Portal:Bulgaria

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Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey to the south, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, and Romania across the Danube river to the north. It covers a territory of 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi) and is the tenth largest within the European Union and the sixteenth-largest country in Europe by area. Sofia is the nation's capital and largest city; other major cities include Plovdiv, Varna, and Burgas.

Since adopting a democratic constitution in 1991, Bulgaria has been a parliamentary republic composed of 28 provinces, with a high degree of political, administrative, and economic centralisation. Its high-income economy is part of the European Single Market and is largely based on services, followed by manufacturing, mining, and agriculture. Bulgaria has been influenced by its role as a transit country for natural gas and oil pipelines, as well as its strategic location on the Black Sea. Its foreign relations have been shaped by its geographical location and its modern membership; Bulgaria is a member state of the European Union, in which it is a member of the Schengen Area and the eurozone, and also of NATO, as well as various regional suborganizations such as the Bucharest Nine. (Full article...)

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The Second Bulgarian Empire (Middle Bulgarian: Ц(а)рьство бл(ъ)гарское; Modern Bulgarian: Второ българско царство, romanized: Vtoro Balgarsko Tsarstvo) was a medieval Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1422. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th century.

Until 1256, the Second Bulgarian Empire was the dominant power in the Balkans, defeating the Byzantine Empire in several major battles. In 1205, Emperor Kaloyan defeated the newly established Latin Empire in the Battle of Adrianople. His nephew Ivan Asen II defeated the Despotate of Epiros and made Bulgaria a regional power again. During his reign, Bulgaria spread from the Adriatic to the Black Sea and the economy flourished. In the late 13th century, however, the Empire declined under constant invasions by Mongols, Byzantines, Hungarians, and Serbs, as well as internal unrest and revolts. The 14th century saw a temporary recovery and stability, but also the peak of Balkan feudalism as central authorities gradually lost power in many regions. Bulgaria was divided into three parts on the eve of the Ottoman invasion. (Full article...)

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that basketball player Charel Allen was a five-time Bulgarian Cup champion despite knowing only a few words of Bulgarian?
... that Boyan the Mage, the son of a Bulgarian emperor, was claimed to shapeshift into wolf form?
... that Will Wood conducted a Bulgarian choir via Zoom for "White Noise"?
... that Ferdinand I of Bulgaria once described historian Dimitar Agura as having "the eyes, gaze and head of a cat"?
... that Swiss national Charles Champaud represented Bulgaria at the 1896 Summer Olympics?
... that during the 1899–1900 peasant unrest in Bulgaria, some troops refused orders to fire on the protesters?

Gallery

Image 1A beach in Bulgaria.
Image 2Razgrad is a city in East Bulgaria.
Image 3Danube river in Bulgaria
Image 4Varna lake is a salt lake near Black sea.
Image 5Sofia is the biggest city in Bulgaria.
Image 6Rila is a mountain in West Bulgaria
Image 7Maritsa is a river in South Bulgaria.

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Credit: Evgeni Dinev

The Smolyan lakes are situated in the western part of the Rhodope Mountains near the homonimous city.

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More did You Know?

...that Perperikon (ruins pictured), an ancient Thracian city, is the largest megalith ensemble in the Balkans?

...that an ore-miner settlement existed on the present location of Chiprovtsi since Thracian times, and was Kiprovets by the Slavs who inhabited it?