Bulgaria

Bulgaria (pronounced /bʌlˈɡɛəriə/ ( listen); Bulgarian: България, Bălgariya, pronounced [bəlˈɡarija]), officially the Republic of Bulgaria (Република България, Republika Bălgariya, [rɛˈpublika bəlˈɡarija]), is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north (mostly along the River Danube), Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south. The Black Sea defines the extent of the country to the east.

Additional info

Žitný ostrov

Žitný ostrov or Rye Island, also called Veľký Žitný ostrov (Great Rye Island) (German: Große Schüttinsel, Hungarian: Csallóköz) to differentiate it from Malý Žitný ostrov, is a river island in southwestern Slovakia, extending from Bratislava to Komárno. It lies between the Danube and its tributary Little Danube and is a major part of the Danubian Flat. It is the biggest river island in Europe with an area of 1,886 km², being 84 km long and 15 – 30 km wide.

.eu

.eu is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the European Union (EU). Launched 7 December 2005, the domain is available for organisations and citizens in EU member states. The TLD is administered by EURid, a consortium consisting of the national ccTLD registry operators of Belgium, Sweden, Italy and the Czech Republic. Trademark owners were able to submit registrations through a sunrise period, in an effort to prevent cybersquatting. Full registration started on 7 April 2006.^{[citation needed]}

1896 Summer Olympics

The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first Olympic Games held in the Modern era. Ancient Greece was the birthplace of the Olympic Games, consequently Athens was perceived to be an appropriate choice to stage the inaugural modern Games. It was unanimously chosen as the host city during a congress organized by Pierre de Coubertin, a French pedagogue and historian, in Paris, on June 23, 1894. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was also established during this congress.

1950s

The 1950s was the decade that started on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. During the early 1950s in the United States manufacturing and home construction was on the rise as the American economy was on the upswing. The Korean War and the beginning of the Cold War created a politically conservative climate. The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States played out through the entire decade. The Red Scare, fear of communism, caused public Congressional hearings by both houses in Congress and Anti-Communism was the prevailing sentiment in the United States throughout the decade. Conformity and conservatism characterized the social mores of the time. The 1950s in the developed western world are generally considered both socially conservative and highly materialistic in nature.^{[citation needed]} The beginning of decolonization in Africa and Asia occurred in this decade and accelerated in the following decade of the 1960s.

1 E11 m²

To help compare orders of magnitude of different geographical regions we list here surface areas between 100,000 km² and 1,000,000 km². See also areas of other orders of magnitude.

Ada Kaleh

Ada Kaleh (Turkish for "Island Fortress", Serbian: Адакале) was a small island on the Danube populated by Turks that was submerged during the building of the Iron Gates hydro plant in 1970. The island was about 3 km downstream from Orşova and measured 1.75 by 0.4-0.5 km.

Adrianople

Edirne (ancient Hadrianopolis) is a city in Thrace, the westernmost part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1457, when Constantinople (Istanbul) became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne Province in Turkish Thrace. The city's estimated population in 2002 was 128,400, up from 119,298 in 2000. It has consulates of Bulgaria, Germany (Honorary), Greece, Romania (Honorary) and Slovakia (Honorary). Its sister cities are Haskovo and Yambol in Bulgaria and Alexandroupoli in Greece.

Afghanistan

The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in South-Central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia,^[5]^[6] South Asia,^[7]^[8] or the Middle East.^[9] It is bordered by Iran in the west, Pakistan in the south and east, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast.

Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² (11.7 million sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area.^[2] With a billion people (as of 2009, see table) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.72% of the World's human population. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Not counting the disputed territory of Western Sahara, there are 53 countries, including Madagascar and various island groups, associated with the continent.

Agriculture in Bulgaria

Prior to World War II, Agriculture in Bulgaria was the leading sector in the Bulgarian economy. In 1939 agriculture contributed 65 percent of NMP, and four out of every five Bulgarians were employed in agriculture. The importance and organization of Bulgarian agriculture changed drastically after the war, however. By 1958 the BCP had collectivized a high percentage of Bulgarian farms; in the next three decades the state used various forms of organization to improve productivity, but none succeeded. Meanwhile, private plots remained productive and often alleviated agricultural shortages during the Zhivkov era.

Airports

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport. An airport consists of at least one surface such as a runway, a helipad, or water for takeoffs and landings, and often includes buildings such as hangars and terminal buildings.

Albania

Albania

/ælˈbeɪniə/ (help·info) (Albanian: Shqipëri/Shqipëria, Gheg Albanian: Shqipnia or Shqypnia), officially the Republic of Albania (Albanian: Republika e Shqipërisë, pronounced [ɾɛpuˈblika ɛ ʃcipəˈɾiːs]), is a Mediterranean country in South Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo^[a] to the northeast, Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the west, and on the Ionian Sea to the southwest. It is less than 72 km (45 mi) from Italy, across the Strait of Otranto which links the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea.

Albena

Albena (Албена) is a major Black Sea resort in northeastern Bulgaria, situated 12 km from Balchik and 30 km from Varna. Albena is served by the international airport of Varna.

Alexander III of Russia

Alexander III Alexandrovich (10 March [O.S. 26 February] 1845 – 1 November [O.S. 20 October] 1894) (Russian: Александр III Александрович, Aleksandr III Aleksandrovich) reigned as Emperor of Russia from 13 March 1881 until his death in 1894. Unlike his father, liberal-leaning Alexander II, Alexander III is considered by historians to have been a repressive and reactionary tsar.^[1]

Alexander the Great

Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 BC), popularly known as Alexander the Great (Greek: Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος, Mégas Aléxandros), was a Greek^i[›] king (basileus) of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander received a classical Greek education under the tutorship of famed philosopher Aristotle, succeeded his father Philip II of Macedon to the throne in 336 BC after the King was assassinated, and died thirteen years later at the age of 32. Although both Alexander's reign and empire were short-lived, the cultural impact of his conquests lasted for centuries. Alexander is one of the most famous figures of antiquity, and is remembered for his tactical ability, his conquests, and for spreading Greek civilization into the East.

Alexander von Battenberg

Alexander Joseph of Battenberg (5 April 1857 – 23 October 1893) was the first prince (knyaz) of modern Bulgaria, reigning from 29 April 1879 to 7 September 1886.

Alpine climate

Alpine climate is the average weather (climate) for a region above the tree line. The climate becomes colder at high elevations—this characteristic is described by the lapse rate of air: air tends to get colder as it rises, since it expands. The dry adiabatic lapse rate is 10 °C per km of elevation or altitude. Therefore, moving up 100 meters on a mountain is roughly equivalent to moving 80 kilometers (45 miles or 0.75° of latitude) towards the pole.^[1] This relationship is only approximate, however, since local factors such as proximity to oceans can drastically modify the climate.

Aluminium

Aluminium (

ˌæljʊˈmɪniəm (help·info), al-yoo-MIN-ee-əm) or aluminum (

/əˈluːmɪnəm/ (help·info), ə-LOO-mi-nəm, see spelling below) is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances. Aluminium is the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust, and the third most abundant element therein, after oxygen and silicon. It makes up about 8% by weight of the Earth's solid surface. Aluminium is too reactive chemically to occur in nature as a free metal. Instead, it is found combined in over 270 different minerals.^[4] The chief source of aluminium is bauxite ore.

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. At the center of this time period is Classical Greece, which flourished during the 5th to 4th centuries, at first under Athenian leadership successfully repelling the military threat of Persian invasion. The Athenian Golden Age ends with the defeat of Athens at the hands of Sparta in the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC.

Andorra

Andorra

/ænˈdɒrə/ (help·info), officially the Principality of Andorra (Catalan: Principat d'Andorra), also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra,^[4] is a small country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of 468 km² (181 sq mi) and an estimated population of 84,484 in 2008. Its capital is Andorra la Vella. The official language is Catalan, although Spanish, French, and Portuguese are also commonly spoken.

Anise

Anise (Pimpinella anisum, also anís (stressed on the second syllable) and aniseed) is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. It is known for its flavor, which resembles liquorice, fennel and tarragon.

Antarctic Treaty

The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System or ATS, regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. For the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. The treaty has now been signed by 47 countries, and set aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, established freedom of scientific investigation and banned military activity on that continent. This was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War.

April uprising

The April Uprising (Bulgarian: Априлско въстание, Aprilsko vastanie) was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876, which indirectly resulted in the re-establishment of Bulgaria as an autonomous nation in 1878. During the uprising an estimated number of about a 1,000 Muslims were killed^[1] leading the regular Ottoman Army and irregular bashi-bazouk units to brutally crush the rebels, leading to a public outcry in Europe and the United States, with many famous intellectuals condemning the Ottoman atrocities and supporting the oppressed Bulgarian population.

Archon

Archon (Gr. ἄρχων, pl. ἄρχοντες) is a Greek word that means "ruler" or "lord", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem ἀρχ-, meaning "to rule", derived from the same root as monarch, hierarchy and anarchy.

Area

Area is a quantity expressing the two-dimensional size of a defined part of a surface, typically a region bounded by a closed curve. The term surface area refers to the total area of the exposed surface of a 3-dimensional solid, such as the sum of the areas of the exposed sides of a polyhedron. Area is an important invariant in the differential geometry of surfaces.^[1]

Argeş River

Argeş (Hungarian: Argyas) is a river of Southern Romania. It starts at the junction of headwaters Buda and Capra in the Făgăraş Mountains, in the Southern Carpathians and flows into the Danube at Olteniţa.

Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic (Spanish: República Argentina, pronounced [reˈpuβlika aɾxenˈtina]), is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico, Colombia and Spain are more populous.

Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (Russian: Вооружё́нные Си́лы Росси́йской Федера́ции Transliteration: Voruzhonnije Síly Rossíyskoj Federátsii) is the Ministry of Defense subordinated military of Russia, established after the break-up of the Soviet Union. On 7 May 1992 Boris Yeltsin signed a decree establishing the Russian Ministry of Defence and placing all Soviet Armed Forces troops on the territory of the RSFSR under Russian Federation control.^[1] The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces is the President of the Russian Federation (currently Dmitry Medvedev).

Armenia

Armenia

/ɑrˈmiːniə/ (help·info) (Armenian: Հայաստան, transliterated: Hayastan, IPA: [hɑjɑsˈtɑn]), officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն, Hayastani Hanrapetut’yun, [hɑjɑstɑˈni hɑnɾɑpɛtuˈtʰjun]), is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Situated at the juncture of Western Asia and Eastern Europe,^[8] it is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.

Art

Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, sculpture, and paintings. The meaning of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics.

Asen dynasty

The Asen dynasty (Bulgarian: Асеневци, Asenevtsi) were a dynasty of rulers of a medieval Bulgarian state, called in modern histography the Second Bulgarian Empire, between 1187 and 1280.

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area (or 29.9% of its land area) and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.

Asparukh of Bulgaria

Asparuh or Isperih (Bulgarian: Аспарух, Asparuh or Исперих, Isperih) was ruler of a Bulgar tribe in the second half of the 7th century and is credited with the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 680/681. He is the most famous Bulgar ruler. The accuracy of the Turkic title khan commonly applied to him and his successors is a subject of some dispute.

Association football

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball. It is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Atanasoff–Berry Computer

The Atanasoff–Berry Computer (ABC) was the first electronic digital computing device.^[1] Conceived in 1937, the machine was not programmable, being designed only to solve systems of linear equations. It was successfully tested in 1942. However, its intermediate result storage mechanism, a paper card writer/reader, was unreliable, and when Atanasoff left Iowa State University for World War II assignments, work on the machine was discontinued.^[2] The ABC pioneered important elements of modern computing, including binary arithmetic and electronic switching elements,^[3] but its special-purpose nature and lack of a changeable, stored program distinguish it from modern computers.

Australia

Australia (pronounced /əˈstreɪljə/ ə-STRAYL-yə or /ɒˈstreɪljə/ o-STRAYL-yə,^[7] or more formally as /ɔːˈstreɪliə/ aw-STRAY-lee-ə), officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent (the world's smallest),^[8]^[9] the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.^N4 Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia to the north-east, and New Zealand to the southeast.

Austria

Austria

/ˈɔːstriə/ (help·info) (German:

Österreich (help·info)), officially the Republic of Austria (German:

Republik Österreich), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people^[3] in Central Europe. It borders Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The territory of Austria covers 83,872 square kilometres (32,383 sq mi), and is influenced by a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,797 metres (12,457 ft).^[6] The majority of the population speaks German,^[7] which is also the country's official language.^[1] Other local official languages are Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene.^[6]

Authoritarianism

Authoritarianism describes a form of government characterized by an emphasis on the authority of state in a republic or union. It is a political system controlled by typically non-elected rulers who usually permit some degree of individual freedom.^[1] ^[2]

Autocephaly

History
Byzantine Empire
Nasrani
Crusades
Ecumenical council
Christianization of Bulgaria
Christianization of Kievan Rus'
East-West Schism
By region
Asian - Copts
Eastern Orthodox - Georgian - Ukrainian

Axis Powers

The Axis powers (German: Achsenmächte, Italian: Potenze dell'Asse, Japanese: 枢軸国 Suujikukoku, Bulgarian: "Сили от Оста"), also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, comprised the countries that were opposed to the Allies during World War II.^[1] The three major Axis powers—Germany, Japan, and Italy—were part of a military alliance on the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which officially founded the Axis powers. At their zenith, the Axis powers ruled empires that dominated large parts of Europe, Africa, East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, but World War II ended with their total defeat and dissolution. Like the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, and some nations entered and later left the Axis during the course of the war.^[2]

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan (pronounced /ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒɑːn/ (

listen); Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan), formally the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası), is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia,^[4] it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhichevan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, while having a short borderline with Turkey to the northwest. The Nagorno-Karabakh region in the southwest of Azerbaijan proper declared itself independent from Azerbaijan in 1991, but it is not recognized by any nation and considered a legal part of Azerbaijan.

