Although this is far from the norm regarding Americans’ knowledge of geography, upon telling an older gentleman that I would be travelling to Bulgaria, he asked, “is that near where them ISIS people are fighting?”
This is not a big surprise, as Bulgaria is so rarely talked about back home in the states. Thus, I feel that I should create a small page to help Americans get to know Bulgaria slightly better.
Geography
Bulgaria, as most people correctly assume, is part of Eastern Europe and was a member of the Communist Bloc. Rather than being a frozen wasteland, Bulgaria can get quite hot, as I personally experienced in Sofia upon arrival (though it does have its blizzards too). It borders Turkey and Greece to the South, with Macedonia and Serbia on its Western flank, Romania to the North, and the Black Sea on the Eastern coast.
Bulgaria is home to the tallest mountains in Eastern Europe (and also the Balkan mountains, for which the area is named), with the Musala peak standing at 9,596 ft tall. The Westernmost part of the country is almost entirely mountains, but a good chunk consists of plains also.
Language
The Bulgarians have their own independent language: Bulgarian. It is a Slavic language, specifically in the South Slavic branch. It is extremely similar to Macedonian, and somewhat so to Serbo-Croatian. It is by no means mutually intelligible with languages of other Slavic branches, like Russian, but my Russian knowledge is helping me immensely in learning Bulgarian.
Some in the older generations speak some Russian, and I have had a few conversations in Russian here. However, generally younger people prefer to learn English and German.
Bulgarian is partially distinguished from other Slavic languages in its possession of a definite article (equivalent to “the” in English), along with some vocabulary from Turkish and Old Bulgar and preservation of certain features of Old Church Slavonic.
History
Under construction
Post-Communist Colby 