Bulgaria is a country in Southeast Europe. It occupies the whole eastern part of the Balkans, and also is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and also North Macedonia to the west, Greece and also Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east. Bulgaria covers an area of 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi), and also is the sixteenth-largest nation in Europe. Sofia is the nation’s capital and also biggest city; various other significant cities are Plovdiv, Varna and also Burgas.

One of the earliest cultures in the lands of contemporary Bulgaria was the Neolithic Karanovo society, which goes back to 6,500 BC. In the sixth to 3rd century BC the area was a battleground for ancient Thracians, Persians, Celts and Macedonians; stability came when the Roman Realm conquered the area in AD 45. After the Roman state splintered, tribal invasions in the region resumed. Around the sixth century, these territories were cleared up by the very early Slavs.

The Bulgars led by Asparuh of Bulgaria struck from the lands of (Old Great) Bulgaria as well as permanently invaded the Balkans in the late 7th century. They developed (Danubian) Bulgaria, victoriously acknowledged by treaty in AD 681 by the Eastern Roman Realm. It controlled most of the Balkans and substantially affected Slavic cultures by establishing the Cyrillic manuscript. The First Bulgarian Empire lasted up until the very early 11th century, when Oriental emperor Basil II conquered and also dismantled it. A successful Bulgarian revolt in 1185 established a 2nd Bulgarian Realm, which reached its peak under Ivan Asen II (1218– 1241). After countless exhausting wars and feudal strife, the empire broke down in 1396 as well as fell under Footrest rule for nearly five centuries.

The Russo-Turkish Battle of 1877– 78 caused the formation of the 3rd as well as current Bulgarian state. Lots of ethnic Bulgarians were left outside the new country’s borders, which stired irredentist views that resulted in numerous conflicts with its neighbours as well as alliances with Germany in both world wars. In 1946, Bulgaria came under the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc and also became a socialist state. The ruling Communist Party surrendered its monopoly on power after the changes of 1989 and also allowed multiparty elections. Bulgaria then transitioned right into a freedom and a market-based economic climate.

Because of embracing an autonomous constitution in 1991, Bulgaria has actually been a unitary legislative republic made up of 28 provinces, with a high degree of political, administrative, and economic centralisation.