Bulgaria — Country Information

LOCATION
Situated in southeastern Europe, Bulgaria occupies the northeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. To the North, via the Danube River, it borders Romania, to the West – Serbia and the Republic of North Macedonia. To the South, its neighbors are Greece and Turkey. To the East Bulgaria touches the Black Sea, which also links it to Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia.

Bulgaria occupies a relatively small area - 111 000 sq. km, nevertheless distinguished by its generous and varied nature - a sea with 380 km. long coastal strip and golden beaches, 16 mountains with their own characteristic features, shelters valleys and high plateaus, over 550 curative mineral springs, dozen of unique natural phenomena and 2000 thrilling caves, a healthy climate and diverse flora and fauna.

TIME

Greenwich time + 2 hours, Central European Time + 1 hour
Winter time: GMT +2 hours (October through March).
Summer time: GMT +3 hours (April through September)

POPULATION

The population of Bulgaria is about 8 000 000 people, 1 150 000 million live in the capital, 450 000 people live in the sea capital – Varna.
Large Cities - Sofia (Capital city), Plovdiv, Varna, Bourgas, Russe.

LANGUAGE
The official language in Bulgaria is Bulgarian. The Bulgarian language belongs to the group of Slavic languages, and it is very close to Russian, Macedonian and Serbo-Croatian languages. English, German, French and Russian are spoken in the country's resorts, hotels and restaurants. Alphabet - Cyrillic. Signs along international motorways, in airports and resorts, are also spelled in Roman letters.

Remark: Bulgarians shake their heads from the left to the right to express "YES". However, this stands for "NO" in the rest of the world.

AVERAGE TEMPERATURES
The average January temperature in Sofia ranges between -4° and 2°. The July temperature ranges between 16° and 27° C. Along the Black Sea, the average January temperature ranges between -1° and 6° C and the July temperature ranges between 19° and 30° C. The soft transitional Mediterranean climate and the fertile soils are very suitable for growing the century-famed Bulgarian attar-yielding rose – a valuable raw material for perfumery, medical products, food and wine, and tobacco industries.

OFFICIAL HOLIDAYS