Bulgaria

In brief

Bulgaria is a country in Southeast Europe. Its capital is Sofia. With 6.4 million inhabitants in 2025, it ranks 110th in the world by population, out of the 195 countries recognised by the UN. Its area is 110,879 km². It shares land borders with Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Türkiye.

GDP per capita stands at $20,328 (2025), 55th in the world. Life expectancy at birth is 75.8 years (2024). 74% of the population lives in cities.

History of Bulgaria

The First Bulgarian Empire was founded in 681. In the 9th and 10th centuries the schools of Preslav and Ohrid spread the Cyrillic alphabet, now used by dozens of languages. Conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th century, Bulgaria regained autonomy in 1878 and full independence in 1908. Under communist rule from 1946 to 1989, it joined NATO in 2004 and the European Union in 2007.

Geography of Bulgaria

The Danube forms the northern border with Romania and the Black Sea lines the east. The Balkan Mountains cross the country from west to east; in the south-west, the Rila range holds Musala (2,925 m), the highest peak in the Balkans.

Map of Bulgaria

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Flag of Bulgaria

The flag of Bulgaria is red, white and green. Its official proportions are 3:5 (height to width).

• White33%
• Green33%
• Red33%

Share of the flag’s surface taken by each colour.

What the flag stands for

White, green and red horizontal bands, adopted in 1879. White stands for peace, green for the land and farming, red for courage. It is often described as the Russian flag with green in place of blue.

Sources: Wikipedia, articles “Bulgaria” and “Flag of Bulgaria”.

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Fact file

Economy and society