Bulgaria
Bulgaria: population and cities
Population
According to
Countryaah website, Bulgaria has about 7.5 million residents.
Ethnic composition
In Bulgaria there are 84% Bulgarians, 8% Turks, 5% Roma and 3% residents of
other ethnic backgrounds.
Religious affiliation
In Bulgaria there are 86% Orthodox Christians, 13% Muslims, 1% other believers.
National language
Bulgarian is spoken in Bulgaria and Turkish is spoken as a minority language.
Capital, other cities
The capital of Bulgaria is Sofia with a population of around 1.2 million.
Other cities are:
- Plovdiv (Plovdiv) with around 345,000 residents. The
second largest city in Bulgaria in terms of population became the European
Capital of Culture in 2019
- Varna with around 314,500 residents
- Burgas with around 193,300 residents
- Ruse with around 162,000 residents
- Stara Zagora with around 144,000 residents
- Pleven with around 122,000 residents
- Sliven with around 100,600 residents
- Dobrich with around 100,400 residents
- Šumen with around 89,000 residents
- Pernik with around 86,000 residents
- Yambol with around 83,000 residents
- Khaskovo with around 81,000 residents
Bulgaria: geography, map
National borders
Defined by DigoPaul, Bulgaria has a common border with a total of 1,808 km in length with a total
of five countries:
- Greece with a length of around 494 km,
- Macedonia with a length of around 148 km,
- Romania with a length of around 608 km,
- Serbia and Montenegro with a length of around 318 km,
- as well as Turkey with a length of around 240 km.
Bulgaria also has a coast to the Black Sea with a length of around 378 km.
Area and land use
Bulgaria covers a total area of 110,099 km².
Thereof:
- Forest
Around 35% of the country is forested.
- Meadow, pasture land
Around 18% of the land is used as meadow or pasture land.
- Arable land and fields
Around 37% of the land is used as arable land or fields.
- Swamp
The estuary of the Kamchia just before the Black Sea is a large, unspoilt
swamp area that is under nature protection.
- Mountains
The Balkan Mountains are long, narrow, folded mountains that run through the
country from west to east and include several differently named mountain
ranges.
Tidal range in Burgas
In Burgas the mean tidal range is only a few decimeters. (For a detailed
explanation of ebb and flow, see Tides, Ebb and Flow).
Compare
The world's highest tidal range can be found in the Bay of Fundy in
Canada, where it is up to 16 m, and at spring tide even over 20 m. The Bay of
Fundy is located on the Atlantic between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick
and Nova Scotia, which is called Nova Scotia in German and whose capital is
Halifax. On the German North Sea coast it varies between 1 m and 3 m. In the
western Baltic Sea, on the other hand, the tidal range is only 0.3 m, while it
is barely noticeable in the eastern Baltic Sea.
Longitude and latitude
Bulgaria extends over the following geographical latitude (abbreviation Δφ)
and geographical longitude (abbreviation Δλ):
| Δφ = from around 41 ° to 44 ° north latitude
Δλ = from around 22 ° to 28 ° east longitude |
You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and
Latitude.
Legal time
For Bulgaria, the following value applies to Central European Time (CET),
i.e. the time without summer time. A minus sign means that it is earlier there,
a plus sign that it is later than CET:
Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones,
time.
Highest level of the sun in Sofia
Sofia lies at a northern latitude of around φ = 43 °.
If the sun is at the tropic, i.e. at δ = 23.5 °, summer starts in Sofia, June
21st. Then, for the highest position of the sun at noon, according to Eq. 1 (see
position of the sun):
43 ° = (90 ° - h) + 23.5 °
so:
At 70.5 °, the sun in Sofia has the highest level of the entire year above
the horizon (more precisely: above the horizon).
mountains
Musala
The highest mountain in the country is the Musala with a height of
2,925 m.
Other high mountains are:
- Vihren with a height of 2,915 m
- Dimitrov with a height of 2,902 m
- Poleszhan with an altitude of 2,850 m
- Vitosha with a height of 2,290 m
Rivers
Danube
The longest river in the country is the Danube with a total length of around
2,888 km and a "national share" of around 470 km.
The two rivers Brigach and Breg flow together near Donaueschingen in the Black
Forest in Germany and from there they form the Danube. At 48 km, the Breg is the
longer of the two source rivers and rises at an altitude of 1,078 m near the
Martinskapelle near Furtwangen in the southern Black Forest. From here to the
mouth of the Danube in the Black Sea, its length is 2,888 km. The second source
river, the Brigach, has its source in the Brigach Valley near St. Gallen, also
in the southern Black Forest. It is 42.7 km long to the confluence with the
Breg.
Other rivers in the country are:
- Iskur with a length of around 368 km
- Tundja with a length of around 350 km
- Maritsa with a length of around 322 km
- Ossum with a length of around 314 km
- as well as the goiter with a length of around 290 km
Lakes
Burgaser See
The country includes numerous smaller and larger lakes. The largest
natural lake is the Burgaser lake with an area of about 28 km².
Iskar Reservoir
The largest reservoir is the Iskar Reservoir with an area of 30 km².
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