Bulgaria

From Metapedia

The country of Bulgaria (Bulgarian: България, Bălgariya, pronounced IPA: [bɤlˈgarijə]), officially the Republic of Bulgaria (Bulgarian: Република България, Republika Bălgariya, pronounced IPA: [rɛˈpubliˌkə bɤlˈgarijə]) lies in Southeastern Europe.

Modern Bulgaria borders five countries: Romania to the north (mostly along the Danube), Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south; as well as the Black Sea, which makes up its entire eastern border. Bulgaria's civilized history dates back more than 6000 years and the country lies in the classical regions of Thrace, Moesia and Macedonia, once inhabited by the ancient Thracians and later by Greeks and Romans. Bulgaria is a successor of a powerful European medieval empire, the First Bulgarian Empire, which at times covered most of the Balkans and spread its culture and literature among the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe. Centuries later, during the decline of the Second Bulgarian Empire, the country fell under five centuries of Ottoman rule. Bulgaria was reestablished as a constitutional monarchy in 1878, also known as the birth of the Third Bulgarian Empire. Part of the Eastern Bloc after World War II, today Bulgaria has become a democratic, unitary, constitutional republic, a member of the European Union and of NATO.