produce the first book written in Germanic language." 
  19. ^ Hock, Hans Heinrich; Joseph, Brian D. (1996). Language History, Language Change and Language Relationship: an introduction to historical and comparative linguistics. Walter de Gruyter & Co.. p. 49. ISBN 3-11-014784-X. http://books.google.com/?id=oGH-RCW1fzsC&pg=PA49&lpg=PA49&dq=gothic+bible+oldest+germanic#v=onepage&q=gothic%20bible%20oldest%20germanic&f=false. Retrieved 20 December 2011. "The oldest extensive text is a Gothic Bible translation produced by the Gothic bishop Wulfilas (meaning 'Little Wolf') in the 4th century" 
  20. ^ "The monastery in the village of Zlatna Livada - the oldest in Europe" (in Bulgarian). LiterNet. 30 April 2004. http://www.liternet.bg/publish10/eshopova/manastiryt.htm. Retrieved 30 March 2012. 
  21. ^ D. Angelov (1971). "The Formation of the Bulgarian Nation". Наука и изкуство, "Векове". pp. 409–410. http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/da/da_summary.htm. 
  22. ^ Browning, Robert (1988). Byzantium and Bulgaria. Studia Slavico-Byzantina et Mediaevalia Europensia. I. pp. 32–36. 
  23. ^ Zlatarski, Vasil (1938) (in Bulgarian). History of the First Bulgarian Empire. Period of Hunnic-Bulgarian domination (679-852). p. 188. http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/vz1a/vz1a_a_1.html. Retrieved 23 May 2012. 
  24. ^ Runciman, Steven (1930). A History of the First Bulgarian Empire. G. Bell and Sons. p. 26. 
  25. ^ Ivanov, Lyubomir (2007). ESSENTIAL HISTORY OF BULGARIA IN SEVEN PAGES. Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. pp. 2–3. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Essential_History_of_Bulgaria_in_Seven_Pages. Retrieved 31 July 2012. 
  26. ^ Teophanes the Confessor (1883). C. de Boor. ed (in Greek). Theophanis chronographia. 1 (Teubner ed.). pp. 25–30. "φασί δε τινές ότι και ανθρώπους τεθνεώτας και την εαυτών κόπρον εις τα κλίβανα βάλλοντες και ζυμούντες ήσθιον. ενέσκηψε δε εις αυτούς και λοιμική νόσος και αναρίθμητα πλήθη εξ αυτών ώλεσεν. συνήψε δε προς αυτούς πόλεμον και τον των Βουλγάρων έθνος, και, ως φασίν οι ακριβώς επιστάμενοι, [ότι] κβ χιλάδας Αράβων κατέσφαξαν." 
  27. ^ "Krum (Bulgar khan)". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/323896/Krum. Retrieved 23 December 2011. 
  28. ^ a b "Reign of Simeon I". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/84090/Bulgaria/42725/The-spread-of-Christianity. Retrieved 4 December 2011. "Under Simeon's successors Bulgaria was beset by internal dissension provoked by the spread of Bogomilism (a dualist religious sect) and by assaults from Magyars, Pechenegs, the Rus, and Byzantines." 
  29. ^ The First Golden Age.
  30. ^ Browning, Robert (1975). Byzantium and Bulgaria. Temple Smith. pp. 194–5. ISBN 0-85117-064-1. 
  31. ^ "Reign of Simeon I". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/84090/Bulgaria/42726/Reign-of-Simeon-I?anchor=ref476455. Retrieved 20 January 2012. 
  32. ^ "Samuel". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9065243/Samuel. Retrieved 20 January 2012. 
  33. ^ Scylitzae, Ioannis (1973). Synopsis Historiarum (Hans Thurn ed.). p. 457. ISBN 978-3-11-002285-8. 
  34. ^ Pavlov, Plamen (2005). "The plots of 'master Presian the Bulgarian'" (in Bulgarian). Rebels and adventurers in medieval Bulgaria. LiterNet. http://www.liternet.bg/publish13/p_pavlov/buntari/zagovorite.htm. Retrieved 20 December 2011. "And, in the Spring of 1018, "the party of capitulation" prevailed and Basil II freely entered the then capital of Bulgaria Ochrid." 
