Portal:Bulgaria

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Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located west of the Black Sea and south of the Danube river, Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey to the south, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, and Romania to the north. It covers a territory of 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi) and is the 16th largest country in Europe. Sofia is the nation's capital and largest city; other major cities include Burgas, Plovdiv, and Varna.

Bulgaria has an upper-middle-income economy, ranking 70th in the Human Development Index. Bulgaria ranks 38th in the innovation index. Its market economy is part of the European Single Market and is largely based on services, followed by industry—especially machine building and mining—and agriculture. The country faces a demographic crisis; its population peaked at 9 million in 1989, and has since decreased to under 6.4 million as of 2024. Bulgaria is a member of the European Union, the Schengen Area, NATO, and the Council of Europe. It is also a founding member of the OSCE and has taken a seat on the United Nations Security Council three times. (Full article...)

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The COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Bulgaria when the country's first cases, a 27-year-old man from Pleven and a 75-year-old woman from Gabrovo, were confirmed on 8 March 2020. Neither of the two had traveled to areas with known coronavirus cases which is maybe because the PCR test that was used is defective. The man tested positive for the virus after being hospitalized for a respiratory infection, and authorities announced plans to test several people who were in contact with the two individuals. Two other samples in Pleven and Gabrovo were positive on 8 March. Patient zero remains unknown.

After the number of patients in the country had reached 23, the Bulgarian Parliament voted unanimously to declare a state of emergency from 13 March until 13 April. A 14-day preventive house quarantine was introduced for citizens who have been in contact with a COVID-19 patient or have returned from an overseas region with a high number of cases. For patients tested positive for the virus a 21-day house quarantine was introduced. This time span is counted from the day a subsequent test comes out negative after they have been treated in a hospital or at home. After the World Health Organization (WHO) has established that COVID-19 is more resilient than the initial data was showing, the National Crisis-management Staff increased the recovery house quarantine by a week to 28 days. With the continuing increase of COVID-19 cases on a daily basis, the Bulgarian government requested on 1 April that Parliament extend the state of emergency by one month until 13 May. (Full article...)

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that Tsvetana Jermanova survived imprisonment in two forced labour camps in communist Bulgaria?
... that one of the highest death rates in the Holocaust was in Bulgarian-occupied Greece, where 97 percent of Jews were killed in less than a month?

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Gallery

Image 1Varna lake is a salt lake near Black sea.
Image 2Danube river in Bulgaria
Image 3Maritsa is a river in South Bulgaria.
Image 4A beach in Bulgaria.
Image 5Sofia is the biggest city in Bulgaria.
Image 6Rila is a mountain in West Bulgaria
Image 7Razgrad is a city in East Bulgaria.

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Credit: Evgeni Dinev

Varvara Beach is a secluded sandy beach near the village of Varvara. The village is located on the Black Sea coast of Burgas Province, between the towns of Tsarevo and Ahtopol, near the border with Turkey.

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More did You Know?

...that the chitalishte (community centre) in Novo Selo (pictured), constructed in 1930, is also a memorial to locals who perished in war?

...that Hadzhi Dimitar was one of the most prominent Bulgarian voivods and revolutionary workers for the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule?