 Discover Bulgaria (България)
View from Vitosha to cloud-covered Sofia Valley, Bulgaria
Author: Preslav (public domain)
Bulgaria is a moderate size country in southeastern Europe. It has a coastline facing the Black Sea to the east, and share borders with Romania across the Danube to the north, Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia, to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south.
Guide to Bulgaria Hotels
Here's a list of hotels in Bulgaria that you can book online, listed by city, with full description, star rating, address, location map, evaluation, and prices as offered by different booking sites. This helps you to make your room booking with the site that offers the best price.
More on Bulgaria
Bulgaria covers 110,994 sq km (42,855 sq mi). It has a population of 7.5 million people. The capital and largest city is Sofia. Bulgaria is in the Eastern European Time zone, which is 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time, and three hours in summer. The traffic is driven on the right. The phone IDD code is +359. The official language of the country is Bulgarian, which is written in the Cyrillic alphabet as with Russian. The official currency is called the Lev (BGN).
Asenova Fortress, Bulgaria
Author: Vassia Atanassova (public domain)
In 2010, Bulgaria has a nominal GDP of $44.8 billion, equivalent to a per capita nominal GDP of $5,955. Its per capita GDP at purchasing power parity is $12,052. Since 1 January, 2007, Bulgaria is a member of the European Union.
Bulgaria experiences continental climate. Its winters are cold and damp with snow, especially in the highlands, while its summers are hot and humid. The coastal parts of Bulgaria enjoys temperate climate with mild autumns and cool winters. The summers here are warm and breezy.
The city of Sliven, Bulgaria, seen from southern Stara Planina
Author: Evgeni Dinev (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
Evidence of early human habitation in Bulgaria goes back to the 6th millennia BC. The First Bulgarian Empire was established in AD 681 with its capital in Pliska. In the 9th century Boris I the Baptist introduced Eastern Orthodox Christianity to Bulgaria, and with it, the Cyrillic alphabet.
Bulgaria was ruled by the Byzantine Empire at the beginning of the 11th century. It lasted a century and by 1185, was replaced by the Second Bulgarian Empire. In 1393 the Ottomans captured the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, Tarnovo, and began Ottoman rule which lasted for nearly five centuries. The defeat of the Ottomans in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 brought an end of Ottoman rule, and ushered in the Third Bulgarian State.
Nesebar Fortress, Bulgaria
Author: www.vacacionesbulgaria.com (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
The early decades of the 20th century were characterized by civil unrest, helping to establish the royal authoritarian dictatorship of Tsar Boris III. During the Second World War, it was aligned with the Axis forces, but managed to save its Jewish population by delaying compliance to German demands. The death of Boris III in 1943 brought political upheaval to Bulgaria. Communist uprising the following year abolished the monarchy, and in 1946, a Soviet-style people's republic was established.
The collapse of the Soviet Union may have induced the Bulgarian Communist Party to relinquish political monopoly on 10 November, 1989. The first free election took place on June, 1990, won by the Bulgarian Socialist Party, a moderate wing of the Communist Party. A new constitution was adopted in 1991, dismantling the socialist-style economy.
Bulgaria joined NATO in 2004 and the European Union in 2007. The country scores well in terms of freedom of speech and human rights records.
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia
Author: MrPanyGoff (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Visiting Bulgaria
Bulgaria is today a member of the Schengen Agreement, meaning visitors from the EU and EFTA countries only need to bring an approved ID to visit. As of January 2011, you do not need a visa for entering Bulgaria or any other Schengen member country if you are a citizen of Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, San Marino, Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City, and Venezuela.
Rock-hewn churches of Ivanovo, Bulgaria
Author: Stoyan Chochkov (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
The main international airport is the Sofit Airport (SOF), with flights from 25 airlines offering connections with destinations in western Europe. There are international airports in Varna, Bourgas and Plovdiv as well. It is also possible to take a train to Sofia from Kiev, Istanbul, Bucharest and Vienna.
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