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history of Bulgaria: Quick Facts

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Photos

Flag of Bulgaria with three horizontal stripes: white on top, green in the middle, and red on the bottom.
Map of Europe highlighting the region of Thrace in orange, spanning parts of southeastern Bulgaria, northeastern Greece, and northwestern Turkey near the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea. Surrounding countries and major bodies of water are labeled for geographic context.
Political map of Bulgaria showing international boundaries, major cities, and neighboring countries including Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece, and Turkey. The map highlights Bulgaria's location along the Black Sea and includes a small locator map in the bottom right corner for regional context.
This map shows the territorial expansion of the Ottoman Empire from 1300 to its greatest extent in 1683-99, highlighting different periods under rulers such as Mehmed II, Selim I, and Süleyman the Magnificent, and marking key cities, seas, and geographical boundaries in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Map showing the gradual dissolution of the Ottoman Empire from 1807 to 1924, with shaded regions indicating the empire's boundaries in 1807 and successive territorial losses through 1924. The map covers southeastern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, labeling modern countries and major cities, and highlights the shrinking territory that became Turkey by 1924.
Balkan Wars
A long line of Bulgarian soldiers in uniform with rifles stand along a city street curb, with trees and buildings in the background, circa World War I.
Women hand bread and other goods to smiling German soldiers with rifles as they march through a village near Sofia, Bulgaria, during World War II.
World map highlighting NATO member countries in dark blue, Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council countries in light blue, NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue partners in purple, Istanbul Cooperation Initiative partners in pink, and global partners in teal. Brussels, Belgium, is marked as NATO headquarters. A timeline below the map shows the years each member joined NATO from 1949 to 2024.
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