Bulgaria

BULGARIA

Information about travelling to Bulgaria

Bulgaria is located in Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey

Facts about Bulgaria
Population7,262,675 (July 2008 est.
CapitalSofia
Time zoneUTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begin
Location Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey

General info about Bulgaria
The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Turks. Northern Bulgaria attained autonomy in 1878 and all of Bulgaria became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1908. Having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, Bulgaria fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990, when Bulgaria held its first multiparty election since World War II and began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy while combating inflation, unemployment, corruption, and crime. The country joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007.
Languages spoken
Bulgarian 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)
What about drugs?
major European transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and, to a lesser degree, South American cocaine for the European market; limited producer of precursor chemicals; some money laundering of drug-related proceeds through financial institutions
Ethnic division
Bulgarian 83.9%, Turk 9.4%, Roma 4.7%, other 2% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) (2001 census)
HIV/AIDS prevalence rate
less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
Climate
temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers
Resources
bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land
Economy
Bulgaria, a former Communist country that entered the EU on 1 January 2007, has experienced strong growth since a major economic downturn in 1996. Successive governments have demonstrated commitment to economic reforms and responsible fiscal planning, but have failed so far to rein in rising inflation and large current account deficits. Bulgaria has averaged more than 6% growth since 2004, attracting significant amounts of foreign direct investment, but corruption in the public administration, a weak judiciary, and the presence of organized crime remain significant challenges.
Environment
air pollution from industrial emissions; rivers polluted from raw sewage, heavy metals, detergents; deforestation; forest damage from air pollution and resulting acid rain; soil contamination from heavy metals from metallurgical plants and industrial wastes

Cities in Bulgaria

ahtopol     ajtos     alfatar     antonovo     ardino     asenovgrad     balgarovo     bankja     bansko     batak     batanovci     belene     belica     belogradcik     beloslav     belovo     berkovica     bjala     blagoevgrad     bobosevo     bobovdol     boljarovo     borovo     botevgrad     bracigovo     bregovo     breznik     brezovo     buhovo     burgas     carevo     cepelare     cirpan     dalgopol     debelec     devin     dimitrovgrad     dimovo     dobric     dolna banja     dolna mitropolija     dolni dabnik     dospat     dragoman     drjanovo     dulovo     dupnica     dve mogili     elena     elhovo     elin pelin     etropole     gabrovo     galabovo     godec     gramada     guljanci     gurkovo     harmanli     haskovo     ihtiman     iskar     isperih     ivajlovgrad     jablanica     jakoruda     jambol     kalofer     kameno     kaolinovo     karlovo     karnobat     kaspican     kavarna     kazanlak     kermen     kilifarevo     kjustendil     klisura     kneza     kocerinovo     kojnare     koprivstica     kostenec     kostinbrod     kotel     kozloduj     kresna     kricim     krivodol     krumovgrad     kubrat     kula     laki     letnica     levski     ljaskovec     ljubimec     lom     lovec     loznica     lukovit     madan     magliz     malko tarnovo     melnik     mericleri     mezdra     momcilgrad     montana     nedelino     nesebar     nikolaevo     nikopol     nova zagora     novi iskar     novi pazar     obzor     omurtag     opaka     orjahovo     panagjuriste     pavlikeni     pazardzik     pernik     perustica     pestera     petric     pirdop     plackovci     pleven     pliska     plovdiv     pomorie     popovo     pordim     pravec     primorsko     provadija     radnevo     radomir     rakitovo     rakovski     razgrad     razlog     rila     roman     rudozem     ruse     sabla     sadovo     saedinenie     samokov     sandanski     senovo     septemvri     sevlievo     silistra     simeonovgrad     simitli     sipka     slavjanovo     sliven     smoljan     sofia     sopot     sozopol     sredec     stara zagora     straldza     strazica     strelca     suhindol     sumen     sungurlare     suvorovo     svilengrad     svistov     svoge     tervel     teteven     topolovgrad     tran     trastenik     trjavna     trojan     tutrakan     tvardica     ugarcin     varna     veliki preslav     velingrad     vetovo     vidin     vraca     zavet     zemen     zlatarica     zlatica     zlatograd    


Airports in Bulgaria
BourgasBOJ
HaskovoHKV
JambolJAM
PlovdivPDV
PlevenPVN
RousseROU
SilistraSLS
VrazhdebnaSOF
Stara ZagoraSZR
TargovishteTGV
VarnaVAR
VidinVID


Beer in Bulgaria (0.33l)
Bansko~ 1 EUR
Bansko~ 1 EUR
Borovets~ 1 EUR
Borovets~ 1 EUR
Bourgas~ 0.3 EUR
Bourgas~ 0.3 EUR
Burgas~ 0.6 EUR
Gabrovo~ 0.4 EUR
Nessebar~ 1.1 EUR
Pleven~ 0.5 EUR
Plovdiv~ 0.4 EUR
Plovdiv~ 0.4 EUR
Ruse~ 0.4 EUR
Shumen~ 0.4 EUR
Silistra~ 0.4 EUR
Sofia~ 0.6 EUR
Sofia~ 0.6 EUR
Sozopol~ 1 EUR
Stara Zagora~ 0.4 EUR
Svishtov~ 0.6 EUR
Varna~ 0.6 EUR
Varna~ 0.6 EUR
Yambol~ 0.8 EUR

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