  35. ^ Cameron, Averil (2006). The Byzantines. Blackwell Publishing. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-4051-9833-2. 
  36. ^ "Bulgaria – Second Bulgarian Empire". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/84090/Bulgaria/42727/The-second-Bulgarian-empire?anchor=ref476458. Retrieved 31 March 2012. 
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  38. ^ Ivanov, Lyubomir (2007). ESSENTIAL HISTORY OF BULGARIA IN SEVEN PAGES. Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. p. 4. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Essential_History_of_Bulgaria_in_Seven_Pages. Retrieved 20 December 2011. "The capital Tarnovo became a political, economic, cultural and religious centre seen as 'the Third Rome' in contrast to Constantinople's decline after the Byzantine heartland in Asia Minor was lost to the Turks during the late 11th century." 
  39. ^ "The Golden Horde". Library of Congress Mongolia country study. http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Mongolia.html. Retrieved 4 December 2011. "The Mongols maintained sovereignty over eastern Russia from 1240 to 1480, and they controlled the upper Volga area, the territories of the former Volga Bulghar state, Siberia, the northern Caucasus, Bulgaria (for a time), the Crimea, and Khwarizm" 
  40. ^ a b c "Bulgaria – Ottoman rule". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/84090/Bulgaria/42728/Ottoman-rule. Retrieved 21 December 2011. "With the capture of a rump Bulgarian kingdom centred at Bdin (Vidin) in 1396, the last remnant of Bulgarian independence disappeared. ... The Bulgarian nobility was destroyed—its members either perished, fled, or accepted Islam and Turkicization—and the peasantry was enserfed to Turkish masters." 
  41. ^ a b Jireček, K. J. (1876) (in German). Geschichte der Bulgaren. Nachdr. d. Ausg. Prag. ISBN 3-487-06408-1. http://books.google.com/?id=VBhThVLpc4MC&pg=PA88. Retrieved 20 December 2011. 
  42. ^ Minkov, Anton (2004). Conversion to Islam in the Balkans: Kisve Bahası - Petitions and Ottoman Social Life, 1670–1730. BRILL. p. 193. ISBN 90-04-13576-6. http://books.google.bg/books?id=zQsB_AghBKkC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=conversation+to+islam+to+the+balkans&source=bl&ots=Gde0c3vIfC&sig=NW6yzalUpauVEU9462LURkQR27A&hl=bg&sa=X&ei=nwloUP21MpDJswa914AQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=conclusion&f=false. 
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  278. ^ Creed, Gerald W. (2011). Masquerade and Postsocialism: Ritual and Cultural Dispossession in Bulgaria. Indiana University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-253-22261-9. http://books.google.bg/books?id=ilhCTCHKCAQC&pg=PA53&dq=kukeri&hl=bg&sa=X&ei=cnihT7u4D67S4QS5u7SgCQ&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=kukeri&f=false. 
  279. ^ "The Martenitsa Story". The Sofia Echo. 29 February 2008. http://sofiaecho.com/2008/02/29/653749_reading-room-the-martenitsa-story. Retrieved 2 May 2012. 
  280. ^ Giatzidis, Emil (2002). An Introduction to post-Communist Bulgaria: Political, economic and social transformation. Manchester University Press. p. 11. ISBN 0-7190-6094-X. http://books.google.com/?id=MUVgsK_GfxYC&pg=PA11&dq=bulgaria+slavic+culture#v=onepage&q=bulgaria%20slavic%20culture&f=false. Retrieved 20 December 2011. "Thus, with its early emphasis on Christian Orthodox scholarship, Bulgaria became the first major centre of Slavic culture" 
  281. ^ Riha, Thomas (1964). Readings in Russian Civilization. University of Chicago press. p. 214. ISBN 0-226-71853-0. http://books.google.com/?id=_Bkddxc600IC&pg=PA214&dq=bulgaria+slavic+culture#v=onepage&q=bulgaria%20slavic%20culture&f=false. Retrieved 20 December 2011. "And it was mainly from Bulgaria that a rich supply of literary monuments was transferred to Kiev and other centres." 
