BULGARIA

n.

officially Republic of Bulgaria

Country, southeastern Europe.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Area: 42,823 sq mi (110,912 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 7,890,000. Capital: Sofia . Bulgarians make up about 85% of the population; smaller groups include Turks, Gypsies, and Macedonians. Languages: Bulgarian (official), regional dialects. Religions: Eastern Orthodoxy; also Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Islam. Currency: lev. Three major regions define the landscape. The northernmost is the Danubian Plain, a fertile area occupying one-third of the country. Immediately south lie the Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina). In the southwest and south lies the Rhodope Range, with the country's highest point, Musala Peak, rising 9,596 ft (2,925 m). Smaller than the three major regions, Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, including its cities of Varna and Burgas , is a popular eastern European resort area. Major drainage systems include the Black and Aegean seas. Bulgaria had a planned economy modeled on the Soviet system (1946–89). Since 1991 the noncommunist government has been moving to privatize some sectors of the economy, including agriculture. Bulgaria is a republic with one legislative body; its chief of state is the president, and its head of government is the prime minister. Evidence of human habitation dates from prehistoric times. Thracians were its first recorded inhabitants, dating from 0441; 3500 BC, and their first state dates from about the 5th century BC. The area was subdued by the Romans, who divided it into the provinces of Moesia and Thrace . In the 7th century AD the Bulgars took the region south of the Danube River. The Byzantine Empire in 681 formally recognized Bulgar control over the area between the Balkans and the Danube. In 1185 Bulgaria fell to the Turks and ultimately lost its independence. At the end of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), Bulgaria rebelled. The ensuing Treaty of San Stefano was unacceptable to the Great Powers, and the Congress of Berlin (1878) resulted. In 1908 the Bulgarian ruler, Ferdinand , declared Bulgaria's independence. After its involvement in the Balkan Wars (1912–13, 1913), Bulgaria lost territory. It sided with the Central Powers in World War I and with Germany in World War II. A communist coalition seized power in 1944, and in 1946 a people's republic was declared. With other eastern European countries in the late 1980s, Bulgaria experienced political unrest; its communist leader resigned in 1989. A new constitution that proclaimed a republic was implemented in 1991. Economic turmoil followed Bulgaria into the 21st century as it sought political stability and admittance to the European Union and NATO.