BULGARIA

1. Where is it?
Bulgaria is a small country, which is situated somewhere on Earth, in
southeastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. It is boarded by Romania (N),
Serbia and Macedonia (W), Greece and Turkey (S) and the Black Sea (E).
Not many people know exactly where it is on the map but the location of Bulgaria
is kind of important to the entire continent of Europe. Due to the fact that
Bulgaria is kind of a crossroad, it has played a huge role in the international
relations between Europe and the Middle East for centuries.

2. Climate
Most of you have heard of 2, 3 or 4 annual seasons, but in Bulgaria we have the
incredible 5 different seasons winter, spring, summer, autumn and the so called
gypsy summer. It is really common to have nice weather in November or even
December and to enjoy long sunny walks in the parks.
Our summer and winter tourist resorts are well known for promoting cheap, but
high class service. Hows that? Why cheap? Mostly because we use our own
currency lev (1 lev= approximately 0.50) Moreover, Bulgaria has a variety of
different seasonal attractions there are the sea coasts with wide shores and the
5 small charming islands, the ski areas up in the mountains and the wellness and
SPA spots. Well, not many countries can brag about offering all of these.
3. Nature
I once heard a story about the distributing of the lands between nations. It says
that when God started to give territories to the peoples, the Bulgarians were late
so instead God gave them a piece of heaven. We cant know whether it is true or
not, but one cannot deny the fact that Bulgaria has some breathtaking views.
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When it comes to mountains we have a lot of them. Rila mountain is

home to the highest point of the Balkan peninsula, Musala (2,900m), Stara
planina, the largest mountain in Bulgaria, which basically separates the
south and the north part of the country, the beautiful Rhodope Mountains,
Pirin and the smaller Strandja, Sakar and Vitosha. All of them offer
spectacular landscapes which are worth seeing.
The country has a dense network of about 540 rivers but surely the
Danube is the most popular one. However, most of the rivers are with low
water levels but yet, some of them are suitable for extreme sports, like rafting,
for those who like the adrenaline adventures.

Because of the natural borders of mountains in conjunction with wind and

weather patterns and water flow, Bulgaria is home to a wild variety of
entertainingly strange natural land marks such as the Belogradchik eroded
rock cliffs, the Stone mushrooms, Pobiti kamuni, which by the way are one
of the two naturally occurring deserts in Europe ( Tabernas, Spain).
Bulgaria is definitely not in short supply of caves and waterfalls. We should
mention the Devils Throat with the worlds highest underground waterfall,
the Devetashka cave, the Eyes of God. In fact, Bulgaria has over 4,500
charted caves. Also keep in mind that we have 32 out of the 37 bat species

in Europe. In addition to the caves, we have the tallest waterfall in the

Balkans Raiskoto pruskalo, Krushunskite vodopadi and many others.

4.

History

When it comes to history it is really hard to speak shortly. The first mentioning of
the Bulgarians with this name was in 356 AC. We consider our land of origin to be
somewhere in the Middle East. In 680 the Bulgar tribes, under the leadership of
khan Asparuh, moved south and settled in the area between the lower Danube
and the Balkan mountains. After some battles with Byzantuim, in 681 they
established the First Bulgarian Country. During the years of living on the Balkans
the Bulgar tribes have mixed with the Slavs. However, Bulgaria is the oldest
country in Europe that hasnt changed its name since it was first established.
Sofia, the capital, is the second oldest capital in Europe and Plovdiv (which will be
the cultural capital of Europe in 2019), is the oldest city in Europe and ranks 8 th
among the worlds oldest cities. It was founded 4000 years BC. The golden
treasure, discovered in Varnas necropolis, is the oldest one in the world. It dates
back to 5 000 BC. Over 15 000 Thracian tombs have been found on the territory
of Bulgaria. There is solid historical evidence that wine has been produced on the
territory of what is now modern-day Bulgaria ever since the Stone Age.
5. Culture
- Gastronomy
One of the best parts of Bulgaria is definitely its gastronomy. Everyone has tasted
the yogurt, but how many know that its origin is bulgarian?! Well, it is! Dr Stamen
Grigorov first examined the microflora of the yogurt, thats why the bacterium of
it is called Lactobacillius bulgaricus. Another tasty thingie is the banitsa which is
good to be consumed with airan (yogurt & water). The most popular Bulgarian
salad is Shopska salata (tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese & other ingredients and
spices) and one of the favorite soups is a cold soup called Tarator (yogurt,
cucumbers & spices). The most Bulgarian Bulgarian drink is the rakia, even
though we produce amazing wine too. We have a huge list of food but every
Bulgarian can eat lutenitsa with everything because it tastes better!
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Traditions

