HISTORY:

One of the oldest civilizations in Europe was settled in Bulgaria. World’s oldest known writing system is also found here. It dates back to about 6000 years and is kept in the Vratsa Museum. The history of Bulgaria can be traced back to the prehistoric times. The earliest known people known to reside in Bulgaria were the Thracians. These people are considered to be the ancestors of the present nation of Bulgaria. Around 500 BC, King Teres united the different tribes of Thracians in Odrysian Kingdom. This kingdom flourished under the kings Sitalkes and Cotys I.

The Kingdom was shattered in 341 BC by the Macedonian State but by the end of 4th Century BC, it again retrieved its old glory under Seuthes III. The Romans attacked Thrace in 188 BC and as a result of the war; it became part of the Roman Empire.

Spartacus, a noted ancient commander was born in the middle Struma region in Thrace. Thrace also excelled in handcrafts. It is believed that the Thracians handcrafted the Verna treasure found in Eastern Bulgaria. This treasure is about 6,500 years old.

In 632 the Great Bulgaria was formed. By a treaty in 635, Byzantium recognized it as a state. It was an independent state formed by the Bulgars under the leadership of Khan Kubrat. To the west, Great Bulgaria was bounded by Danube delta and on the south lies the Black Sea. The Volga River flows on the east of Great Bulgaria and the Caucasus lies to its southeast.

By the second half of the 7th Century, the eastern part of Great Bulgaria was lost to the Khazars. The inhabitants of this region moved to the northeastern part and named the settlement as Volga Bulgaria. This new state was established near the confluence of Kama River and Volga River. This state survived till 13th Century.

With some of the tribes of Bulgaria, Khan Asparuh migrated to the lower courses of rivers Dniester, Dniepr and Danube. Under him Great Bulgaria expanded to a great extent. He conquered Scythia Minor and Moesia, which used to be parts of the Byzantian Empire. The establishment of Pliska to the south of Danube as the new capital marks the beginning of the Bulgarian Empire. During this time, one of the brothers of Khan Asparuh brother named Kuber joined with a second of Bulgaria and they together established Macedonia.

The Bulgarians killed near about 40,000 to 60,000 Arab soldiers to stop seize of Constantinople by the Arabs in 717. To the rest of the Europe, the Bulgarians came to be known as the angel warriors. His contemporaries called the Bulgarian Khan Tervel ‘’The Saviour of Europe’’.

Bulgaria accepted the Orthodox Faith in 864. By 9th and 10th Century, Bulgaria emerged as one of the major powers in Europe under Boris I as they fought for the control of the Balkans. It is during this time the Slavonic alphabet of Bulgaria was produced which marked the ensuing cultural development of the country. After a few centuries, in Eastern Europe, Slavonic alphabet along with Old Bulgarian language came to be known as the lingua franca or the written language.

Under the rule of Simeon I, the first Tsar, Bulgaria extended its territory to a great extent, mainly covering the Balkans. Under this Tsar, Bulgaria flourished in a unique Christian Slavonic Culture. Later its rich culture was idolised by other Slavonic people of Eastern Europe. And it is due to its cultural heritage that Bulgaria survived in spite of the continuous threats that were determined to tear the nation into pieces.

A series of wars with Serbian rebellions and Croatia resulted in a decline of Bulgarian power. In 969 Bulgaria was shattered by an assault of the Rus’. Taking this advantage, the Byzantines started campaigns to conquer Bulgaria. Boris II surrendered to them in 971 and Preslav the capital was seized. For near about half century the people of western Bulgarian lands continued to resist under Tsar Samuil. But the Byzantines destroyed the state in 1018 under Basil.

In 1185, Bulgaria once more emerged as a powerful country in Europe and continued to be the same for about 2 centuries with the Second Bulgarian Empire. Veliko Turnovo was established as the new capital of the empire. Under the Asenevtsi Dynasty Bulgarian power fought with the Byzantine Empire. It also fought against Hungary and the Crusader states for dominance of power. Under Ivan Asen II, Bulgaria saw the zenith of prowess.

By the end of 14th Century, Bulgaria was divided into a number of feudal principalities and was subjugated by the Ottoman Empire. Under the rule of Władysław III of Poland, a Polish- Hungarian crusade came to free the Balkans but they were crushed in the battle of Varna in 1444.

