About Bulgaria
Geography
Geographically and in terms of climate, Bulgaria features notable diversity, with the landscape ranging from the Alpine snow-capped peaks in Rila, Pirin and the Balkan Mountains to the mild and sunny weather of the Black Sea coast, from the typically continental Danubian Plain (ancient Moesia) in the north to the strong Mediterranean influence in the valleys of Macedonia and the lowlands in the southernmost parts of Thrace. Bulgaria comprises portions of the classical regions of Thrace, Moesia, and Macedonia. The southwest of the country is mountainous with two alpine ranges - Rila and Pirin, and further east are the lower but more extensive Rhodope Mountains. Rila mountain includes the highest peak of the Balkan Peninsula, peak Musala at 2,925 m (9,596 ft); the long range of the Balkan mountains runs west-east through the middle of the country, north of the famous Rose Valley. Hilly country and plains are found in the southeast, along the Black Sea coast in the east, and along Bulgaria's main river, the Danube in the north. Other major rivers include the Struma and the Maritsa river in the south. There are around 260 glacial lakes situated in Rila and Pirin, several large lakes on the Black Sea coast and more than 2,200 dam lakes. Mineral springs are in great abundance located mainly in the south-western and central parts of the country along the faults between the mountains.
Provinces and municipalities
- Blagoevgrad
- Burgas
- Dobrich
- Gabrovo
- Haskovo
- Kardzhali
- Kyustendil
- Lovech
- Montana
- Pazardzhik
- Pernik
- Pleven
- Plovdiv
- Razgrad
- Ruse
- Shumen
- Silistra
- Sliven
- Smolyan
- Sofia City
- Sofia Province
- Stara Zagora
- Targovishte
- Varna
- Veliko Tarnovo
- Vidin
- Vratsa
- Yambol
Culture
A country often described as lying at the crossroads linking the East and West, Bulgaria functioned as the centre of Slavic Europe during much of the Middle Ages, exerting considerable literary and cultural influence over the Eastern Orthodox Slavic world by means of the Preslav and Ohrid Literary Schools. Bulgaria is also the birthplace of the Cyrillic alphabet, the second most widely used alphabet in the world, which was developed in these two schools in the tenth century.
Bulgaria is well-known for its rich folklore, distinctive traditional music, rituals and tales, but the country's contribution to humanity also continued in the nineteenth and twentieth century, when individuals such as John Atanasoff - born in USA with Bulgarian origin, regarded as the father of the digital computer, a number of noted opera singers (Nicolai Ghiaurov, Boris Christoff, Raina Kabaivanska, Ghena Dimitrova), Anna Veleva, and successful artists (Christo Javacheff, Pascin, Vladimir Dimitrov) popularized the culture of Bulgaria abroad.
A number of ancient civilizations, most notably the Thracians, Greeks, Romans, Slavs and Bulgars, have left their mark on the culture, history and heritage of Bulgaria. The country has nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites:
* two Thracian tombs (one in Sveshtari and one in Kazanlak)
* three monuments of medieval Bulgarian culture (the Boyana Church, the Rila Monastery and the Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo)
* two examples of natural beauty: the Pirin National Park and the Srebarna Nature Reserve
* the ancient city of Nesebar, a unique combination of European cultural interaction, as well as, historically, one of the most important centres of naval trade in the Black Sea.
* the Varna Necropolis, a 3500-3200 BC burial site, purportedly contains the oldest examples of worked gold in the world
Photos from Bulgaria
