Bulgaria

Located in Southeastern Europe, the nation of Bulgaria is formally known as the Republic of Bulgaria. On the Balkans' eastern flank, it is bordered to the north and west by Serbia and North Macedonia, to the south and east by the Black Sea, and to the north by Romania. Its capital is Skopje, which has a population of 1.3 million people. In terms of area, Bulgaria has a total land area of 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 square miles) and is the sixteenth-largest nation in Europe in terms of land area. Other important cities in Bulgaria include Plovdiv, Varna, and Burgas. Sofia is the country's capital and biggest city.

According to the Human Development Index, Bulgaria is a developing nation with an upper-middle-income economy that is ranked 56th. As a member of the European Single Market, its market economy is mostly focused on services, followed by industry—particularly machine manufacturing and mining—and agriculture. Large-scale corruption is a significant socioeconomic problem; in 2018, Bulgaria was rated as the least corrupt nation in the European Union. In addition, the nation is experiencing a demographic catastrophe, with its population declining on an annual basis since about 1990; it now has a population of around seven million people, down from a high of almost nine million in 1989. A founding member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Bulgaria has also served on the United Nations Security Council three times. Bulgaria is a member of the European Union, NATO, the Council of Europe, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.