Bulgaria

Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. The capital and largest city is Sofia; other major cities are Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas. With a territory of 110.994 km², Bulgaria is Europe's 16th-largest country.

One of the earliest societies dates back to 6.500 BC. In the 6th to 3rd century BC the region was a battleground for different peoples; stability came when the Roman Empire conquered the region in 45. The Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire lost some of these territories to an invading Bulgar horde in the late 7th century. The Bulgars founded the First Bulgarian Empire in 681, which dominated most of the Balkans and significantly influenced Slavic cultures by developing the Cyrillic script. This state lasted until the early 11th century. A successful Bulgarian revolt in 1185 established a Second Bulgarian Empire. After numerous exhausting wars and feudal strife, the Second Bulgarian Empire disintegrated in 1396 and its territories fell under Ottoman rule for nearly five centuries.

The Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 resulted in the formation of the current Third Bulgarian State. Many ethnic Bulgarian populations were left outside its borders, which led to several conflicts with its neighbours and an alliance with Germany in both world wars. In 1946 Bulgaria became a one-party socialist state and part of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc. The ruling Communist Party gave up its monopoly on power after the revolutions of 1989 and allowed multi-party elections. Bulgaria then transitioned into a democracy and a market-based economy.

Since adopting a democratic constitution in 1991, the sovereign state has been a unitary parliamentary republic with a high degree of political, administrative, and economic centralization. The population of seven million lives mainly in Sofia and the capital cities of the 27 provinces. The population has declined since the late 1980s. Bulgaria is a member of the European Union, NATO, and the Council of Europe. Its market economy mostly relies on services, followed by industry - especially machine building and mining - and agriculture. Widespread corruption is a major socioeconomic issue; it ranked as the most corrupt country in the European Union for 2018.

During the Briefmarken-Messe in Essen in May 2017 I left stamped envelopes at almost every foreign postal administration hoping they would send them back when they arrived home. The envelope from Bulgaria arrived after twenty days. I was hoping for a nice cancellation, but I got a quick and almost unreadable postmark from Sofia. Still it was an envelope from Bulgaria for my collection.

Bulgarian Posts has a philately section on the website: bgpost.bg. It is possible to order stamps from 2012 to 2018 by sending in the order forms that are on the site.

Date sent: 11 May 2017

Date postmark: 23 May 2017

Date received: 31 May 2017

Number of days: 20

Envelope in collection: 129