Azov Sea

The Sea of Azov (Russian: Азо́вское мо́ре - Azovskoye more; Ukrainian: Азо́вське мо́ре - Azovs'ke more, Crimean Tatar: Azaq deñizi) is the world's shallowest sea, linked by the Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south. It is bounded on the north by Ukraine, on the east by Russia and on the west by the Crimean peninsula. The Don River flows into it.

BLACKSEAFOR

The Black Sea Naval Co-operation Task Group (BLACKSEAFOR), was created in early 2001 under the leadership of Turkey, with the participation of all other Black Sea littoral states, namely Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia and Georgia. The BLACKSEAFOR founding agreement was signed in Istanbul on 2 April 2001.

Baba Vida

Baba Vida (Bulgarian: Баба Вида) is a medieval fortress in Vidin in northwestern Bulgaria and the town's primary landmark. It consists of two fundamental walls and four towers and is said to be the only entirely preserved medieval castle in the country.

Bagpipe

Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of several varieties can be found in use throughout Europe, Northern Africa, the Persian Gulf, and the Caucasus.

Baja, Hungary

Baja (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈbɒjɒ]) is a city in Bács-Kiskun County, southern Hungary. It is the second largest city in the county, after the county seat at Kecskemét, and is home to around 37,000 people.

Balkan Mountains

The Balkan mountain range (Bulgarian and Serbian: Стара планина, Stara planina, "Old Mountain") is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan range runs 560 km from the Vrashka Chuka Peak on the border between Bulgaria and eastern Serbia eastward through central Bulgaria to Cape Emine on the Black Sea. The highest peaks of the Stara planina are in central Bulgaria. The highest peak is Botev (2,376 m), located in the Central Balkan National Park (established 1991). The mountain gives the name of the Balkan Peninsula. Stara Planina played an enormous role in the History of Bulgaria and the development of the Bulgarian nation and people.

Balkan Peninsula

The Balkans (often referred to as the Balkan Peninsula, although the Balkans is larger than the peninsula itself) is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains, which run through the centre of Bulgaria into eastern Serbia. The region has a combined area of 550,000 km² (212,000 sq mi) and a population of about 55 million people.

Balkan Wars

The term Balkan Wars refers to the two wars that took place in South-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913. The First Balkan War broke out on 8 October 1912 when Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia (see Balkan League), having large parts of their ethnic populations under Ottoman sovereignty, attacked the Ottoman Empire, terminating its five-century rule in the Balkans in a seven-month campaign resulting in the Treaty of London.

Balkan mountains

Balkan sprachbund

The Balkan sprachbund or linguistic area is the ensemble of areal features—similarity in grammar, syntax, vocabulary and phonology—among languages of the Balkans, which belong to various branches of Indo-European, such as Slavic, Greek, Romance and Albanian. While they share little vocabulary, their grammars also have similarities; for example they have similar case systems and have all become more analytic, although to differing degrees.

Balkanization

Balkanization or balkanisation is a geopolitical term originally used to describe the process of fragmentation or division of a region or state into smaller regions or states that are often hostile or non-cooperative with each other.^[1]^[2]

Balkans

Balta Ialomiţei

Balta Ialomiţei is an island on the Danube, located in Ialomiţa County and Călăraşi County, Romania. It is surrounded by two branches of the Danube, named "Borcea" and "Dunărea Veche". Originally, the island was covered with marshes, woods, lakes and ponds, but some of the land was reclaimed for agriculture. Occasionally, some of these regions are still flooded. The A2 freeway passes through this island.

Banitsa

Banitsa (Bulgarian: Баница, also transliterated as banica and banitza) is a traditional Bulgarian pastry prepared by layering a mixture of whisked eggs and pieces of sirene between filo pastry and then baking it in an oven.

Bansko

Bansko (Bulgarian: Банско) is a town and ski resort in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of Pirin at an altitude of 925 m above sea level. It is considered to be the most developed Ski and Winter Resort in Eastern Europe.^{[citation needed]}

Basil II

Basil II, later surnamed the Bulgar-slayer (Greek: Βασίλειος Β΄ Βουλγαροκτόνος, Basileios II Boulgaroktonos, 958 – December 15, 1025), known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.

Battle of Adrianople (1205)

The Battle of Adrianople occurred on April 14, 1205 between Bulgarians under Tsar Kaloyan of Bulgaria, and Crusaders under Baldwin I. It was won by the Bulgarians after a skillful ambush using the help of their Cuman and Greek allies. Around 300 knights were killed, including Louis of Blois, Duke of Nicaea and Baldwin was captured, blinded, and later died in captivity. The Bulgarians then overran much of Thrace and Macedonia. Baldwin was succeeded by his younger brother, Henry of Flanders, who took the throne on August 20, 1206.