Chepelare

The Municipality of Chepelare is located in the central part of the Rhodope Mountains, along the upper stream of Chepelarska River, at altitude of 1150 meters and on a territory of 375 sq. m. Chepelare, towards the terrestrial globe, is located at 24° (degrees) and 42' (minutes) longitude East of the Greenwich meridian and at 41° (degrees) and 44' (minutes) north latitude of the equator. The municipal centre is 230 km from the capital city of Sofia, 80 km from the town of Plovdiv and 10 km from Pamporovo Resort. Greece is only 100 km from here via the newly built highway. The population of the Municipality is 9,800 people.

The climate is temperate and transitory continental. There are four clearly defined seasons, namely spring, summer, autumn and winter. Chepelare is the sunniest town in Bulgaria for a period of 270 days throughout the whole year. The winter is mild and warm. The snow-cover lasts for a comparatively long period of time, from 80 to 120 days of the year with an average thickness of 30-80 cm. The spring comes comparatively late, and the summer is cool.

The Rhodope Mountains are a mysterious and enigmatic mountain since Antiquity. The mountain of the mythical Orpheus and the Bessae – the guardians of the famous temple of Dionysius. The archaeological excavations evidence for the presence of life there around the ХІІ c. B.C. The remains of a great number of Thracian fortresses prove that there was a rich and varied social and cultural life here in Antiquity. The fortresses were guarded by the Thracian road from the town of Abdera (on the Aegean Sea) to the town of Istros (the Danube). The ore ledges in this region advantage the development of the metal production and the jewelry art since hoary Antiquity. The finds of bronze fibulae of Thracian type evidence that there were centers of cast production back in 7-8 c. BC. More than one third of all arc single-spring fibulae were discovered on the territory of the Municipality of Chepelare. The ore-mining continued its development even after the region was conquered by the Romans. There is some secondary information about this in the section for the mines and for those, working in them in a Law of the emperor Valentian I (364-375 AD) and in the works of the Roman poet Claudius (ІV c. AD). The discovered archeological finds glass vessels, glasses, clasps, coins and ceramics from the late Roman period (379-450 AD) evidence the continunuing intensive agricultural life. In 1911 traces of a Roman bath were found during archaeological finds, as for now they are the only trace of a city building in the Central Rhodope Mountains.

During the period of the First and Second Bulgarian Empire (681-1393) many medieval fortresses, settlements and necropolis were found, some of which were used back in the Thracian time.

During the Bulgarian Renaissance (1762-1878) there was great cultural and educational activity in the town of Chepelare and the towns and villages around it, proven by the existing 14 churches and 72 chapels. Four of the churches are declared artistic monuments of culture of national significance, and one of the churches and 15 chapels are declared artistic monuments of culture of local significance. Each church had a school as part of it.

There are 61 monuments of culture on the territory of the municipality of Chepelare, as 17 of them are proclaimed monuments of culture, and the other 44 are only declared monuments of culture. Three of the proclaimed monuments of culture are of national significance, 2 are for information, and the other 12 are of local significance. Three of the declared monuments of culture are of national significance, 1 is for information and 40 are of local significance.

The sport is a philosophy of life for many citizens of Chepelare. It exalts and unites in harmony the abilities of the human body, will and mind. The sport, as a whole, forms the way of life, based on the joy of effort, the educative value of the positive example and the respect of all moral virtues of general validity. There are 8 registered sport clubs on the territory of the municipality of Chepelare, which develop the sport in the region – they are: “Biathlon”, “Orion” Snowboard, “Ski – Rozhen”, Orientation “Studenets”, Tennis table, Handbal “Zarenitsa”, Volleyball “Ivan Popov”, and “Cave club”.

