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Country, southeastern Europe. Area: 42,858 sq mi (111,002 sq km). Population: (2009 est.) 7,584,000. Capital: Sofia
. Bulgarians make up the great majority of the population; smaller ethnic groups include Turks, Roma (Gypsies), and Macedonians. Languages: Bulgarian (official), regional dialects. Religions: Christianity (predominantly Eastern Orthodox; also other Christians); also Islam. Currency: lev. Three major regions define the landscape. The northernmost is the Danubian Plain, a fertile area occupying one-third of the country. Immediately south lie the Balkan Mountains
(Stara Planina). In the southwest and south lie the Rhodope Mountains, with the country's highest point, Musala Peak, rising 9,596 ft (2,925 m). Smaller than the three major regions, Bulgaria's Black Sea coast is a popular eastern European resort area. Major drainage systems include the Black
seas. Bulgaria had a planned economy modeled on the Soviet system (1946–89). Since 1991 the noncommunist government has privatized some sectors of the economy, including agriculture. Bulgaria is a unitary multiparty republic with one legislative body; its head of state is the president, and its head of government is the prime minister. Evidence of human habitation dates from prehistoric times. Thracians were the first recorded inhabitants, dating from c.
3500 BCE, and their first state dates from about the 5th century BCE. The area was subdued by the Romans, who divided it into the provinces of Moesia
. In the 7th century CE the Bulgars took the region south of the Danube River. The Byzantine Empire in 681 formally recognized Bulgar control over the area between the Balkans and the Danube, though it would again dominate Bulgaria from the early 11th century to the late 12th century. Late in the 14th century Bulgaria fell to the Ottoman Turks and again lost its independence. At the end of the Russo-Turkish War
(1877–78), Bulgaria rebelled. The ensuing Treaty of San Stefano
was unacceptable to the great powers, and the Congress of Berlin
(1878) resulted. In 1908 the Bulgarian ruler, Ferdinand
, declared Bulgaria's independence. After its involvement in the Balkan Wars
(1912–13), Bulgaria lost territory. It sided with the Central Powers in World War I and with Germany in World War II. A communist coalition seized power in 1944, and in 1946 a people's republic was declared. With other eastern European countries in the late 1980s, Bulgaria experienced political unrest; its communist leader resigned in 1989. A new constitution that proclaimed a republic was implemented in 1991. Economic turmoil followed Bulgaria into the 21st century as it sought political stability; it joined NATO in 2004.