Bulgaria is situated in Southeast Europe and occupies the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. To the north it borders on Romania, to the west on the Republic of Macedonia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, to the east on the Black Sea, to the south on Greece and to the southeast on Turkey's European part.
The Republic of Bulgaria is situated in South-eastern Europe, to the right of the lower reaches of the Danube River. HBulgaria borders with Serbia, Macedonia, Romania, Greece, and Turkey. Two mountain ranges and two great valleys mark the topography of Bulgaria, a country the size of Tennessee and situated on the Black Sea. The Maritsa is Bulgaria's principal river, and the Danube also flows through the country.
Bulgaria emerged and received official recognition following two victories over the cosmopolitan Byzantine empire. The first battles took place in the Danube delta area in the year 680 A.D. The conflicts continued in the following year, spreading south of the Balkan Range. This is cited in the Acts of the Sixth Oecumenical Council of the Christian Church in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul).
The historical development of the Bulgarian lands and the people that inhabited them in the antiquity has been determined by one major factor - their crossroads situation between Europe and Asia. The waves of settlers that swept from both continents into the south or into the north at different times, quite often turned the plains of Thrace, Moesia, Macedonia and the Balkan mountains into an arena of fierce clashes. Prior to the settlement of the Bulgarians about fifteen hundred years ago, this most contended land of the European civilization had seen other people's cultures, with markedly impressive presence in the history of humankind on the planet Earth come, evolve and then, tragically go.
Republic of Bulgaria was established in 1947 and Bulgaria acquired the reputation of being the most slavishly loyal to Moscow of all the East European Communist countries. The general secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Todor Zhikov, resigned in 1989 after 35 years in power. His successor, Peter Mladenov, purged the Politburo, ended the Communist monopoly on power, and held free elections in May 1990 that led to a surprising victory for the Communist Party, renamed the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). Mladenov was forced to resign in July 1990.
Bulgarian music includes folk songs and plain chants in the Greek mode for church services. The chief native musical instruments consists of the gaida (bagpipe) and the kaval (a wooden shepherd's flute). The folk dances include hora, a round chain dance, and the ruchenitsa, a lively dance of two couples.
85 percent of ethnic Bulgarian and 9 percent of Turkish people in Bulgaria. The remaining 6 percent is made up of small groups of Armenians, Roma (Gypsies), Greeks, and Macedonian Slavs. Around 67 percent of these people live in urban areas. The official language is Bulgarian and is spoken by about 90 percent of the population while Turkish is also widely spoken by the minority groups.
Temperate continental with clearly marked four seasons. A Mediterranean influence is felt in the country's southern regions. The average annual temperature is 10.5°C. The average January temperature is around O°C. Average summer temperatures rarely exceed 30°C.
Full country name: Republic of Bulgaria
Area: 110,912 sq km
Population: 8.3 million
Capital: Sofia
Other cities: Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Ruse
People: 85% Bulgarian, 8.5% Turkish, 2.6% Roma, 2.5% Macedonian
Currency: Lev (BGL)
Language: Bulgarian. Turkish and Romany are spoken by minorities.
Religion: 85% Bulgarian Orthodox, 13% Muslim
Major industries: Food processing, machine and metal building, electronics, chemicals, textiles, ferrous and nonferrous metals.
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