Bulgaria

Bulgaria (officially called the Republic of Bulgaria) (Bulgarian: България) is a country in southeastern Europe.

The capital and the biggest city is Sofia. The national currency is the Lev. Bulgaria is a member of the European Union and NATO. Rumen Radev became President in 2017. The population of Bulgaria is a little under 7 million people.

Bulgaria has its own language, called Bulgarian. It is part of the Slavic language family and is unique from all other Slavic languages, with special characteristics such as no cases and a suffixed article. Bulgaria borders Romania, Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, and the Black Sea. One of the national heroes of Bulgaria is Vasil Levski who led the fight for independence in the late 1800s. Bulgaria is an ancient country, some places have had people living there for over 6,000 years.

## History

In what is now Bulgaria, many different people and different cultures lived over time. This includes Neolithic, Hamangia culture, Vinča culture, eneolithic, Varna culture (5th millennium BC) and the Bronze Age Ezero culture. The Thracians lived in the area of modern Bulgaria. King Tere united the people in Odrysian kingdom around 500 BC. Alexander the Great had influence over the people in the 4th century and later by the Roman Empire during the time of Christ. Eurasian Avars, South Slavs and Huns settled all over the territory of modern Bulgaria during the 6th century.

The first Bulgarian empire was established in 681 AD. The second Bulgarian empire started about 1185 AD, with Turnovo as the capital. The Ottoman empire took over in 1396, and ruled Bulgaria for about 500 years. The Ottomans had very strict rules which the Bulgarians suffered under. The Bulgarians rebelled several times against the Turkish rulers. After the Russo-Turkish in 1877-1878, Bulgaria pulled away from the Ottoman Empire's influence with the help of the Russian Empire. However, the country remained divided and it was not until 1908 that the entire country was united as modern Bulgaria.

In World War 1, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers in October 1915 upon declaring war on Serbia, siding with Germany, Austria-Hungary and The Ottoman Empire. In September 1918, Bulgaria signed its armistice with the Entente and in November 1919 had to cede land under the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine.

During the first year of World War II, Bulgaria aimed to keep its neutrality. However, increased tension in the war pushed for signing into the Tripartite Pact with Germany in March 1941. This allowed German forces to go through Bulgaria to reach Greece. The King of Bulgaria, Tsar Boris III, did not follow Hitler's wishes, as he refused to participate in military coups, refused to send any men to the Eastern Front, and also chose to protect Bulgaria's Jewish population. This enraged Hitler, who punished him severely. Tsar Boris III died one day after meeting with him.

In 1944, when it became clear that the Allied Powers would win the war, Bulgaria had to find another solution. They declared to withdraw from the Axis and let the Soviets enter the country. They replaced the royal monarchy was abolished, and a new socialist party took power in 1947. For the next 40 years, under leader Todor Zhivkov, Bulgaria was very close to the Soviet Union and the rest of the Warsaw Pact countries.

Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, on 10 November 1989, the Communist party gave up their rule and allowed the country to elect leaders of their own choice. But in a few years Bulgaria had serious financial issues under the new socialist government. Since then, Bulgaria has recovered in many ways and is now much more stable, and maintains constant growth, though remains one of the poorest countries in the European Union. Problems in the administration, a weak court system and organized crime are the biggest issues for Bulgaria.

## Economy

During the Cold War, Bulgaria's economy was dependent on the COMECON market, where Eastern Bloc countries (Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania) agreed to work together in economic assistance and increase trade. The group fell apart in 1989 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the fall of socialism in Europe. While this was good for personal freedom, the drastic transformation of the political and economic landscape was too much of a change for the businesses and jobs. Yugoslavia, their neighbor and trade partner, also fell into a civil war as their country dissolved, further hindering Bulgaria's recovery. Living standards fell by 40 percent as people lost their jobs and their savings dropping in value, and even some newborn babies were sent to orphanages when their parents could not take care of them.

In 1994, Bulgaria had a short economic boom. This slowed down in 1996 from poor financial deals and other banking problems and in 1997 inflation soared. Retired people had little income as their pension did not go up as fast as inflation did and their savings had little value. Many retired people begged in the streets for food. Fortunately, the economy stabilised and started growing steadily. This allowed Bulgaria to apply and eventually join the European Union, whiched helped its attractiveness for large investments from outside countries. Spending increased in businesses and housing and Bulgarian businesses grew.