Bulgaria

Republic of Bulgaria

Cradle of the Cyrillic alphabet and of Slavic Christianity, Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026, twenty years after joining the Union.

Back to the map See the statistics Debates Related news

Heritage

Roman Thrace left Plovdiv, one of Europe's oldest continuously inhabited cities. It was at the school of Preslav in the ninth century that the disciples of Cyril and Methodius devised the Cyrillic alphabet: Bulgaria is thus the matrix of the script of much of Eastern Europe.

History

The first Bulgarian state was born in 681 south of the Danube. The baptism of Khan Boris in 864 and the welcome given to the disciples of Cyril and Methodius made Bulgaria the heartland of written Slavic culture.

After two medieval empires the country fell under Ottoman rule in 1396 for nearly five centuries. The nineteenth-century national revival rested on the monasteries, notably Rila, and led to autonomy in 1878.

The twentieth century was marked by two Balkan wars, alliance with Germany — but also the rescue of the 48,000 Jews of Bulgaria's pre-war territory in 1943 — then forty-five years of communist rule. Bulgaria joined NATO in 2004, the Union in 2007, the Schengen area in 2025 and the euro area in 2026.

Milestones

681 Middle Ages

First Bulgarian Empire

Byzantium recognises a Bulgarian state south of the Danube: Europe’s oldest still-named Slavic state.

864 Christianisation

Baptism of Khan Boris

Bulgaria adopts Byzantine Christianity and welcomes the disciples of Cyril and Methodius.

893 Christianisation

Birth of the Cyrillic alphabet

The school of Preslav devises the script that will serve Russian, Serbian and Ukrainian.

1396 Middle Ages

Ottoman conquest of Bulgaria

The fall of Vidin completes the conquest; five centuries of domination begin.

1878 Early modern period

Treaty of Berlin

An autonomous Bulgarian principality is reborn after the Russo-Turkish war.

1943 Contemporary period

Rescue of the Bulgarian Jews

Under pressure from the Orthodox Church and parliamentarians, deportation is cancelled.

2025 European construction took part

Schengen at 29

The area has twenty-nine members: twenty-five Union states and four EFTA neighbours. Two member states remain outside — Ireland, by choice, and Cyprus, which has yet to join.

2026 European construction

Euro adoption in Bulgaria

On 1 January the lev gives way to the euro: Bulgaria becomes the area’s 21st member.

Political landscape

Results of the June 2024 European election and their translation into European Parliament groups.

GERB-SDS — ГЕРБ — Съюз на демократичните сили 6
PP-DB — Продължаваме промяната — Демократична България 3
DPS — Движение за права и свободи 3
Vazrazhdane — Възраждане 3
BSP — Българска социалистическа партия 2

Distribution of European seats

Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) 6
Renew Europe Group 6
Europe of Sovereign Nations Group 3
Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament 2

Related news

All news →

Debates

Whole forum →

No discussion open yet.

The state in numbers

All the statistics →
Public debt, % of GDP 28.7 % 0.1 % GDP per head (EU = 100) 68.1 2.3 Government spending, % of GDP 39.2 % 0.3 % Total tax burden, % of GDP 30.6 % 0.3 % Prisoners per 100,000 people 84.4 1.3