  282. ^ McNeill, William Hardy (1963). The Rise of the West. The University of Chicago Press. p. 49. ISBN 0-226-56141-0. http://books.google.com/?id=_RsPrzrsAvoC&pg=PA449&dq=bulgaria+slavic+culture#v=onepage&q=bulgaria%20slavic%20culture&f=false. Retrieved 20 December 2011. "Accordingly, when Bulgaria was converted to Christianity (after 865), bringing massive Slavic-speaking populations within the pale of Christendom, a new literary language, Old Church Slavonic, directly based upon Bulgarian speech, developed for their use." 
  283. ^ Ertl, Alan W (2008). Toward understanding Europe: A political précis of continental integration. Universal Publishers, Inc.. p. 436. ISBN 1-59942-983-7. http://books.google.com/?id=X9PGRaZt-zcC&pg=PA436&dq=preslav+school+cyrillic#v=onepage&q=preslav%20school%20cyrillic&f=false. Retrieved 20 December 2011. "At the beginning of the 10th century a new alphabet – the Cyrillic alphabet – was developed on the basis of Greek and Glagolitic cursive at the Preslav Literary School." 
  284. ^ a b "Bulgaria – The arts". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2011. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/84090/Bulgaria/42715/The-arts. Retrieved 20 December 2011. "The early impetus of Bulgarian traditions in the arts was cut short by the Ottoman occupation in the 14th century, and many early masterpieces were destroyed. ... the foundations were laid for later artists such as Vladimir Dimitrov, an extremely gifted painter specializing in the rural scenes of his native country ... At the beginning of the 21st century, the best-known contemporary Bulgarian artist was Christo, an environmental sculptor known for wrapping famous structures" 
  285. ^ "Bulgaria – The arts". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2011. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/84090/Bulgaria/42715/The-arts. Retrieved 20 December 2011. "World classics and modern foreign dramas are typically produced, as well as both modern and traditional Bulgarian plays, including those by Ivan Vazov and poet Peyo Yavorov ... These included poets such as Pencho Slaveykov, Yavorov, and Dimcho Debelyanov ... More recent authors of note include poet Atanas Slavov, Yordan Radichkov, and Blaga Dimitrova." 
  286. ^ "French-Bulgarian Theorist Tzvetan Todorov Wins Top Spanish Award". Novinite. 18 June 2008. http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=94265. Retrieved 20 December 2011. 
  287. ^ Lorenz, Dagmar C. G. (17 April 2004). "Elias Canetti". Literary Encyclopedia. ISSN 1747-678X. Retrieved on 20 December 2011. 
  288. ^ Kremenliev, Boris A. (1952). Bulgarian-Macedonian Folk Music. University of California Press. p. 52. http://books.google.com/?id=wOOfVFJWMLIC&pg=PA52&dq=bulgarian+music#v=onepage&q=bulgarian%20music&f=false. Retrieved 20 December 2011. "Bulgaria's scales are numerous, and it may be demonstrated that they are a fusion of Eastern and Western influences. ... first, Oriental scales; second, church modes: the osmoglasie ... third, the conventional scales of Western Europe. ... Among the scales which have comes to the Balkans from Asia, the pentatonic is one of the most widely used in Bulgaria. Whether it came from China or Japan, as Dobri Hristov suggests" 
  289. ^ "32nd Grammy Awards Winners". Grammy Awards. http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=&title=&year=1989&genre=All. Retrieved 4 December 2011. 
  290. ^ Lang, David Marshall (1976). The Bulgarians: from pagan times to the Ottoman conquest. Westview Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-89158-530-5. "John Kukuzel, the eminent Bulgarian/born reformer of Byzantine music." 
  291. ^ "The 2011/2012 season of the National Opera and Ballet House". Bulgarian National Radio. 25 October 2011. http://bnr.bg/sites/en/Music/Pages/2510The20112012seasonoftOperaand.aspx. Retrieved 20 December 2011. 
  292. ^ "Obituary: Ghena Dimitrova". The Telegraph. 13 June 2005. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1491905/Ghena-Dimitrova.html. Retrieved 20 December 2011. 