As a whole, we like to celebrate! We celebrate a lot of name days, we have a lot

of holidays. It is something normal to jump into the ice cold waters of Tundja river
to dance in the mans horo on Yordanovden (St. Jordan, 6 th January). While
carnivals are widespread around the world, the Kukeri stand out with their scary
costumes, made of thick animal pelts, big bells and creepy masks. The kukeri can
be seen in Pernik, during the Surva masquerade, which takes place in late
January/ early February. We welcome spring on March 1 st with Baba Marta and the
martenitsi red and white bracelets. In few isolated villages near the Turkish
border in Strandja mountain there are people, who dance barefoot on burning
embers in a state of trance, and preserve the mystical ritual called Nestinarstvo.
14th February and Valentines Day? No, thanks. We celebrate the wine day, Trifon
Zarezan. We produce nearly 200 000 tones wine per year.

We also celebrate a lot of festivals. Rojenski sabor is one of the most traditional
ones. It takes place in the summer and unites a lot of Bulgarians and foreigners
under the sounds of the Bulgarian bagpipe - gaida.
6.
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What has Bulgaria given to the world :

The Cyrillic alphabet (brothers Kiril and Metodii)
The first digital electronic computer (John Atanasoff)
The photoelectret state, or just the photocopying (Georgi Nadjakov)
The design of the lunar module Eagle (Apolo 11) (Ivan Notchev)
The prototype of the digital electronic watch, Pulsar( Petar Petroff)
The answering machine, tape recorder and the airbag (Asen Yordanoff)
The contraceptive pill (Carl Djerassi)
The tuberculosis vaccine & Lactobacilicus bulgaricus (Stamen Grigorov)
The medicine Nivalin for Alzheimers disease (Dimitar Paskov)
Hristo Stoichkov and Dimitar Berbatov every football fan has heard of
them!
Stefka Kostadinova a retired athlete, her world record 2.09 m high jump
is not beaten yet!
Sumo wrestler Kaloyan Mahlyanov
The chess grandmaster Veselin Topalov

7. Why to visit Bulgaria?

If you are not sure yet Ive prepared you more reasons here:
1. It is quite unknown place and this makes it an exotic one. It will be cool to
be the first among your friends to visit Bulgaria.
2. If you need to refresh/ push the restart button, Bulgaria is the perfect place
unknown language, spectacular landscapes and a lot of things and
cultural ?????? to discover.
3. The Bulgarian grandmothers famous hospitality. Any foreigner who had
contact with a Bulgarian grandma knows what I mean. Even the popular
English photographer and filmmaker Timothy Allen posted a photo of a
granny in his Facebook account and wrote: 84 year old Baba Stojanka lives alone in a
small village of just a few other old people in the Ograzhden Mountains. She invited us into her home to
offer us food and show us photographs of her family. When I asked her if I could take her portrait she
said "Please tell anyone you show the photograph to that my name is Baba Stojanka" ... so now I am
telling you.

4. According to a lot of world charts, the Bulgarian woman are considered to

be one of the most beautiful in the world.

8. Aaaaand if you still hesitate Ill show you some thoughts of foreigners,
visited Bulgaria: