General Information about Bulgaria

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Location

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.

Area: 111.000 sq km.

Relief

Extremely varied: large plains and lowlands, low and high mountains, valleys and lovely gorges.

Climate

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.

Population

8,428,006

Language

Bulgarian.

English, German, French and Russian is spoken in the country's resorts, hotels and restaurants.

Alphabet

Cyrillic. Signs along international motorways, in airports and resorts are also spelled in Roman letters.

Religion

86.6% of the population is Eastern Orthodox, 13% are Muslims. The Bulgarian Church is autonomous and headed by a Patriarch.

State government

Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic.

Official holidays

• January 1 - New Year
• March 3 - Bulgaria's Liberation from Ottoman rule - the National Day
• Easter - one week after the Catholic Easter
• May 1 - Labour Day
• May 6 - Bulgarian Army Day
• May 24 - Day of Bulgarian Enlightenment and Culture and the Slav Script
• September 6 - Bulgaria's Unification
• September 22 - Independance Day
• December 25-26 - Christmas

Capital

Sofia (pop. 1,141,000)

Large Cities

Plovdiv, Varna, Veliko Turnovo

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