Bulgaria

Where the name comes from

Bulgaria is named after the Bulgars, steppe peoples who founded a Balkan state together with Slavs; their name’s meaning is disputed.

First people

Thracians lived here in ancient times, and the gold of the Varna Necropolis, about 6,500 years old, is among the oldest worked gold ever found.¹

Known for

The Cyrillic alphabet developed in the First Bulgarian Empire in the late 800s and later became the script of many languages far beyond Bulgaria.²

Outside contact

The Ottomans ended the medieval kingdom in 1396 and ruled for nearly five centuries.³

The modern country

Bulgaria gained self-rule in 1878 and full independence in 1908.³