Bulgaria

Geographically and climatically, Bulgaria is noted for its diversity, with the landscape ranging from the Alpine snow-capped peaks in Rila, Pirin and the Balkan Mountains to the mild and sunny weather of the Black Sea coast, from the typically continental Danubian Plain (ancient Moesia) in the north to the strong Mediterranean influence in the valleys of Macedonia and the lowlands in the southernmost parts of Thrace. Bulgaria comprises portions of the classical regions of Thrace, Moesia, and Macedonia. The southwest of the country is mountainous with two alpine ranges - Rila and Pirin and further east are the lower but more extensive Rhodope Mountains. Rila mountain includes the highest peak of the Balkan Peninsula, peak Musala at 2,925 meters (9,596 ft); the long range of the Balkan mountains runs west-east through the middle of the country, north of the famous Rose Valley. Hilly country and plains are found in the southeast, along the Black Sea coast in the east, and along Bulgaria's main river, the Danube in the north. Other major rivers include the Struma and the Maritsa river in the south. There are around 260 glacial lakes situated in Rila and Pirin, several large lakes on the Black Sea coast and more than 2,200 dam lakes. Mineral springs are in great abundance located mainly in the south-western and central parts of the country along the faults between the mountains.

The Bulgarian climate is temperate, with cool, damp winters, very hot, dry summers, and Mediterranean influence along the Black Sea coast. The barrier effect of the Balkan Mountains is felt throughout the country: Northern Bulgaria is slightly cooler and receives more rain than the southern regions. Average precipitation in Bulgaria is about 630 millimetres per year. The driest areas are Dobrudzha and the northern coastal strip, while the higher parts of the mountains Rila and Stara Planina receive the highest levels of precipitation. In summer, temperatures in the south of Bulgaria often exceed 40 degrees Celsius, but remain cooler by the coast.

The country is relatively rich in mineral resources, including vast reserves of lignite and anthracite coal; non-ferrous ores such as copper, lead, zinc and gold. There are large deposits of manganese ore to north-east. There are smaller deposits of iron, silver, chromite, nickel and others. Bulgaria is rich in non-metalliferous minerals such as rock-salt, gypsum, kaolin, marble.

The Balkan peninsula derives its name from the Balkan or Stara Planina mountain range which runs through the centre of Bulgaria into eastern Serbia.

The largest cities in the country are Sofia (1,246,791), Plovdiv (376,918), Varna (345,522), Burgas (259,985), Rousse (176,118) Stara Zagora (163,193), Pleven (121,700), Dobrich (115,861), Sliven (106,434).

 

Bulgaria is one of the cradles of European civilization and the home of the world's oldest known writing system, engraved on the Gradeshnitsa Tablets. These have been dated to over 6000 years ago and are currently preserved in the Vratsa Museum. Rooted in the Thracian, Greek and Roman worlds of antiquity, Bulgaria's history dates back to prehistoric times and its continuous historical wealth throughout prominent cyclical eras of growth, decline and medieval renaissance rivals that of the much larger and more populous countries of China, India and Egypt. Thracians were the earliest known people to inhabit what is now Bulgaria and are direct ancestors of the modern Bulgarian nation. They were divided in numerous tribes until King Teres united most of them around 500 BC in the Odrysian kingdom, which peaked under the kings Sitalkes and Cotys I (383-359 BC). In 341 BC, it was destroyed by the Macedonian state but rose from its ashes at the end of the fourth century BC under Seuthes III. In 188 BC, the Romans invaded Thrace and the wars with them continued to 45 CE, when Thrace became a Roman province.

It is believed that the oldest handcrafted gold treasure in the world, the 6,500-year old Varna treasure of Eastern Bulgaria, is Thracian-made. One of the most talented ancient commanders, Spartacus, was a Thracian born in the middle Struma region.

In 632, the Bulgars led by Khan Kubrat formed an independent state called Great Bulgaria, bounded by the Danube delta to the west, the Black Sea to the south, the Caucasus to the southeast, and Volga River to the east. Byzantium recognized the new state by treaty in 635.

Pressure by the Khazars led to the loss of the eastern part of Great Bulgaria in the second half of the seventh century. Some of the Bulgars from that territory later migrated to the northeast to form a new state called Volga Bulgaria around the confluence of the Volga River and Kama River, which lasted until the thirteenth century.

Kubrat’s successor, Khan Asparuh migrated with some of the Bulgarian tribes to the lower courses of the rivers Danube, Dniester and Dniepr (known as Ongal), and conquered Moesia and Scythia Minor (Dobrudzha) from the Byzantine Empire, expanding Great Bulgaria on the Balkan Peninsula. The peace treaty with Byzantium in 681 and the establishment of the new capital of Pliska south of the Danube is considered the beginning of the First Bulgarian Empire. At the same time one of his brothers, Kuber, settled with another Bulgar group in what is now Macedonia.

