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 thepreservation 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 is a member of the European Union (EU) since 2007 . The national monetary unit
has been referred to the EURO .
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 wasset apart by white strips on the
spears , the right one - by red, while arranged in the centre were the elite troops with agreen strip ,
the traditional colour of the ruler . The three-colour flag had first been used by the First Bulgarian
Legion of Georgi Rakovski (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 bytwo 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 !