Bulgaria

Bulgaria  is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia andMacedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. Organised Prehistoric cultures began developing on Bulgarian lands during theNeolithic period. Its ancient history saw the presence of the Thracians, and later theGreeks and Romans. The emergence of a unified Bulgarian state dates back to the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 681 CE, which dominated most of theBalkans and functioned as a cultural hub for Slavic peoples during the Middle Ages. With the downfall of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1396, its territories came underOttoman rule for nearly five centuries. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 led to the formation of the Third Bulgarian State. The following years saw several conflicts with its neighbours, which prompted Bulgaria to align with Germany in both World Wars.  In 1946 it became a single-party Socialist state as part of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc. In1989 the ruling Communist Party allowed multi-party elections, which subsequently led to Bulgaria’s transition into a democracy and a market-based economy. The country’s current political structure dates to the adoption of a democratic constitution in 1991. Bulgaria is a unitary parliamentary republic with a high degree of political, administrative, and economic centralisation. It is a member of the European Union, NATO, and the Council of Europe; a founding state of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE); and has taken a seat at the UN Security Council three times.