About Bulgaria

General

Name:

Republic of Bulgaria

Total area:

110 910 sq km

Government:

Parliamentary republic

Population:

7,707,495 (July 2001 est.)

Capital:

Sofia

Language:

Bulgarian

Monetary unit:

Bulgarian lev (plural is leva) [1BGN is about 0.5EUR]

Geography

Bulgaria is situated in Eastern Europe, in the middle of the Balkan Peninsula. Its north border with Romania runs mainly along the Danube river and its east border is the Black sea. To the South the border is with Turkey and Greece and to the West with former Yugoslavia.

The relief of Bulgaria is quite diverse, with lowlands, plains and hilly lands accounting for about 70% of the teritory. Stara Planina stretches throughout Bulgaria in East-West direction and is known as Balkan from where comes "the Balkan Peninsula". Rila and Pirin mountains have alpine style terrain and flora / fauna. On the Black Sea coast there are long, wide and sandy beaches.

The climate of Bulgaria is continental with four distinct seasons, average annual temperature 10,5°C. In winter the snow cover remains from 10 days on the Black Sea coast to over 200 days in the mountains.