• Bulgaria is situated in south-eastern Europe. It occupies the central part of Balkan Peninsula on both sides of the Balkan Range (the Balkans), from which the peninsula has taken its name. The grater part of the northern border with Romania passes along the Danube, and the eastern border is the Black Sea. The land borders with Serbia and Macedonia to the west, with Turkey to the south-east, and with Greece to the south.

• Bulgaria is a beautiful mountainous country, with tourism opportunities being one of its biggest assets. The modern ski resorts as Bansko, Borovets, Pamporovo and Vitosha attract attention of lots of foreign tourists.
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  Bulgaria possesses beautiful landscapes and beaches, and is becoming a real resort paradise. The Black Sea Coast on its East border is famous for its fine sanded beaches, and perfect weather conditions. There are plenty of sea resorts, sea towns and villages that give opportunity for great sea holidays.
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  Further, Bulgaria has around 600 natural mineral springs, with water temperatures ranging from 20 to 60 degrees Celsius, whose baths and health spas are famous tourist attractions. The most known spa resorts are Hissarya, Velingrad, Devin, Varshets, Pavel Banya and more.

• Population: 7,450,349 people

• Area size of Bulgaria: 110,910 km2

• The official language is Bulgarian. It uses Cyrillic Alphabet and is a unique language spoken only in Bulgaria. Most young professionals speak fluent English.

681 AD - Formation of the First Bulgarian Kingdom by khan Asparuh.
855 AD - Creation of the Cyrillic Alphabet by the St. St. Cyril and Methodius (patrons of modern Europe).
864-866 AD - Bulgarians are christened.
1018 - 1185 AD - Bulgaria is part of the Byzantine Empire.
1185 AD - Formation of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom
1396 - 1878 AD - Bulgaria is part of the Ottoman Empire.
1878 AD - Formation of the Third Bulgarian Kingdom
1878 - 1944 AD - Bulgaria is a constitutional monarchy.
1944 - 1989 AD - Bulgaria is a people's republic, ruled by the Bulgarian Communist Party
1990 AD - Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic.

What worlds’ thinkers and historians say about Bulgarians?

The Beginning
“This is the people (of the Bulgarians), which, before you, had everything it wanted; the people which had won titles and which bought its nobleness with the blood of the enemy, for which the battlefield distinguished the kinfolk because it was believed unswervingly that the man whose weapon had more blood on it in battle was the nobler one; they are a people which, before the battle against you had not met an adversary capable of opposing it…”
Magnus Felix Enodius, a Latin chronologist,
from “Panegyricus Dictus Clementissimo regni Theodorico) 507 AD

The Time
“It has been proved that the ancient Bulgarians had one of the most advanced calendars in the world, more acceptable than the Chinese and the Indian systems chronology, more comprehensible and more practical.”
Prof. Michel Longnon, France

The Space
“The Bulgarians were once the justiest of all peoples and because of that the towns and tribes joined them willingly”
Toparchos of the Province of Gothia, “Diaconi Caloensis Historiae Libri decem, e rec. c. B. Hasii” (the end of the 10th century)

The State
“The Burdzhans (Bulgarians) are a numerous, powerful and warring people, which have overpowered all neighbouring peoples. One Bulgarian horseman can fight against 100 or 200 horsemen of the pagans (the Byzantines). In our times, the citizens of Constantinople would not hold against them without the city fortifications. The neighbouring regions of the Burdzhans would not be able to defend themselves against them either. Only their fortresses and their walls save them”
Al-Masudy. An Arab historian (10th century)

The Choice
“Bulgaria…was a bridge along which antique culture and thought, wiped out from the European continent during the Great Migration of Peoples, returned into Europe.”
Academician N. Fedorenko, Russia

The Faith
“The Bulgarian medieval culture is among the seven civilizations in the history of the world which played an essential mediating role because of its mission as a link between the East and the West”
Shigeyoshi Matsumae, Japan

The Spoken Word
"The Bulgarians were that people who contributed most for the organization and formation of the civilization of the whole of Eastern Europe and its introduction into the civilized world."
Prof. Geza Feher, Hungary