In 717, the Bulgarians stopped the Arab siege of Constantinople, killing some 40,000-60,000 Arab soldiers. The Bulgarian Khan Tervel was called "The Saviour of Europe" by his contemporaries. For centuries afterward Bulgarians were regarded as the angel warriors of Europe.

In 864, Bulgaria accepted the Orthodox Faith and became a major European power in the ninth and the tenth century, while fighting with the Byzantine Empire for the control of the Balkans. This happened under the rule of Boris I. During his reign Bulgaria also produced the Slavonic alphabet, which became a pillar for further cultural development. Centuries later, this alphabet along with the Old Bulgarian language became the intellectual written language (lingua franca) for Eastern Europe. The greatest territorial extension was reached under Simeon I the first Tsar,son of Boris I, covering most of the Balkans. However his greatest achievement was that at that time Bulgaria developed rich, unique Christian Slavonic culture, which became an example for the other Slavonic peoples in Eastern Europe and ensured the continual existence of the Bulgarian nation regardless of the centrifugal forces that threatened to tear it into pieces throughout its long, rich and war-ridden history.

Following a decline in the mid tenth century, worn out by the wars with Croatia and frequent Serbian rebellions sponsored by Byzantine gold, Bulgaria was crushed by an assault of the Rus' in 969. The Byzantines then began campaigns to conquer Bulgaria. In 971, they seized the capital Preslav and captured Emperor Boris II. Resistance continued under Tsar Samuil in the western Bulgarian lands for nearly half a century until the state was completely destroyed by the Byzantines led by Basil II in 1018.

In 1185, the Second Bulgarian Empire once again established Bulgaria as an important power in Europe for two more centuries. With its capital based in Veliko Turnovo and under the Asenevtsi Dynasty this empire fought for dominance in the region against the Byzantine Empire, the Crusader states and Hungary, reaching its zenith under Ivan Asen II (1218–1241).

By the end of the fourteenth century, the country had disintegrated into several feudal principalities and was eventually conquered by the Ottoman Empire. A Polish-Hungarian crusade under the rule of Władysław III of Poland to free the Balkans was crushed in 1444 in the battle of Varna.

The five centuries of Ottoman rule were characterized by great violence and oppression. The Bulgarian population was decimated and most of its cultural relics were lost. Large towns and the areas where Ottoman power was strong were severely depopulated until the nineteenth century.

Following the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78 (when the Ottoman Empire was crushed by the Russian forces together with volunteered Bulgarian rebels) and the Treaty of San Stefano of March 3, 1878, an autonomous Bulgarian principality was proclaimed. The treaty was immediately rejected by the Great Powers for fear that a large Slavic country on the Balkans would serve Russian interests. This led to the Treaty of Berlin (1878) which provided for an autonomous Bulgarian principality comprising Moesia and the region of Sofia. The first Bulgarian prince was Alexander von Battenberg. Most of Thrace was included in the autonomous region of Eastern Rumelia, whereas the rest of Thrace and all of Macedonia was returned under the sovereignty of the Ottomans. After the Serbo-Bulgarian War and unification with Eastern Rumelia in 1885, the principality was proclaimed a fully independent kingdom on October 5 (September 22 O.S.), 1908, during the reign of Ferdinand I of Bulgaria.

Ferdinand, a prince from the ducal family of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, became the Bulgarian prince after Alexander von Battenberg abdicated in 1886 following a coup d'etat staged by pro-Russian army officers. (Although the counter coup d'etat coordinated by Stefan Stambolov was successful, Battenberg could not remain Bulgarian prince without the approval of Alexander III of Russia.) The struggle for liberation of the Bulgarians in the Adrianople, Vilayet and Macedonia continued throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries culminating with the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising organised by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization in 1903.

