Bulgaria is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, by Macedonia and Serbia to the west and by Greece and Turkey to the south. To the east, the country is bordered by the Black Sea. The natural border between Bulgaria and Romania is the river Danube near Silistra.

The total area of the country is 110 993  km². Bulgaria is divided into five physical geographic zones: the Danubian Plain, the Balkan Mountains, the area of Kraishtensko-Tundzha, the area of Osogovo-Rhodope, and the Black Sea area. The country lies between the continental and Mediterranean climate zones (from 2000 to 2400 hours of sunshine a year) with four seasons: cold and sometimes wet winters with snow and an average temperature of 0 ° C; cool and often wet springs; and summers that are hot and rainy early in the season and then become hot and dry with average temperatures of 23 ° C; and warm, sunny and windy autumns. The average annual temperature is 10.5 ° C. The climate is strongly influenced by the country's topography and its location next to the Black Sea. While acting as a dividing line, the mountain range called Stara Planina protects the southern part of Bulgaria from the direct flow of cold air from the north, and the mountains in southern Bulgaria protect the interior from the mitigating effects of the Mediterranean.
Bulgaria's population is 7,364,570 people, according to the final results of the last official census in 2011. The country's capital, Sofia, has a population of almost two million people. Bulgaria is in a demographic crisis, which is one of the most serious problems of the country.

The history of the Bulgarian lands can be conditionally divided into five main periods: Prehistory, Antiquity, Middle Ages, Ottoman rule and Modern History.

Due to its geographical position, the area that we now know as Bulgaria was among the earliest populated areas in Europe. During the 3rd millennium BC it was occupied by Thracians - Indo-European people, who are believed to have come from the northeast Balkans. They created their own states that reached their full blossom during Hellenism.

Georgi Cachev