Bulgaria is a mountainous country in the Balkans region in Eastern Europe, on the western side of the Black Sea. Its area is around 110,000 sq km. Check out Bulgaria photos to view the beautiful rivers, lakes, caves, mountainous, forests and woodlands.

The official name of Bulgaria is the "Republic of Bulgaria". The name is spelled in Bulgarian as Republika Bulgaria.

Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria. Major cities in Bulgaria include Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Rousse, Stara Zagora, Gabrovo, Pleven, Sliven, Dobrich, Veliko Tarnovo and Shumen.

Bulgarian industries sector is the major sector of the Bulgarian economy, in addition to tourism, services and agriculture. Bulgaria gets millions of tourists each year, who come to visit the historic monuments in Sofia and other cities, the mountain resorts, the Black Sea beaches, resorts and beauty Spas. Bulgaria hotels and resorts offer high levels of hospitality and leisure services.

Bulgaria has many religious and historic sites and monumnets, including the Thracian ancient town of Nessebar, Arbanassi village, Madara Rider, Sveshtari Tomb, Kazanlak Tomb, Rila Monastery, Boyana Church and the Rock-Hewn Ivanovo churches.

Bulgaria has a wealth of beautiful natural spots, such as the Black Sea Beaches, Vaya Lake, Danube River, Srebarna Nature Reserve and Pirin National Park.

The population of Bulgaria is around 7 millions. The main spoken languages are Bulgarian, Turkish and Russian.

Bulgaria became a member of the European Union (EU) in January 2007.