"Bulgaria - A Country Of Contrasts " a Bulgaria Travel Page by cheekymarieh

Bulgaria is a country of contrasts. There are superb beaches on the shores of the Black Sea , fascinating monasteries and superb ski slopes for the more budget concoius winter sports addict. It has become a more popular tourist destination during recent times especially since the decline of communism. Nearly half of the country is covered in mountains and this is one of the reasons that it is becoming such a popular ski resort.

The country is fairly small and has a population in the region of nine million. The peoples of the country are of Slavic origin although there are quite a few ethnic groups within the population - Turkish is the largest of these groups making up approxinately nine percent of the population.

The capital is Sofia and the other main towns include Ruse, Varna and Pleven.

The country uses the Cyrillic alphabet and the native language is Bulgarian. i really would advise that you at least take a guide to deciphering the cyrillic alphabet because the Latin one is rarely used. You will need it for example to get off the train at the correct station!

In 1991 the last remains of Communism were swept aside with independent elections held through the country. Since this time the country has tried to update itself. You no longer have the gloomy country that has half empty shelves.