Oppression and violence marked the 5 centuries of Ottoman rule. The population of Bulgaria was devastated and its cultural relics were lost. Until 19th Century, the large areas and towns under strong hold of the Ottoman power remained depopulated.

The Russian forces jointly with the Bulgarian rebels crushed the Ottoman Empire in the Russo- Turkish War (1877-78). After the war, the Treaty of San Stefano was signed on 3rd March 1878. During this time an autonomous Bulgarian principality was declared. But the Great Powers immediately rejected the treaty. Soon after came the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. This gave an autonomous Bulgarian principality in Sofia and Moesia. Alexander von Battenberg was recognized as the first prince of Bulgaria. The major portion of Thrace was incorporated to the Eastern Rumelia while the rest of the territory of Thrace along with Macedonia was returned to the Ottomans. The Serbo- Bulgarian War ended and the process of unification with Eastern Rumelia in 1885 was complete. Under the reign of Ferdinand I, the principality was declared as a fully independent kingdom on 5th October 1908.

Ferdinand was a prince from the ducal family of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He became the Prince of Bulgaria after Alexander von Battenberg surrendered in 1886 after a coup d’etat by pro- Russian army men. The struggle for liberation of the Bulgarians continued throughout the late 19th Century and in the early phase of 20th Century. The struggle for liberation continued in places like Vilayet, Adrianople and Macedonia. These liberation movements closed with the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising in 1903. It was organized by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization.

Bulgaria’s conflicts against the Ottoman Empire started and it got involved in Balkan Wars. This war campaign proved to be a success for the Bulgarians but in the mean time a new conflict started between the allies regarding the division of Macedonia. Soon after another Balkan War took place in which Bulgaria was defeated. It lost major portion of territories that were won in the first war. In World War I Bulgaria fought on the losing side and faced further loss of territories. The World War I and the Balkan Wars led to the entry of refugees of about 250,000 from Southern Dobruja, Western and Eastern Thrace and Macedonia. The number of refugees further increased in 1930s. It was followed by a Serbian aggression that started against the native Bulgarians.

Bulgaria gained back its control over Southern Dobruja in 1940. Then it allied with Axis Powers in the World War II but in the war against USSR, the Bulgarian soldiers did not participate. During the Second World War, Bulgaria was allowed to occupy parts of Yugoslavia, Greece etc by the Nazi Germany. Bulgaria like Denmark and Finland saved its Jewish population from the Nazis by not submitting to the 31 August 1943 resolution. But the Jew population of the newly acquired lands from Yugoslavia and Greece had to be sent to Nazi camps on requests from Germany.

The Soviet army entered Bulgaria in September 1944 and later it enabled the communists of Bulgaria to seize power and lay the foundation of Communist Dictatorship.

When the World War II ceased, Bulgaria became a People’s Republic in 1946. It also turned to one of the staunch allies of USSR. Its relation with Greece began to get normal from late 1970s and with Turkey from 1990s. When the Communist regimes in Soviet Union and Turkey began to collapse the People’s Republic also ended in 1989. On 10th November 1989 the Communist leader in Bulgaria known as Todor Zhivkov was removed from power.

Bulgaria privatised its economy and held multiparty elections. But due to corruption and economic difficulties about 800,000 people including qualified professionals emigrated from Bulgaria.

POLITICS

On 29th March 2004, Bulgaria joined NATO. The Treaty of Accession was signed on 25th April 2005. From 1st January 2007, Bulgaria became a full-fledged member of European Union. The country of Bulgaria is a founding member of OSCE. It became a member of the United Nations in 1955. As a Consultative Party to the Antarctic Treaty, Bulgaria takes part in the governing of the territories situated south of 60° south latitude.

The President of Bulgaria from January 22, 2002 was Georgi Parvanov. He was re elected on October 29, 2006. From January 2007, Parvanov started his second term in office. The presidents in Bulgaria are directly elected for a term of 5 years and he can be elected for a second time. A Bulgarian President functions as a head of the state and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. He also serves as the Head of the Consultative Council for National Security.

A president in Bulgaria cannot initiate legislation other than Constitutional Amendments. He can return a bill for further considerations but the Parliament can override the veto power of the President of the state if the majority of MPs vote.

The Council of Ministers is chaired by the PM (Sergey Stanishev since 18 August 2005); it is the main body of the Executive Branch and at present consists of 20 ministers. The Prime Minister is usually nominated by the largest parliamentary group, and is given a
Mandate by the President to form a cabinet.