In 1912 and 1913, Bulgaria became involved in the Balkan Wars, entering into conflict with Greece and Serbia against the Ottoman Empire. The campaign was a success for the Bulgarian army, but unfortunately a conflict for the division of Macedonia aroused between the allies. Then a second Balkan war followed against its former Balkan allies in a desperate effort to achieve national unity. After being defeated in the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria lost most of the territory conquered in the first war, as well as Southern Dobruja. During World War I, Bulgaria found itself fighting on the losing side after its alliance with the Central Powers. The defeat led to new territorial losses (the Western Outlands to Serbia, Western Thrace to Greece and the reconquered Southern Dobruja to Romania. The Balkan Wars and World War I led to the influx of over 250,000 Bulgarian refugees from Macedonia, Eastern and Western Thrace and Southern Dobruja. These numbers increased in the 1930s following Serbian state-sponsored aggression against its native Bulgarian population.

After regaining control over Southern Dobruja in 1940, Bulgaria allied with the Axis Powers in World War II, although no Bulgarian soldiers participated in the war against the USSR. During World War II, Nazi Germany allowed Bulgaria to occupy parts of Greece and Yugoslavia, including territories long coveted by the Bulgarians. Bulgaria was one of three countries (with Finland and Denmark) that saved its entire Jewish population (around 50,000) from the Nazi camps by refusing to comply with a 31 August 1943 resolution. But Jews in territories newly acquired from Greece and Yugoslavia were sent to death camps by the Bulgarian authorities on German request. In September 1944, the Soviet army entered Bulgaria which later enabled the Bulgarian Communists to seize power and establish a Communist dictatorship. In 1944, Bulgaria's forces were turned against its former German ally (a 450,000 strong army in 1944, reduced to 130,000 in 1945). More than 30,000 Bulgarian soldiers and officers were killed in the war.

After World War II, Bulgaria fell within the Soviet sphere of influence, became a People's Republic in 1946 and one of the USSR's staunchest allies. In the late 1970s, it began normalizing relations with Greece and in the 1990s with Turkey. The People's Republic ended in 1989 as many Communist regimes in Eastern Europe, as well as the Soviet Union itself, began to collapse. The Bulgarian Communist leader Todor Zhivkov was removed from power on 10 November 1989.

Bulgaria has held multiparty elections and privatized its economy, but economic difficulties and a tide of corruption led over 800,000 Bulgarians, most of them qualified professionals, to emigrate.

 

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

Georgi Parvanov, the President of Bulgaria since 22 January 2002, was re-elected on 29 October 2006 and began his second term in office in January 2007. Bulgarian presidents are directly elected for a five-year term with the right to one re-election. The president serves as the head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. He is also the head of the Consultative Council for National Security and, while unable to initiate legislation other than Constitutional amendments, the President can return a bill for further debate, although the parliament can override the President's veto by vote of a majority of all MPs.

The Council of Ministers is chaired by the PM (Sergey Stanishev since 18 August 2005); it is the principal body of the Executive Branch and presently 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 current governmental coalition is made up of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), National Movement Simeon II (NMS) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (representing mainly the Turkish minority).

The Bulgarian unicameral parliament, the National Assembly or Narodno Sabranie (Народно събрание), consists of 240 deputies who 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 or coalition must garner a minimum of 4% of the vote in order to enter parliament. Parliament is responsible for enactment of laws, approval of the budget, scheduling of presidential elections, selection and dismissal of the Prime Minister and other ministers, declaration of war, deployment of troops outside of Bulgaria, and ratification of international treaties and agreements. The last elections took place on June 2005. The next elections are planned for summer 2009.

The Bulgarian judicial system consists of regional, district and appeal courts, as well as a Supreme Court of Cassation. In addition, there is a Supreme Administrative Court and a system of military courts. The Presidents of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Supreme Administrative Court 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 is in charge 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, the members serve a nine-year term.

The territory of the Republic of Bulgaria is divided into provinces and municipalities. In all Bulgaria has 28 provinces, each headed by a provincial governor appointed by the government. In addition, there are 263 municipalities.

 

Bulgaria's economy contracted dramatically after 1989 with the loss of the market of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) member states, to which the Bulgarian economy had been closely tied. The standard of living fell by about 40%, but it regained pre-1990 levels in June 2004. United Nations sanctions against Yugoslavia and Iraq took a heavy toll on the Bulgarian economy. The first signs of recovery emerged in 1994 when the GDP grew and inflation fell. During the government of Zhan Videnov's cabinet in 1996, the economy collapsed due to lack of international economic support and an unstable banking system. Since 1997, the country has been on the path to recovery, with GDP growing at a 4% – 5% rate, increasing FDI, macroeconomic stability and European Union membership.

