Bulgaria (
Bulgarian
:
България
,
Balgariya
,
pronounced
IPA
:
bɤlˈgarijə
), officially the Republic of Bulgaria (
Република България
,
Republika Balgariya
, pronounced
IPA
:
rɛˈpubliˌkə bɤlˈgarijə
) re-incarnates one of the oldest
states
in
Europe
, located in
Southeastern Europe
, bordering five other countries:
Romania
to the north (mostly along the
Danube
),
Serbia
and the
Republic of Macedonia
to the west, and
Greece
and
Turkey
to the south. The
Black Sea
defines the extent of the country to the east.
Bulgaria comprises the
classical
regions of
Moesia
,
Thrace
, and
Macedonia
.
Old European culture
in the region started to produce
golden artifacts
by the fifth millennium BCE.
The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name, language, and alphabet) of the
First Bulgarian Empire
(/ – ), which at times covered most of the Balkans and spread its alphabet, literature and culture among the
Slavic
and other peoples of Eastern Europe. Centuries later, with the decline of the
Second Bulgarian Empire
( – /), the country came under
Ottoman
rule for nearly five centuries. Diplomacy re-established Bulgaria as a
constitutional monarchy
in , with the
Treaty of San Stefano
marking the birth of the
Third Bulgarian Kingdom
. After
World War II
, Bulgaria became a
communist state
and part of the
Eastern Bloc
. In , after the
Revolutions of
, the
Communist party
gave up its monopoly on power and Bulgaria transitioned to
democracy
and
free-market capitalism
.
Currently
Bulgaria functions as a
parliamentary
democracy
under a
unitary
constitutional republic
. A member of the
European Union
since and of
NATO
since , it has a population of approximately . million, with
Sofia
as its
capital
and largest city. |