Contents
Key historical events
- In 681 Bulgaria was founded by Khan Asparuh and he became the first Bulgarian Khan
- 852 – 889 comes to the throne Kniaz Boris and leads the Bulgarian people to accept the Christian religion. During his time, Kiril and his brother Metodi create the Glagolitsa alphabet, which later is adapted to the Cyrillic script
- Between the year 893 and 927, Tsar Simeon led Bulgaria to its “golden” age both for culture and literature and for its conquests
- 1371 – 1395 Tsar Ivan Shishman is the last Tsar before the Ottoman Empire takes control over Bulgaria
- The years under Ottoman occupation have been devastating for the Bulgarian culture and religion. Vasil Levski is considered a national hero for his contribution to the liberation of Bulgaria in 1878, 5 years after his death
- 1878 The Treaty of Berlin splits Bulgaria in two parts, they are given limited autonomy
- 1908 Bulgaria becomes completely independent and united
- 1944 The Russians occupy Bulgaria. Gradually a Communist regime is introduced
- 1989 The Communist regime in Bulgaria collapses
- 2004 Bulgaria joins NATO
- 2007 Bulgaria joins the EU
Religious outlook
Christianity
- An estimated 80% of Bulgaria’s population is Christian, and 75% of the total population follows Eastern Orthodox Christianity, specifically the Bulgarian Orthodox Church
- There are smaller groups of Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Ukrainian Orthodox, and Romanian Orthodox Christians, and there are also Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, and various Protestant sects
Islam
- The Muslim community is the biggest religious minority in Bulgaria. Adherents of Islam in Bulgaria include the Turkish Bulgarians, the Pomaks, and a small population of Romas
- Islam in Bulgaria goes back to the invasion of the Ottoman Turks in around the 14th century, when many Bulgarians converted either for convenience or to avoid persecution
Judaism
- In World War II, Bulgaria avoided deporting its Jews to concentration camps. There are approximately 3,500 Jews living in Bulgaria now
Atheism
- A large segment of Bulgarians are not religious at all. This number increased during the Communist regime as a result of state-sponsored atheism
Socioeconomics
- Bulgaria is now a “consolidated democracy” based on a parliamentary representative republic with a multi-party system. The unicameral parliament is composed of 240 deputies, directly elected by the population for a 4-year term. Members of parliament elect the prime minister, who as head of government chairs the Council of Ministers, which is the executive state body that directs the internal and foreign policy. The president, i.e. the head of state, is also directly elected by universal suffrage for five years.
- Bulgaria has made significant progress in its democratic and socio-economic development since 1991 but gaps remain, particularly in terms of economic performance and quality of governance.
- Some of the most important social and economic problems in Bulgaria are: inequalities, poverty, the unfair tax system, and the lack of non-taxable minimum, as well as the demographic crisis.
- The long-term structural challenges are: negative demographic trends, coupled with institutional and governance weaknesses and corruption.
- Bulgaria is one of the biggest producers of rose oil and lavender oil in the world.
Food
- Bulgarian: българска кухня, is sharing lots of characteristics with other Balkan cuisines (Turkish, Greek, Serbian, Romanian)
- Bread is the most important staple. Dairy products are widely consumed, particularly yogurt and white-brined cheese
- The national pride for Bulgarians is the fact that the bacterium which causes milk to naturally turn into yogurt was discovered by a Bulgarian scientist and was named after the country
- The western world calls it Bulgarian yogurt but, in its homeland, it’s called sour milk (kiselo mlyako). Bulgarian yogurt’s uniqueness lies in the peculiarities in the climate of the region and the very specific way in which it is prepared
- Favourite Bulgarian dishes are: Banitsa (made by layering a combination of beaten eggs and bits of cheese amongst filo pastry, baked in the oven), Cold soup Tarator (made of fresh cucumbers, yoghurt and herbs) and Shopska Salata (made with chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, peppers, fresh parsley and grated Bulgarian cheese called sirene)
Society
- Families in Bulgaria are typically very traditional and very tight-knit. It is not unusual or strange for 20, 30, and sometimes even 40 year-old men and women to still live with their parents. Many households consist of an extended family
- Couples normally have one or two children, and it’s rare to see a Bulgarian family with more than three children (except for Roma families)
- Economically, Bulgaria is a developed industrial-agrarian country, and an attractive place for active tourism and sports lovers because of its incredible natural resources
- In the past 20 years, after the change from the communist time, Bulgaria has changed so fast that novelty constantly bombards Bulgarians and coexist with old undeveloped lifestyle in rural areas
Culture, beliefs and traditions
- On Christmas Eve there is a festive dinner made of only vegan dishes and they must be an odd number. This is related to the forty days of fasting which ends on Christmas day. On Christmas Day it’s time for feasting on an enormous dinner that includes a main meat dish, usually pork
- Exchanging gifts on Christmas morning is very common among Bulgarian families and Santa Claus is called Dyado Koleda
- Baba Marta (Grandmother March), on 1 March, is a pre-Christian holiday welcoming spring, on which people exchange martinitsas, good luck charms made from red and white threads
- Liberation Day (3rd March), celebrates the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878 from the Ottoman Rule
- Easter represents the end of the Lenten fast and pained boiled eggs are cracked after the midnight church service and over the next few days. There is a sweet Easter bread called Kozunak. Many people go to church during the week before Easter, which is called the Passion week and with the main service on Easter day. Afterwards the extended family gets together for a festive meal
- 24th May is the day of the Bulgarian Alphabet. The alphabet created by the Slavonic brothers Cyril and Methodius is called Glagolitsa. It was later simplified by their students, who named the new alphabet after Cyril: Cyrillic alphabet
- Bulgarian folk music is unique because of its irregular rhythms, complex harmonies, and the difficulty of the performance
- Bulgaria has a rich tradition of folk dances, called horá (singular horó) – line dances, danced in a common well-known pattern of steps in big winding chains of people
Communication
- The national language is Bulgarian, a South Slavic language of the Indo-European language family, which uses the Cyrillic script. The Turkish minorities speak Turkish and gypsies speak Romany
- Many young people in the big cities speak English
- In Bulgaria, gestures for indicating “yes” and “no” are essentially opposite from those common in most of the rest of Europe. A sideways shaking of the head indicates “Yes,” and a short upward and downward movement (nod) of the head indicates “No”
- Shaking someone’s hand is the most common form of greeting and you should address someone in a formal way unless you know them well
Education
- Students start school in Bulgaria when they are 7
- The Bulgarian school education system has a competency-based learning model
- Stage 1 (Primary Y1-4 ) – UK Yr 2-6
- Stage 2 and 3 (Basic Secondary Y5-7) – UK Yr 7-9
- Upper Secondary (Y8-12) – UK Yr 10-13
- For further information, please see our OMG on Bulgarian Education
UK differences to note
- In cities people mainly live in flats rather than houses
- In the summer, children have a long holiday of 8 to 12 weeks
- Pupils don’t wear uniforms at school
- The Bulgarian currency is still in Leva, not in Euros