ary democracy within a unitary
constitutional republic
in Southeast Europe
. The country borders Romania
to the north, Serbia
and Macedonia
to the west, Greece
and Turkey
to the south, as well as the Black Sea
to the east. With a territory of 110994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi), it ranks as the 15th-largest country in Europe.
Prehistoric cultures began living on Bulgarian lands starting in the Neolithic period.
681 Bulgaria is founded as a Khanate on the south bank of the Danube after defeating the Byzantine armies of Emperor Constantine IV south of the Danube delta.
893 Simeon I of Bulgaria is crowned Emperor of the first Bulgarian empire
1230 Bulgarian tsar Ivan Asen II defeats Theodore of Epirus in the Battle of Klokotnitsa.
1873 Bulgarian revolutionary leader Vasil Levski is executed by hanging in Sofia by the Ottoman authorities.
1876 The April Uprising breaks out in Bulgaria.
1876 Hristo Botev, a national revolutionary of Bulgaria, is killed in Stara Planina
1878 Bulgaria regains its independence from Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of San Stefano; shortly after Congress of Berlin stripped its status to an autonomous state of the Ottoman Empire.
1885 Eastern Rumelia declares its union with Bulgaria. The Unification of Bulgaria is accomplished.
1908 The independence of Bulgaria is proclaimed.
1912 Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia declare war on the Ottoman Empire, joining Montenegro in the First Balkan War.