LOCATION Bulgaria is situated in Southeast Europe, in the northeastern part of the Balkan Peninsular. The country lies on the Black Sea and is a convenient crossroads location between Europe and Asia.  Turkey and Greece lie to the south. To the north, the river Danube forms a natural frontier between Bulgaria and Romania, whilst to the west are the countries of former Yugoslavia.
	HISTORY The land that is now Bulgaria has been populated for thousands of years. As long ago as 3000 BC, the Thracians inhabited Bulgaria and left behind them many priceless relics that can be visited today, as did the Romans.
	GEOGRAPHY Bulgaria is simply a continent in miniature where alpine lakes and sunny beaches, curative hot springs and chilly caves, edelweiss covered precipices and subtropical rivers with lilies and lianas coexist. The Black Sea coastline is 450 km long, whilst the main mountain ranges Stara Planina (old mountains), Pirin, Rila and Rhodope offer beautiful scenery and great winter recreation.
	CLIMATE Bulgaria’s climate is one of its most attractive characteristics. The southern and coastal areas of the country have a typically Mediterranean feel, with summer temperatures varying between 20°C and 35°C. In the winter, Bulgaria takes on an entirely different guise. In the mountain ranges, heavy snowfall is normal, lasting well into the late spring at altitudes over 2000 metres.
	LANGUAGE In the second half of the ninth century, the brothers Cyril and Methodius developed the Cyrillic alphabet that is the basis of the language used by several nations in Europe today, including Bulgaria. Cyrillic characters are entirely phonetic, meaning that it is very easy to pronounce words correctly. In today’s Bulgaria, many documents are written bilingually with English being widely used. Signs along international motorways, in airports and resorts are written in Latin characters.
	RELIGION The majority of Bulgarians are Christians, and the orthodox church predominates. There are major cathedrals in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Bourgas. About 10% of the population is Moslem, and there is an important mosque in the centre of Sofia. There is a small Jewish community in Bulgaria, and a large synagogue being situated in Sofia.
	GOVERNMENT Bulgaria is a parliamentary democracy, with a National Assembly and an office of the President. The Premier of Bulgaria is Simeon Saxe-Coburg, who is the son of the late King Boris III and leader of the NDCB or moderate social democratic party. The President of Bulgaria is elected every five years and the current President is Georgi Parvanov, of the centre left Bulgarian Socialists party.
	POPULATION The population of Bulgaria is about 8 million, which is about 8% of the Balkan Peninsular, 1 % of Europe and 0.2 % of the world. Bulgaria has 240 towns & cities and 5100 villages. 68 % of the population live in urban areas. With 75 persons per square km compared to 38 on the Earth and 66 in Europe, the population density is relatively high, certainly in comparison to near neighbouring countries.
	CULTURE & CUISINE Culture is very important to Bulgarians, with the country supporting strong theatrical and musical communities. The National Theatre in Sofia’s centre hosts performances on most days all the year around. Folklore is also strongly supported and tends to be quite regional. Dance and local musical instruments are quite characteristic. Cuisine is generally Mediterranean, with a slant towards slightly more spicy food than is typical of this type of cooking.