About Bulgaria
Area: 110,993.6 sq km
Population: 7,973, 673 (2001)
Capital city: Sofia
Official language: Bulgarian
Alphabet: Cyrillic
Religion: There is freedom of religious confessions. Traditional religion in the Republic of Bulgaria is Eastern
Orthodox Christianity
National holiday: March 3, the day of the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman domination (1878)
Monetary unit: the Bulgarian Lev
Administrative division: 28 regions, named after their respective regional centres.
State system: a parliamentary republic with a one-chamber parliament (National Assembly), consisting of 240
national representatives, elected for a four-year term of service. The head of state of the republic is the President,
elected for a five-year term of service. The Council of Ministers is the main body of executive power.
Relief: most diverse. Average height above sea level - 470 m. Some 31.5% of the country's territory is plain (up to
200 m above sea level), 41% are lowlands and hilly regions (from 200 to 600 m above sea level), and 27.5% are
mountains (from 600 to more than 1,600 m above sea level).
Climate: moderate continental with Black Sea influence in the east and Mediterranean in the south.
Waters: rivers (main rivers are Danube, Maritsa, Mesta, Strouma, Iskar, Yantra); warm and cold mineral springs
(more than 600); lakes - coastal (some with curative mineral mud) and of glacial origin (in the Rila and Pirin mountains).
Plant and animal world: extremely diverse. An Act on the Protected Territories is operating in Bulgaria, aimed at the
preservation of the country's flora and fauna. It has specified the following categories in the country: a national and
nature park, a reserve and a tended reserve, a natural sight, a protected locality.
Economy: Bulgaria has been an associated member of the European Union (EU) since 1992. In 1997 an agreement was
signed with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for economic stabilization and for the carrying through
of economic reforms in the country. A currency board was introduced. The national monetary unit has been
referred to the EURO. A structural reform is underway aimed at an economic growth, a functioning market economy
and paving the way for foreign investments in the country.Member of the EU since January 2007 .
Transport: railway, automobile, air and water.
International automobile sign: BG
International telephone code: +359
The national flag of the Republic of Bulgaria is in three colours: white, green and red bands, following horizontally from top to bottom.
A legend associates the origin of these three colours with the colour symbols of the Old Bulgarian Army. Its left wing was
set apart by white strips on the spears, the right one - by red, while arranged in the centre were the elite troops with a
green strip , the traditional colour of the ruler. The three-colour flag had first been used by the First Bulgarian Legion
of Georgi Raklovski(1861). By force of the Turnovo Constitution (1879), the three-colour flag - white, green and red, was
confirmed as Bulgaria's national flag.
The coat-of-arms of the Republic of Bulgaria is a rampant gold crowned lion against a dark-red background in the
form of a shield. Above the shield there is a big crown, whose original shape was that of the crowns of medieval
Bulgarian rulers, with five crosses and one other cross, separately, over the crown itself. The shield is supported by
two golden crowned rampant lions , facing the shield from the left and right heraldic side. They are standing on two
crossed oak tree twigs with acorns. Inscribed in golden letters onto a white strip with a three-colour edging, placed
under the shield across the ends of the oak twigs, is Unity makes power.
Anthem of the republic of Bulgaria
Proud Stara Planina Mountain,
Blue Danube river by its side,
Sun shining over Thrace,
Over Mount Pirin in a fiery way.
Beloved Homeland,
You are a paradise on earth,
Your beauty, your magic,
Oh, they have no end!