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.