The present governmental coalition is made up of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (representing mainly the Turkish minority), Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and National Movement Simeon II (NMS).

The President's office; The Bulgarian unicameral parliament, the National Assembly or Narodno Sabranie (Народно събрание), consists of 240 deputies. They are elected for four-year terms by popular vote. The votes are for party or coalition lists of candidates for each of the 28 administrative divisions. A party must secure a minimum of 4% of the vote to enter the Parliament. The Parliament is assigned with tasks like approval of the budget, enactment of laws, scheduling of presidential elections, selection and dismissal of the Prime Minister and other ministers, deployment of troops outside of Bulgaria, declaration of war and ratification of international treaties and agreements.

In Bulgaria, the last election was held in June 2005. The forthcoming election is supposed to be held in the summer of 2009.

The Bulgarian judicial system consists of district and appeal courts, regional as well as a Supreme Court of Cassation. A system of military courts and a Supreme Administrative Court are also in the state of Bulgaria. The Supreme Administrative Court, Presidents of the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Prosecutor General are elected by a qualified majority of two-thirds from all the members of the Supreme Judicial Council and are appointed by the President of the Republic. The Supreme Judicial Council is in charge of the self-administration and organization of the Judiciary.

The Constitutional Court has the responsibility of reviewing the constitutionality of laws and statutes brought before it, as well as the compliance of these laws with international treaties that the Government has signed. Parliament elects the twelve members of the Constitutional Court by a two-thirds majority. Here the members serve a term of nine-years.
The Republic of Bulgaria is divided into municipalities and provinces. There are 28 provinces in Bulgaria and a provincial governor heads each of them. The Government of Bulgaria appoints the governors. The total number of municipalities in Bulgaria is 263.

GEOGRAPHY

Bulgaria is noted for its diversity in its geography and climate. The geographical diversity in Bulgaria ranges from the snow capped mountain peaks in Rila, Pirin and Balkan Mountains to the coast of Black Sea where the weather is mild and sunny. One will find continental Danubian Plain in the north. In the southern part of the country, in the Macedonian valleys and in the lowlands one will experience the influence of strong Mediterranean climate.

Some of the important regions of Bulgaria are the Moesia, Thrace and Macedonia. The 2 Alpine Ranges of Pirin and Rila form the mountainous region in the southwest of the country. The Rhodope Mountains extend in the further east. The highest peak of the Balkan Peninsula – peak Musala (2,925 meter) is located in the Rila Mountain in Bulgaria. The Balkan Mountains extend from west to east, almost through the middle of the country.

In the southwest part of Bulgaria, plains and hilly regions can be found. Similar hilly regions are seen along the coast of Black Sea and along the river Danube in the north. Danube is the main river of Bulgaria and beside it there are a number of important rivers of the country, like Maritsa and Struma. In Bulgaria, there are 260 glacial lakes located in Pirin and Rila. Many large lakes have formed by the Black Sea coast. There are near about 2,200 dam lakes in the country. In the central part and in the southwestern parts of the country numerous mineral springs are located. The highest waterfall on the Balkans is the Raysko Praskalo

The climate in Bulgaria is temperate. It experiences dry and hot summers and damp and cool winters. The regions along the Black Sea experience influence of the Mediterranean. The Balkan Mountain acts as a barrier and its effect on the climate is felt through out Bulgaria. The northern areas in Bulgaria receive more rainfall than the regions in south. The northern portion is also comparatively cooler.

The northern coastal strip and Dobrudzha is the driest areas in Bulgaria. At higher altitudes in Rila Mountain and Stara Planina highest levels of precipitation is received. The average annual precipitation in Bulgaria is about 630 millimetres. During summer the temperature often crosses 40 degree Celsius in the southern Bulgaria. But near the coasts it remains cooler.

Mineral resource is very rich in Bulgaria. Vast reserves of anthracite coal, non-ferrous ores and lignite are found here. In the northeast, large deposits of manganese are found. In this region silver, iron, chromite, nickel etc are found in smaller quantities. Bulgaria is also a rich reserve for gypsum, kaolin, rock salt and marble.

Some of the largest cities in Bulgaria are Sofia (1,246,791), Plovdiv (376,918), Stara Zagora (163,193), Varna (345,522), Dobrich (115,861), Burgas (259,985), Rousse (176,118), Pleven (121,700), Sliven (106,434). A scientific base of Bulgaria is built on the Livingston Island in South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.