Portal:Bulgaria

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Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey to the south, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, and Romania across the Danube river to the north. It covers a territory of 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi) and is the tenth largest within the European Union and the sixteenth-largest country in Europe by area. Sofia is the nation's capital and largest city; other major cities include Plovdiv, Varna, and Burgas.

Since adopting a democratic constitution in 1991, Bulgaria has been a parliamentary republic composed of 28 provinces, with a high degree of political, administrative, and economic centralisation. Its high-income economy is part of the European Single Market and is largely based on services, followed by manufacturing, mining, and agriculture. Bulgaria has been influenced by its role as a transit country for natural gas and oil pipelines, as well as its strategic location on the Black Sea. Its foreign relations have been shaped by its geographical location and its modern membership; Bulgaria is a member state of the European Union, in which it is a member of the Schengen Area and the eurozone, and also of NATO, as well as various regional suborganizations such as the Bucharest Nine. (Full article...)

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To farmers of eastern Europe, the ala was a demon who led hail and thunderstorms over their fields, ruining their crops.

An ala or hala (plural: ali/ale or hali) is a female mythological creature recorded in the folklore of Bulgarians, Macedonians, and Serbs. Ale are considered demons of bad weather whose main purpose is to lead hail-producing thunderclouds in the direction of fields, vineyards, or orchards to destroy the crops, or loot and take them away. Extremely voracious, ale particularly like to eat children, though their gluttony is not limited to Earth. It is believed they sometimes try devouring the Sun or the Moon, causing eclipses, and that it would mean the end of the world should they succeed. When people encounter an ala, their mental or physical health, or even life, are in peril; however, her favor can be gained by approaching her with respect and trust. Being in a good relationship with an ala is very beneficial, because she makes her favorites rich and saves their lives in times of trouble.

The appearance of an ala is diversely and often vaguely described in folklore. A given ala may look like a black wind, a gigantic creature of indistinct form, a huge-mouthed, humanlike, or snakelike monster, a dragoness, or a raven. An ala may also assume various human or animal shapes, and can even possess a person's body. It is believed that the diversity of appearances described is due to the ala's being a synthesis of a Slavic demon of bad weather and a similar demon of the central Balkans pre-Slavic population. In folk tales with a humanlike ala, her personality is similar to that of the Russian Baba Yaga. Ale are said to live in the clouds, or in a lake, spring, hidden remote place, forest, inhospitable mountain, cave, or gigantic tree. While ale are usually hostile towards humans, they do have other powerful enemies that can defeat them, like dragons. In Christianized tales, St. Elijah takes the dragons' role, but in some cases the saint and the dragons fight ale together. Eagles are also regarded as defenders against ale, chasing them away from fields and thus preventing them from bringing hail clouds overhead. (Full article...)

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that Swiss national Charles Champaud represented Bulgaria at the 1896 Summer Olympics?
... that during the 1899–1900 peasant unrest in Bulgaria, some troops refused orders to fire on the protesters?
... that Boyan the Mage, the son of a Bulgarian emperor, was claimed to shapeshift into wolf form?
... that Ferdinand I of Bulgaria once described historian Dimitar Agura as having "the eyes, gaze and head of a cat"?
... that basketball player Charel Allen was a five-time Bulgarian Cup champion despite knowing only a few words of Bulgarian?
... that Will Wood conducted a Bulgarian choir via Zoom for "White Noise"?

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Gallery

Image 1A beach in Bulgaria.
Image 2Varna lake is a salt lake near Black sea.
Image 3Razgrad is a city in East Bulgaria.
Image 4Rila is a mountain in West Bulgaria
Image 5Sofia is the biggest city in Bulgaria.
Image 6Maritsa is a river in South Bulgaria.
Image 7Danube river in Bulgaria

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Credit: Luca

The Belogradchik Rocks (Bulgarian: Белоградчишки скали, Belogradchishki skali) is a group of bizarre sandstone and limestone rock formations, reaching up to 200 m in height. The rocks were declared a natural landmark in 1949.

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More did You Know?

...that Lady Strangford (pictured) is honoured in Bulgaria for the work she did following the Batak massacre?
...that the Samara flag, presented as a gift from Russia to the Bulgarian volunteers in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, is the only flag awarded a Bulgarian Medal for Bravery?
...that the bulk of Bulgarians in Hungary descend from gardeners and other professionals who settled in the country prior to World War I?
...that although it was not particularly well-known in Bulgaria until the late 19th century, today Bulgarian beer is one of the country's most popular alcoholic beverages?