The former government, elected in 2001, pledged to maintain the fundamental economic policy objectives adopted by its predecessor in 1997, i.e., retaining the Currency Board, practicing sound financial policies, accelerating privatization, and pursuing structural reforms. Economic forecasts for 2005 and 2006 predict continued growth in the economy. The annual year-on-year GDP growth for 2005 and 2006 is expected to total 5.3% and 6.0%, respectively. Industrial output for 2005 was forecast to rise by 11.9% from the previous year and for 2006 by 15.2%. Unemployment for 2005 was projected at 11.5% and for 2006 about 9%. As of 2006 the GDP structure is: agriculture 8.0%; industry 26,1%; services 65.9%.

 

Agricultural output has decreased since 1989 but production is growing in recent years. Farming is more important than stock-breeding. The prevalence of mechanization is higher than most other Eastern European countries but there is lack of modern equipment. Alongside airplanes and other equipment, there are over 150,000 tractors and 10,000 combine harvesters. Production of the most important crops is: wheat 4,120,000 t; sunflower 1,080,000 t; maize 2,120,000 t; grapes 500,000 t; tobacco 79,000 t; tomatoes 530,000 t; barley 1,180,000 t; potatoes 650,000 t; peppers 213,000 t; cucumbers 110,000 t; cherries 75,000 t; watermelons 420,000 t; cabbage 340,000 t; apples 150,000 t; plums 150,000 t; strawberries 52,000 t.

 

Industry is very important to the economy. Although Bulgaria is not very rich in reserves of coal, oil, and gas, it is a major producer of electricity and the most important exporter in the region due to the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant with a total capacity of 3,760 MW. A second plant, the Belene Nuclear Power Plant with a capacity of 2,000 MW is under construction. There is a $1,400,000,000 project for construction of an additional 670 MW for the 500 MW Maritza Iztok 1 Thermal Power Plant.

Ferrous metallurgy is very important. The production of steel and pig iron is concentrated in Kremikovtsi and Pernik. There is also a third metallurgical base in Debelt. In production of steel and steel products per capita the country is first in the Balkans.

The largest refineries for lead and zinc are in Plovdiv (the biggest refinery between Italy and the Ural mountains), Kardzhali and Novi Iskar; for copper in Pirdop and Eliseina; for aluminium in Shumen. In production of many metals per capita, Bulgaria is first in South Eastern Europe and among the first in Europe and the world.

About 14% of the total industrial production is related to machine building and 24% of the people are employed in this field. Its importance decreased since 1989 but is growing again.

Electronics and electric equipment production is very well developed. The largest centres are Sofia, Plovdiv and surrounding area, Botevgrad, Stara Zagora, Varna, Pravets and many others. These plants produce household appliances, computers, CDs, telephones, medical and scientific equipment.

Many factories producing transportation equipment do not work at full capacity. There are plants producing trains (Burgas, Dryanovo), trams (Sofia), trolleys (Dupnitsa), buses (Botevgrad), trucks (Shumen), motocars (automotive assembly plant in Lovech). The main centre of agricultural machinery is Ruse. Shipbuilding is concentrated in Varna, Burgas and Ruse. Arms production is mainly developed in central Bulgaria (Kazanlak, Sopot, Karlovo).

The property market has been boosted recently by foreigners seeking additional homes. Buyers come from right across Europe but most are British, encouraged by relatively cheap property and because the country is more accessible through cheap air travel.

 

Bulgaria offers excellent conditions for high-tech and telecommunication industries and services with its strategic location, highly-qualified workforce, macroeconomic stability, growing domestic market and good education. This is why some multinational companies choose Bulgaria to build their regional offices and headquarters even before Bulgaria joined the EU. The most notable is Hewlett-Packard, which built its Global Service Centre for Europe, the Middle East and Africa in Sofia.

