GENERAL INFORMATION

Population 8,428,006 Capital Sofia (pop. 1,141,000) Regions Since 1999 Bulgaria consists of 28 regions (oblasti, singular - oblast), after having been subdivided into 9 provinces since 1987. All are named after the regional capital, with the national capital itself forming a separate region: Blagoevgrad Burgas Dobrich Gabrovo Haskovo Kardzhali Kyustendil Lovech Montana Pazardzhik Pernik Pleven Plovdiv Razgrad Ruse Shumen Silistra Sliven Smolyan Sofia Sofia Region Stara Zagora Targovishte Varna Veliko Tarnovo Vidin Vratsa Yambol

Language
Bulgarian.
English, German, French and Russian are spoken in the country's resorts, hotels and restaurants.

Religion
Eastern Orthodox

Alphabet
Cyrillic. Signs along international motorways, at airports and in resorts are also spelled in Latin letters.

State government
Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic.
President: Georgi Parvanov
Prime minister: Sergei Stanishev (2005)

Official holidays
January 1 - New Year
March 3 - Bulgaria's Liberation from Ottoman rule - the National Day
Easter - one week after the Catholic Easter
May 1 - Labour Day
May 6 - Bulgarian Army Day
May 24 - Day of Bulgarian Enlightenment and Culture and the Slav Script
September 6 - Bulgaria's Unification
September 22 - Independance Day
December 25-26 - Christmas

Internet domain:
.bg

International dialing code:
+359

Time Zone
Winter time: GMT +2 hours (October till March).
Summer time: GMT +3 hours (April till September)

Important Telephone Numbers
Police - 166
Ambulance - 150
Road assistance - 146

Medical Service
Free first aid and consultation in case of emergency

Currency Exchange
In banks and 24-hour change bureaux. The exchange rates are updated daily.

Credit Cards
Visa, MasterCard, JCB, Diners Club, American Express, Access, Airplus.
They can be used for payment of all standard services in hotels, restaurants, night clubs, shops, car rentals, plane tickets, etc.