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Bulgaria
Living in EuropeAccess to the culture of the host country/language coursesBulgaria

Culture & Language

Description

Country Overview

Location

Bulgaria is situated in Southeastern Europe in the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The Danube River separates the country from Romania. It borders with Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Turkey and Greece to the south. To the east Bulgaria borders with the Black Sea, which connects it with Russia, Ukraine and Georgia. The sea border is 378 km long.The capital of Bulgaria is Sofia.

Useful Information

Nature & Culture

The climate of the majority of Bulgaria is moderate continental. The average annual temperature in Bulgaria is 10,5 °C, and in summer - 22 °C. The winter temperatures range from -13 to 15 °C.

Bulgaria’s population is 7,973,671 people.The official language is Bulgarian and the official religion is Christianity, but the constitution respects other religions too.The currency unit in Bulgaria is the Bulgarian lev or BGN. 1 lev = 100 stotinki.

Bulgaria has a rich cultural heritage. You can find archaeological excavations in the central part of Sofia, Plovdiv, Nessebar, Sozopol, Varna, Vidin, Koprivshtitsa and other Bulgarian cities and villages.
Bulgaria has museums dedicated to history, nature, with numerous artifacts, art museums. Most museums are paid, but there are discounts for children, school and university students.
There are many theaters in Bulgaria and Sofia that have a full range of productions. Recently in cinema halls of Mall of Sofia theatrical performances are projected live from renowned London theaters. This initiative is by courtesy of British Council Sofia.
Cinemas in Bulgaria are usually in major shopping malls - Mall of Sofia, Mall Serdika, The Mall. Sofia has preserved some older cinema halls as Odeon cinema. International films are usually in their original language with subtitles. There is also the Sofia International Film Festival presenting smaller international film productions.

January 1 - New Years's Day

March 3 - Liberation Day, Liberation from Ottoman rule

Easter – (2 days, moveable) - Sunday and Monday set by Bulgarian Church

May 1 - Labour Day

May 6 - St. George's Day, Day of Bravery and the Bulgarian Army

24 May - Bulgarian Education and Culture, and Slavonic Literature Day

September 6 - Unification Day

September 22 - Independence Day

November 1 - Revival Leaders' Day

December 24 - Christmas Eve

December 25 and 26 December - Christmas Day

Language Courses

The Bulgarian language is one of the twelve living Slavic languages and is the earliest which we have written evidence about. It uses the Cyrillic Alphabet which consists of 30 letters. The Bulgarian language is the mother tongue of about 7 million Bulgarians living in the country and around 2 million living abroad in more than 70 countries. Bulgarian is one of the official languages of the EU. Studying the language may seem a serious challenge in the beginning but thanks to contemporary methods of teaching as well as the professionalism and dedication of the teachers, it can turn out to be entertaining and useful.

You can take your first Bulgarian language classes online even before arriving in the country and equip with online dictionary. Language training in Bulgarian language for foreigners is offered not only by public institutions but also by private companies and individuals. According to your preferences you can choose between individual classes or training in groups.

There are many private language schools in almost all the major cities of the country offering high quality Bulgarian language training. However, the university network offering language courses through its Departments of Foreign languages remains the most extensive in the country. On the Internet sites of the universities, you can find detailed information concerning course schedules, class size, prices, registration and contact information. You can aslo contact EURAXESS Centres and Contact points in Bulgaria and ask for information about Bulgarian language classes.