Capital: Sofia.
Time: One hour behind from Moscow time.
Geography: The country is located in south-eastern Europe in the на Balkan Peninsula (from 1946 to 1990 it was named People’s Republic of Bulgaria). Bulgaria borders on five countries. In the north, along the Danube, the country border on Rumania, in the south – on Turkey and Greece, in the west – with Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In the east it is washed by the Black Sea. The area of Bulgaria is 110 912 sq.km. More than a half of the country territory is covered by hills and mountains: Balkan Mountains cross the country from the north-west up to the Black Sea and form the watershed between the Danube and the Aegean Sea. The Rhodope Mountains lie to the south and match the border with Greece. In the south-west the Rila Mountains are located, here you can find the highest country peak – Musala Mountain (2925 m). The major Bolgarian river is the Danube, other important rivers are Maritsa, Struma and Kamchia rivers.
Climate: On the most of Bulgaria there is a continental climate with cold winter and hot summer. To the south the continental climate changes for Mediterranean type. As for the Bulgarian resorts in spring-summer season and autumn months there is mild warm weather with long swimming season that lasts from May till October. The average air temperature is +20°С in May, +25°С in June and September, +26-28°С in July and August. The average annual temperature is about +13° С.
Population: The Population of Bulgaria (according to information from 1997) is 8.24 million of people. In the biggest cities: Sofia(1 141 000), Plovdiv (379 000), Varna (315 000). According to the censuc in 1985, the population of the country was 8.9 million of people. The decrease of population is explained by mass emigration of Turks in the end of 1980 years. Ethnic groups: Bulgarian - 85%, Turkish- 9%, Armenian, Gipsy, Greek, Slav-Macedonian.
Language: Official- Bulgarian. Russian, English, German are also used.
Religion: Bulgarian Orthodox Church - 85%, Islam - 12%, Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism.
Holidays and days-off: January 1st and 2nd (New Year), March 3rd (Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman yoke), Monday after Easter, April 8th , May 1st (Labor Day), May 24th (The Holiday of Bulgarian Culture and Slavonic Literature, the Day of Saint Cyril and Methodius), December 25th (the Nativity of Christ).
Currency: Bulgarian lev, 1 lev = 100 stotinki. There are banknotes of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 levs, coins - 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 stotinki. The import and export of levs is forbidden. The import and export of foreign currency is unlimited (the declaration is required).
Currency exchange: Currency exchange is unlimited. It is recommended to have euro. Euro and dollars can be exchanged for levs in specialized exchangers or banks. Banks work from 9.00 till 12.00 and from 13.00 till 17.00, on weekdays. Bulgarian banks don’t exchange levs for dollars; it is allowed to exchange small amount of money during reverse border crossing that is why it is necessary to save the receipt for dollars to levs exchange. The rate of exchange is announced every day. In order to avoid fraud, it is recommended not to accept offers from street moneychangers.
Visa: For visiting the country visa is required. When submitting a form for a Bulgarian visa a consular fee of 20$ is charged. The citizens of Russian Federation up to 16 years old Bulgarian visa is free. The term of visa execution is 7 working days (in case of urgent visa – 3 working days).
Custom house regulations: The export of objects of historical, artistic or archeological value without special permission is forbidden. To avoid any ambiguities, you should specify all jewellery, photo-, cinema- and video cameras, portative typewriter or laptop that you have in declaration while entering the country. Foreign visitors can bring in Bulgaria 250 cigarettes or 50 cigars, 1 liter of spirits or 2 liters of wine, reasonable number of presents and unlimited amount of foreign currency free of duty. If the general sum of imported currency (local or foreign) is more than 5000 levs, it is necessary to include it to the custom declaration. Jewellery, video cameras, computers and other expensive goods must be declared. When leaving a country all the valuables must be also declared.
Transport: There is an interurban omnibus traffic is organized in Bulgaria, but the buses are moving at a low speed. You can also use the railway network to travel around the country, but here delays also can occur. Those you want to rent a car, must have international driving license. The whole resort district to the north of Varna is rather small. The distance between cities is: from Varna to Golden Sands – 20 km, from Albena to Golden Sands – 1o km, from Albena to Balchik – 10 km, from Albena to Dobrich – 35 km, from Varna to Sofia – 450 km, from Varna to Bougras – 200 km.
Electricity: The voltage of power supply is 220 V in the whole country.
Communications: You can make a call practically everywhere, card phone sets are very popular. But you should remember that phone cards from one provider don’t work with phones from another one, making calls from the post office is far less expensive than from the hotel, for instance. Calls to Russia cost about 0.6 – 0.7$ per minute.
Shops: The working time from 9.30 till 18.00. The lunch hour varies in different stores from 12.00 till 15.30. There are stores with around-the-clock service, some stores work on Saturdays and Sundays. Most popular souvenirs bought in Bulgaria are clothes with fancywork, linen fabrics, carpets, perfumes from the Rose Valley, handmade leather, copper, silver goods, copper and iron presents. Before making a big purchase, learn the custom house regulations.
Bulgarian cuisine: You will appreciate the Bulgarian cuisine. The dishes are really tasty – spicy seasonings, the plenty of vegetables, savoury taste. One of the main its peculiarities is the simultaneous cooking of several products at low heat. This allows to save nourishing properties, achieve a pleasant aroma of dishes and original taste combinations. This also becomes possible with the use of different food items, seasoning, vegetable and animal fats.
Resorts and touristic complexes: the Bulgarian Black Sea coast has a big advantage for tourists due to very long beach stripe stretching for 384 km. The Black Sea doesn’t have tides and its water has a low saltiness (about 16 ppm). The sea coast is famous for its resorts. The landscapes full of greenery are perfect for having rest. Wide beaches with tender sand smoothly lowering into the sea coolness, small depth near the coastline, warm and bright sun and fresh breeze attract lots of tourists and vacationers every year.
