Bulgaria is a country in the Balkan region of south-eastern Europe on the western shore of the Black Sea. It borders Romania (to the north), Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia, Greece and Turkey.
It covers an area of 110,902 km² and has a population of about 7,500,000.
- Currency: Leva (1 Leva = 0.5 € approx.).
- Time zone: UTC+2 (one hour ahead of Spain).
- Form of government: Parliamentary democracy.
- Religion: Orthodox (81%), Muslims (12%), Catholics (12%), Jews (0.1%)…
- Dialling code: +359.
Language
Bulgarian is the official language in Bulgaria. It is an East Slavic language related to Russian and uses Cyrillic characters.
Learn more about the Bulgarian language.
Regions of Bulgaria
The territory of Bulgaria extends over where historically the regions of Thrace, Mesia and Macedonia were located.
Bulgaria has a remarkable variety of landscapes ranging from the high mountains to the sunny and warm Black Sea coast to the plains that cover 30% of the territory.
Geographically, Bulgaria is divided into five regions:
- North-West Region: where Sofia is located.
- Southwest region: mountainous area with the Rila Mountains (where the highest mountain in Bulgaria is located, the Musala Mountain at 2925 m), the Rhodope Mountains, the Pirin Mountains. The region is home to numerous ski resorts.
- Northern Thrace: region of plains where Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second city, is located.
- Black Sea Coast: coastal tourist region and port cities such as Varna and Burgas.
- North-Central region: comprises the Danube riverbank to the north and to the south the Balkan Mountains (known as Stara Planina) which cross the country from west to east.