  293. ^ Forbes, Elizabeth (29 June 1993). "Obituary: Boris Christoff". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-boris-christoff-1494547.html. Retrieved 20 December 2011. 
  294. ^ Kozinn, Allan (29 June 1993). "Boris Christoff, Bass, Dies at 79; Esteemed for His Boris Godunov". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/29/obituaries/boris-christoff-bass-dies-at-79-esteemed-for-his-boris-godunov.html. Retrieved 20 December 2011. 
  295. ^ "Nicolai Ghiaurov, Operatic Bass, Dies at 74". The New York Times. 3 June 2004. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/arts/nicolai-ghiaurov-operatic-bass-dies-at-74.html. Retrieved 13 December 2013. 
  296. ^ Grabar, André (1928). La peinture religiouse en Bulgarie. P. Geuthner. p. 95. ASIN: B005ZI4OV8
  297. ^ "Media Landscape – Bulgaria". European Journalism Centreaccessdate=2 May 2014. http://ejc.net/media_landscapes/bulgaria. 
  298. ^ a b Albala, Ken (2011). Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 61, 62. ISBN 978-0-313-37626-9. http://books.google.com/?id=zG1H75z0EYYC&pg=RA3-PA61&dq=bulgaria+slavic+culture#v=onepage&q=bulgaria%20slavic%20culture&f=false. Retrieved 20 December 2011. 
  299. ^ "Archeological Find Proves Rakia Is Bulgarian Invention". Novinite. 10 October 2011. http://novinite.com/view_news.php?id=132826. Retrieved 20 December 2011. 
  300. ^ "The Russians bought 81 mln. litres of Bulgarian wine". Investor Group BG. http://www.investor.bg/news/article/60913/5.html. Retrieved 15 April 2010. 
  301. ^ "The Bulgarian Table, from Sudjuk to Shopska". Novinite. 4 August 2011. http://novinite.com/view_news.php?id=130835. Retrieved 20 December 2011. 
  302. ^ "Bulgaria Bounces Back". Novinite. 7 February 2012. http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136420. Retrieved 7 February 2012. 
  303. ^ a b c "Bulgaria- Sport and recreation". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2011. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/84090/Bulgaria/42718/Sport-and-recreation. Retrieved 20 December 2011. "In international sports competition, Bulgarians have excelled in tennis, wrestling, boxing, and gymnastics, but the country's greatest repute may be in weight-lifting. ... Fans of football (soccer), the most popular sport in Bulgaria, were buoyed by the success of the national team in the 1994 World Cup, when it advanced to the semi-final match under the leadership of forward Hristo Stoichkov. The premier league in Bulgaria has 16 teams, of which four play in Sofia: CSKA, Levski, Slavia, and Lokomotiv." 
  304. ^ "FIVB official rankings as per October 7, 2013". International Volleyball Federation (FIVB). 7 October 2013. http://www.fivb.org/en/volleyball/VB_Ranking_M_2013-10.asp. Retrieved 26 October 2013. 
  305. ^ "Hristo Stoichkov – Bulgarian League Ambassador". Professional Football Against Hunger. http://www.epfl-europeanleagues.com/fao/hristo_stoichkov.htm. Retrieved 4 December 2011. 
  306. ^ "Rankings of A Group". BgClubs. http://bgclubs.eu/ranking/points. Retrieved 20 December 2011. 
  307. ^ Ingo Faulhaber. "Best club of 20th century ranking at the official site of the International Federation of Football History and Statistics". Iffhs.de. http://www.iffhs.de/?a413f0e03790c443e0f40390b41be8b01905fdcdc3bfcdc0aec70aeedb883ccb05ff1d. Retrieved 20 December 2011. 
  308. ^ "Athens 1896". Bulgarian Olympic Committee. http://www.bgolympic.org/fce/index.shtml?s=001&p=0039&n=000001. Retrieved 4 December 2011. 
  309. ^ "Bulgaria". Official website of the Olympic movement. http://www.olympic.org/bulgaria. Retrieved 4 December 2011. 

Bibliography[]


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