Telecommunications is perhaps the fastest growing industry in the country. There are three GSM mobile operators — Globul, Mobiltel and Vivatel — which provide almost 100% coverage. They have hundreds of service centres throughout the country which are constantly growing and improving. More than 6,245,000 Bulgarians own mobile cellular phones. Mobikom is the only NMT 450 mobile phone operator. Every town and many villages have a fast Internet connection. There are around 185,000 Internet hosts.

The country has some precedents for its current science industry. The inventor of the earliest known electronic computer John Atanasoff is of Bulgarian descent. Bulgaria was a major supplier of scientific and research instruments for the Soviet space programs, was the first European country to develop serial computer production, and has experience in pharmaceutical research and development. The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is the leading scientific institution in the country with most of the researchers working for its numerous branches. There are two major astronomical observatories: the Rozhen Observatory, which is the biggest in South Eastern Europe and the Belogradchik Observatory with three telescopes.

 

Bulgaria occupies a unique and strategically important geographic location. Since ancient times, the country has been a major crossroad between Europe, Asia and Africa. Five of the ten Trans-European corridors run through its territory.

The total length of the roads is 102,016 km of which 93,855 km are paved and 416 km are motorways. Several motorways are planned, under construction or partially built: Trakiya motorway, Hemus motorway, Cherno More motorway, Struma motorway, Maritza motorway and Lyulin motorway. Other motorways are planned but their final track is yet to be decided. They include a link between the capital Sofia and Vidin, a link between the Struma and Trakiya motorways south of Rila Mountain, a link between Rousse and Veliko Tarnovo, and the Sofia ring road. Many roads have been recently reconstructed.

The length of railways is 6,500 km of which more than 60% are electrified. There is a €360,000,000 project for the modernization and electrification of the Plovdiv-Kapitan Andreevo railway.

Air transportation is relatively well developed. There are formally six international airports at Sofia, Burgas, Varna, Plovdiv, Rousse and Gorna Oryahovitsa. Massive investment is planned for the first three. There are important domestic airports in Vidin, Pleven, Silistra, Targovishte, Stara Zagora, Kardzhali, Haskovo and Sliven. After the fall of communism in 1989, most of them are not used as the importance of domestic flights declined. There are many military airports and agricultural airfields. 128 of the 213 airports in Bulgaria are paved.

The ports of Varna and Burgas are by far the most important and have the largest turnover. Other than Burgas, Sozopol, Nesebar and Pomorie are big fishing ports. The largest ports on the Danube River are Rousse and Lom which serves the capital.

There is well organised public transport in the cities and in many smaller towns. There are buses, trolleys (in about 20 cities) and trams (in Sofia). The Sofia Metro in the capital is to have three lines with total length of about 48 km and 52 stations, but only a section is currently completed.

 

According to the 2001 census, Bulgaria's population is mainly ethnic Bulgarian (83.9%), with two sizable minorities, Turks (9.4%) and Roma (4.7%). Of the remaining 2.0%, 0.9% are distributed among some 40 smaller minorities, the most numerous of which are the Russians, Armenians, Vlachs, Jews, Crimean Tatars and Karakachans. 1.1% did not declare their ethnicity.

Bulgarian is the mother language of 84.8% of the population; it is a member of the Slavic languages. Bulgarian is the only official language, but other languages such as Turkish and Romany, are spoken corresponding closely to ethnic breakdown.

Most Bulgarians (82.6%) are, at least nominally, members of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the national Eastern Orthodox Church. Other religious denominations include Islam (12.2%), various Protestant denominations (0.8%), Roman Catholicism (0.5%), with other denominations, atheists and undeclared numbering ca. 4.1%.

In the recent years Bulgaria has had one of the slowest population growth rates in the world. Growth has been negative since the early 1990s, due to the economic collapse and high emigration. In 1988 the population was 8,859,000 people, and in 2001 7,950,000. Now Bulgaria suffers a heavy demographic crisis.

