Portal:Bulgaria

Welcome to the Bulgaria portal!

Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey to the south, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, and Romania to the north. It covers a territory of 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi) and is the sixteenth-largest country in Europe. Sofia is the nation's capital and largest city; other major cities include Burgas, Plovdiv, and Varna.

Since adopting a democratic constitution in 1991, Bulgaria has been a unitary parliamentary republic composed of 28 provinces, with a high degree of political, administrative, and economic centralisation. Bulgaria has a high-income economy with a market economy that is part of the European Single Market and is largely based on services, followed by manufacturing and mining—and agriculture. The country has been influenced by its role as a transit country for natural gas and oil pipelines, as well as its strategic location on the Black Sea. Bulgaria's foreign relations have been shaped by its geographical location and its modern membership in the European Union and NATO. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

The ruins of the Round Church in Preslav.
View from the atrium entrance looking towards the narthex and rotunda gates, with the apse in the distance

The Round Church (Bulgarian: Кръгла църква, Kragla tsarkva), also known as the Golden Church (Златна църква, Zlatna tsarkva) or the Church of St John (църква "Свети Йоан", tsarkva "Sveti Yoan"), is a large partially preserved early medieval Eastern Orthodox church. It lies in Preslav, the former capital of the First Bulgarian Empire, today a town in northeastern Bulgaria. The church dates to the early 10th century, the time of Tsar Simeon I's rule, and was unearthed and first archaeologically examined in 1927–1928.

Considered to be one of the most impressive examples of medieval Bulgarian architecture, the Round Church takes its name from the distinctive shape of one of its three sections, the cella (naos), which is a rotunda that serves as a place of liturgy. The church's design also includes a wide atrium and a rectangular entrance area, or narthex, marked by two circular turrets. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that Will Wood conducted a Bulgarian choir via Zoom for "White Noise"?
... that basketball player Charel Allen was a five-time Bulgarian Cup champion despite knowing only a few words of Bulgarian?
... that Tsvetana Jermanova survived imprisonment in two forced labour camps in communist Bulgaria?
... that during the 1899–1900 peasant unrest in Bulgaria, some troops refused orders to fire on the protesters?

edit

Gallery

Danube river in Bulgaria
Danube river in Bulgaria
Razgrad is a city in East Bulgaria.
Varna lake is a salt lake near Black sea.
A beach in Bulgaria.
Sofia is the biggest city in Bulgaria.
Rila is a mountain in West Bulgaria
Maritsa is a river in South Bulgaria.

Show all

edit

Selected Picture

Credit: Luca

The Belogradchik Rocks (Bulgarian: Белоградчишки скали, Belogradchishki skali) is a group of bizarre sandstone and limestone rock formations, reaching up to 200 m in height. The rocks were declared a natural landmark in 1949.

More selected pictures • Read more...

edit

More did You Know?

...that Lady Strangford (pictured) is honoured in Bulgaria for the work she did following the Batak massacre?
...that the Samara flag, presented as a gift from Russia to the Bulgarian volunteers in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, is the only flag awarded a Bulgarian Medal for Bravery?
...that the bulk of Bulgarians in Hungary descend from gardeners and other professionals who settled in the country prior to World War I?
...that although it was not particularly well-known in Bulgaria until the late 19th century, today Bulgarian beer is one of the country's most popular alcoholic beverages?