Located
in the heart of the Balkans, Bulgaria offers a highly diverse
landscape: the north is dominated by the vast lowlands of the Danube and
the south by the highlands and elevated plains. In the east, the Black
Sea coast attracts tourists all year round.
Founded
in 681, Bulgaria is one of the oldest countries in Europe. Its history
is marked by its location near Europe's frontier with Asia. Some 85% of
the population are Orthodox Christians and 13% Muslims. Around 10% of
the population are of Turkish origin while 3% are Roma.
Bulgaria
has an industrialized, open free-market economy, with a large,
moderately advanced private sector and a number of strategic state-owned
enterprises. The World Bank classifies it as an "upper-middle-income
economy". The Bulgarian lev is the country's national currency. The lev
is pegged to the euro at a rate of 1.95583 leva for 1 euro. Bulgaria's
main exports are light industrial products, foods and wines, which are
successfully competing on European markets.
With
its 1300-year history Bulgaria possesses quite unique culture and
folklore. Those interested in folklore music will be familiar with a
number of Bulgarian musicians.
A
Bulgarian folk song was included on the Voyager Golden Record which was
sent into outer space by NASA. Famous Bulgarians include philosopher
Julia Kristeva, Elias Canetti, Nobel Prize winner for literature in
1981, and Christo Javachev (“Christo”), the creator of many unorthodox
outdoor sculptures.