 

A country often described to lie at the crossroads linking the East and West, Bulgaria was the centre of Slavic Europe during much of the Middle Ages, exerting considerable literary and cultural influence over the Eastern Orthodox Slavic world by means of the Preslav and Ohrid Literary Schools. Bulgaria is also the birthplace of the Cyrillic alphabet, the second most widely used alphabet in the world, which was developed in these two schools in the tenth century. Bulgaria is well-known for its rich folklore, distinctive traditional music, rituals and tales, but the country's contribution to humanity also continued in the nineteenth and twentieth century, when individuals such as John Atanasoff - born in USA with Bulgarian origin, regarded as the father of the digital computer, a number of noted opera singers (Nicolai Ghiaurov, Boris Christoff, Raina Kabaivanska, Ghena Dimitrova) and successful artists (Christo Javacheff, Pascin, Vladimir Dimitrov) popularized the culture of Bulgaria abroad.

A number of ancient civilizations, most notably the Thracians, Greeks, Romans, Slavs and Bulgars, have left their mark on the culture, history and heritage of Bulgaria. The country has nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Of these, two are Thracian tombs (one in Sveshtari and one in Kazanlak), three are monuments of medieval Bulgarian culture (the Boyana Church, the Rila Monastery and the Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo), while the Pirin National Park and the Srebarna Nature Reserve represent the country's natural beauty, and the ancient city of Nesebar is a unique combination of European cultural interaction, as well as, historically, one of the most important centres of naval trade in the Black Sea. In addition, the Varna Necropolis, a 3200-3000 BC burial site, contains what are believed to be the oldest examples of worked gold in the world.

 

In winter, Samokov, Borovets, Bansko and Pamporovo are popular ski resorts. There are summer resorts on the Black Sea at Sozopol, Nessebur, Golden Sands, Sunny Beach, Sveti Vlas, Albena, St. St. Constantine & Helena and many others. Spa resorts such as Bankya, Hisarya, Sandanski, Velingrad, Varshets and many others are popular all over the year. Bulgaria is becoming an attractive destination because of the quality of the resorts and prices below those found in Western Europe.

Bulgaria has enjoyed a substantial growth in income from international tourism over the past decade. Beach resorts are popular with tourists from Germany, Russia, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. The ski resorts are a favorite destination for British and Irish tourists.

Bulgaria has over 3 million visitors yearly and the number is increasing. The tourism in Bulgaria is one of the major helping improving tools for Bulgaria's economy and growing GDP of 6%-6.5% every year.

 

Most citizens of Bulgaria are associated — at least nominally — to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. It was founded in 870 AD under the Patriarchate of Constantinople from which it obtained its first primate, its clergy and theological texts. It has been autocephalous since 927. The Bulgarian Patriarchate was established in Sofia after the creation of the Bulgarian Exarchate, in 1870. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church is the independent national church of Bulgaria like the other national branches of Eastern Orthodoxy and is considered an inseparable element of Bulgarian national consciousness. The church became subordinate within the Patriarchate of Constantinople, twice during the periods of Byzantine (1018 – 1185) and Ottoman (1396 – 1878) domination but has been revived every time as a symbol of Bulgarian statehood without breaking away from the Orthodox dogma. In 2001, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church had 6,552,000 members in Bulgaria (82.6% of the population). However, many people raised during the 45 years of communist rule are not religious, even though they may formally be members of the church.

Despite the dominant position of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Bulgarian cultural life, a number of Bulgarian citizens belong to other religious denominations, most notably Islam, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Islam came to Bulgaria at the end of the fourteenth century after the conquest of the country by the Ottomans. It gradually gained ground throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by the introduction of Turkish colonists and the conversion of native Bulgarians. At the time of Liberation (1878) no less than 40% of the population was Muslim, but emigration was a key factor in reducing this percentage. In 2001, there were 967,000 Muslims in Bulgaria, accounting for 12.2% of the total population.

In the sixteenth and the seventeenth century, missionaries from Rome converted Bulgarian Paulicians in the districts of Plovdiv and Svishtov to Roman Catholicism. Today, their descendants form the bulk of Bulgarian Catholics whose number stands at 44,000 in 2001. Protestantism was introduced in Bulgaria by missionaries from the United States in 1857. Missionary work continued throughout the second half of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century. In 2001, there were some 42,000 Protestants in Bulgaria.

According to the most recent Eurostat "Eurobarometer" poll, in 2005, only 40% of Bulgarian citizens responded that "they believe there is a God", whereas 40% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force", 13% that "they do not believe there is a God, spirit, nor life force", and 6% did not answer.