Bulgaria
Mountains, the Black Sea, and the oldest state name in Europe
Bulgaria commands the eastern Balkans, sloping from the rose valleys and the Balkan Mountains down to a warm Black Sea coast of golden beaches and ancient port cities. It is the oldest country in Europe to keep its original name, founded in 681 and never renamed since. Home to about 6.7 million people, with Sofia nestled beneath the slopes of Vitosha, Bulgaria blends Thracian gold, Roman ruins, Byzantine churches, and Ottoman bridges into a landscape that feels older than almost anywhere else on the continent.
The Stara Planina, or Balkan range, runs east to west across the country's spine, while the Rila and Pirin massifs rise in the southwest to Musala, at 2,925 meters the highest peak in the entire Balkan Peninsula. The Danube forms the northern border with Romania, and the Maritsa drains the fertile Thracian plain. The Valley of the Roses near Kazanlak supplies much of the world's rose oil, and Bulgaria is a serious wine producer, with viticulture dating back to Thracian times.
The First Bulgarian Empire under Khan Asparuh and later Tsar Simeon the Great rivaled Byzantium, and it was in medieval Bulgaria that the Cyrillic alphabet took shape and spread across the Slavic world. Five centuries of Ottoman rule ended with liberation in 1878. After decades in the communist bloc, Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007 and adopted the euro in 2026. Orthodox Christianity, folk polyphony recognized by UNESCO, and a cuisine built on yogurt and grilled meats remain central to its identity.