BULGARIA
something you didn’t
know about …
Founded in 681, Bulgaria is Europe's
oldest state with internationally
recognized independence.
Bulgaria is also Europe's oldest state
which has not changed its name from its
beginning.
According to Herodotus, the Thracian
tribe who lived in the territory of
Bulgaria was the second biggest and
most developed nation only after the
Indians.
Old Greek and Romans mythology not
only borrowed some gods and heroes
from Thracians but also some of their
mysteries, cults and part of the holiday
calendar of the Mediterranean and
Black Sea regions.
One of the major cities in the country,
Plovdiv City, is said to have been built in
the 4th Century BC by Philip Macedon.
It used to be land of the Thracians, and
a particular hero called Spartacus was
born there (the Thracian gladiator who
led a slave revolt in the Roman Empire
(73–71)).
He came from the Pirin Mountain,
which is in the South West of Bulgaria.
The Bulgars are the only European people who have
organised three states in Europe, which beared their
name in one form or another:
Old Great Bulgaria
(present day Southern Ukraine),
Volga Bulgaria
(present day Tatarstan in the Russian Federation)
and Danubian Bulgaria
(the foundation of modern Bulgaria)
Area: 110,910 sq km;
Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering
the Black Sea, between Romania and
Turkey;
Border Countries: Greece, Macedonia,
Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey;
Climate: Temperate, cold, damp winters,
hot, dry summers;
Terrain: Mostly mountains with lowlands
in north and southeast;
Capital of Bulgaria
Geography: Strategic location near Turkish
Straits; controls key land routes from
Europe to Middle East and Asia;
Ethnic Groups: Bulgarian 83.9%, Turk 9.4%,
Roma 4.7%, other 2% (including
Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian
Religions: Bulgarian Orthodox 82.6%,
Muslim 12.2%, other Christian 1.2%, other
4%;
Languages: Bulgarian 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%,
Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8%
(2001 census)
Government Type: Parliamentary
Democracy
Currency: Leva (BGL)
The Bulgarian army is the only force in the
entire world which has never lost a single
flag, despite actively participating in wars in
Europe since the 19th century.
Rayna Kasabova was the first woman ever to
take part in a combat air mission,
accomplished on 30 October 1912.
The first air-dropped bomb in military history was developed by the Bulgarian Air Force during
the First Balkan War, which took off from Yambol and was used on 16 October 1912.
An important product of the ancient Bulgarian knowledge is the cyclical solar calendar, perfect
from an astronomical point of view, in which the constellations have the names of animals.
UNESCO has recognized the calendar of the ancient Bulgarians as one of the most exact from
among the calendars known up to the modern age.
Xenophon, a Greek,
wrote that "it was
known that a group of
Bulgars invented the
wheel in the great
Steppe".
Orpheus was the Patriarch (Spiritual Leader) of the
first Ancient Thracians. In later times a different
Orpheus who lived in the Rodope Mountains, which
are in the South of Bulgaria, was the legendary
Thracian poet and musician whose music had the
power to move inanimate objects and even raise
the dead.
The world's oldest known writing system is the 7000 years
old Ancient Thracian Script, which, recently decoded,
shows that the first people of present day Bulgaria, which
modern Bulgarians are direct descendents of, knew of
Maria ('Ma-Raya', 'Ma-Re-Wa' that is 'The Place of The
Word of The One (God)') and Jesus, known to them as 'The
Ressurection-Jesus', that is 'Twon-Jesus' or 'Twon-Ysus'
('Twon-Isus'), and 'The Sun-of-the-souls-Jesus', that is 'TeOn-Jesus' or 'Te-On-Ysus' ('Te-On-Isus'), which name was
later changed among the Greeks who called Him 'DionJesus' or 'Dion-Ysus' ('Dion-Isus'), 5000 years previous to
His appearance in-the-flesh.
With the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union on January 1, 2007, Cyrillic became the
third official alphabet of the EU. ( Bulgaria is the second EU country, after Greece, that use a
non-Latin alphabet).
The Bulgarians were the first people to put the
Cyrillic alphabet to use after its inception in
the 9th century.
The only nations in the world that use the
bagpipe as an instrument are Scotland, Ireland
and Bulgaria.
The bulgarian folk song "Izlel e Delio Haidutin"
was sent in deep space on the board of the US
Space Probe -Voyager I as part of a collection
of our Civilization's finest cultural artefacts - a
message to an alien intelligence.
Old Bulgarians still shake their heads to the
opposite from the other world. Be careful
weather they want to say “Yes or No”.
Over 70,000 traditional bulgarian folk songs
have been collected at the Folklore Institute of
the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Nestinarstvo, or dancing on live coals, is a unique Bulgarian custom preserved from most ancient times in the area of the
Strandzha Highland in the Southern Black Sea region of Bulgaria. The temperature of the smouldering embers danced upon
is 300-400'C. Human protein begins to disintegrate over 70'C, which transcends the nestinarstvo beyond the ordinary.
Bulgaria ranks 3rd in Europe (after Greece and Italy)
for its number of archaeological treasures.
There is a wooden cross guarded in Rila
Monastery, named the Rafail’s cross
with 140 microscopic scenes from the
Bible featuring more than 1,500
figurines, the largest of them no bigger
than a grain of rice, was carved by a
monk over a period of 12 years.
The oldest gold treasure in the world was found in
Bulgaria (in 294 graves were found 3000 gold
objects dating back more than 6000 years).
Bulgaria is the first Slavic nation that adopted Christianity.
The recognition of the autocephalous Bulgarian Patriarchate by the Patriarchate of
Constantinople in 927 AD makes the Bulgarian Orthodox Church the oldest autocephalous
Slavic Orthodox Church in the world.
Lactobacillus Bulgaricus, the bacterium
responsible for giving Bulgarian yoghurt its
unique flavour and consistency, can be found
only in Bulgarian air.
The famous Bulgarian rose-oil, produced in
the region of Kazanlak, is a component of the
French and of other world-famous perfumes.
2 000 flowers are needed for just one single
gram of the precious attar of roses whose
price equals that of gold.
The inventor of the first electronic
computer John Vincent Atanassoff
is of Bulgarian origin.
Computer literacy and usage is on
the higher stage in this country,
which was once referred to as the
Silicon Valley of Europe.
Bulgaria is second in the world in
international IQ tests and SAT
scores and fourth in the world in
per capita university education
after the U.S., Japan, and the
United Kingdom.
Peter Petroff, a Bulgarian, developed the first
digital wristwatch of the world.
Hristo Stoichkov is the most successful
Bulgarian soccer player of all time. He debuted
in professional football with CSKA Sofia and
was later spotted by European giant FC
Barcelona. Stoitchkov earned global acclaim
after winning the Spanish Primera Division four
consecutive times and taking his club to
Champions League glory in 1992. At World Cup
1994, Hristo Stoichkov was awarded the
Golden boot as the top goal scorer of the
tournament as he miraculously led his country
to the semi-finals.
The first wrestler in the world with 1500 wins
and only 2 losses is the Bulgarian Dan Kolov.
There are around four thousand mapped
caves in Bulgaria.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
students and teachers from Poland
*music theme - Shopsko Rhapsody Remix