The Energy
"The historic merit of Bulgaria is in the fact that it barred the Turks from Europe. It paid for that in blood, paid with its faith, its freedom and with the decline of its brilliant culture in that time."
Prof. Sante Gracciotti, Italy

The Behaviour
"Or else have the Bulgarians not had e kingdom and a state! They have reigned so long and have been glorious and famous across the world and they have collected taxes from the powerful Romans and the wise Greeks many times. Both tsars and kings have given them their royal daughters for wives in order to have peace and love with the Bulgarian tsars."
Paisiy Hilendarski, from "Slavic-Bulgarian History"

The Ideal
“Bulgarian Revival was one of the wonders of the 19th century.”
Prof. Louis Leger, France

The World
“It should be acknowledged that there exists a profound connection between Eastern and Western Europe in the area of culture and together with that the role of the Bulgarians in the transfer of new civilization impulses should be highlighted.”
Prof. Harry Salmon, the Netherlands

• GDP growth for the Q1 of 2006 is 5.6% year-on-year, which is an indication for the stable economic environment.
• Inflation stands at 2.9% for the H1 of 2006 
• Unemployment rate is increased, reaching 9.6% in May 2006, compared with 10.7% for December 2005.
• The 5.6% economic growth was achieved mainly through the 8.8% expansion of industry and 6% increase in the services sector.
• The total amount of Foreign Direct Investment in the country increased to over EUR 9 billion in 2006.

Tourism and investments are the priority branches of the Bulgarian economy. Bulgaria will conduct strong investment marketing with a view to attracting new investments.

• Seaside Tourism. The Black Sea Coast offers attractive seaside resorts. The sunshine record is exceptional with a yearly average of nearly 300 days of sunshine.

• Ski and mountain tourism. Rila, Pirin, Vitosha, the Rodopes, and the Balkan Mountains offer good possibilities for ski and mountain tourism. In the international resorts of Pamporovo, Borovets and Bansko one can enjoy some of the best skiing in Europe with snow covers lasting from Christmas until Easter.

• SPA tourism. Bulgaria has more than 600 hot, warm and cold mineral springs of varied physical and chemical contents, mineralization, curative gases, biologically active trace elements, temperature and curative properties that create excellent conditions for development of balneology tourism.

• Cultural tourism. Bulgaria has over 30,000 historical monuments from different historical epochs, 36 culture reserves, 330 museums and galleries that form an impressive base for the development of cultural tourism.

• Rural tourism. Many Bulgarian villages, located in environmentally clean regions, have preserved their traditional outlook and genuine atmosphere for developing rural tourism. They are ready to open their hospitable doors to those willing to share the rich traditions and folklore, agricultural activities, preserved old crafts, and delicious and varied local cuisine.

• Electricity: £0.028 kW/h
• Water: £0.022 m3
• Unleaded: £0.72 litre
• Diesel: £0.67 litre
• Land line telephone fee: £5 a month
• A meal for two including wine: £20

• Bulgaria is now one of the most popular places to buy a home among Brits looking to buy abroad.
• 80% of all overseas property buyers in Bulgaria during 2006 came from Britain and Ireland.
• The National Statistical Institute in Bulgaria reports property price increases of 9.3% for the first quarter of 2007
• Bulgaria is also the least expensive tourist destination in Europe and the fourth cheapest in the world according to the Thomas Cook International Agency annual survey.
• You can buy a fully renovated home in the country around Veliko Turnovo from as little as 45,000 euros (approx.£30,800) and Vratza just 30,000 euros (approx.£20,500).  You can buy a whole house in Bulgaria for the amount needed as a deposit in France for instance.
• And even the UK Post Office says foreign currency sales for Bulgaria were a massive 83% up in the two weeks before Easter compared with 2006.
• Well, people say that Bulgaria may lack some of the sophistication of France but with huge tourism growth, a low cost of living and high standards it offers attractive returns.
• Rental yields are 5-8%. The strongest rental market is in the capital Sofia, biggest cities and tourist locations.