Curious Facts

Bulgaria is one of the oldest European countries and is the only one that hasn’t changed its nam? ever since it was founded.

– Bulgarians have and old saying:
‘When God created the Earth and gave all goods of nature to
different countries, some took the beautiful mountains, some
took the generous lands, and others the azure coasts and seas.
And when finally it was Bulgaria’s turn everything had already
been given and there was nothing left. So, God took a piece of
paradise and gave it to Bulgaria.’

– A name day, or day of the Saint, is celebrated by those who bear the name of, or one similar to, a Saint. Name days are celebrated by most Bulgarians, sometimes even more than birthdays!

– Many Bulgarians shake their heads for ‘yes’ and nod for ‘no’.

– Bulgaria’s national instrument is the bagpipe (‘gaida’).

– The famous Bulgarian rose-oil, produced in the region of Kazanlak, is a component of French and of other world-famous perfumes.

– According to MENSA International, Bulgaria ranks 2nd in the world in Mensa IQ test-scores and its students rate second in the world in SAT scores. Also, international MENSA IQ testing completed in 2004 identified as the world’s smartest woman (and one of the smartest people in the world) Daniela Simidchieva of Bulgaria, who has an IQ of almost 200.

– Lactobacillus delbrueckii subspecies bulgaricus (until 1984 known as Lactobacillus bulgaricus), the bacterium that is responsible for giving Bulgarian yoghurt its unique flavour and consistency, can only be found naturally in Bulgarian air (although it can, and is, grown artificially in many other locations).

– The last lion in Bulgarian lands was killed during the campaign of the Persian king Xerxes (as evidenced by Xenophon). The largest bear in Europe fell victim to man in 1936, in the neighbourhood of Borovets, a resort in the Rila Mountains.

– The ‘Voyager I’ spacecraft, launched in the 1970s on a voyage to meet and communicate with other planets, carried a laser disc of ten songs believed to be representative of Earth. One of these songs was the Bulgarian song Izlel e Deliu Haidutin from the Rhodopes region (right).

– Although not necessarily the most popular, Bulgaria is the second largest exporter of bottled wine in the world, second only to France and it has four times the area, planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, of California. It appears to be the fastest growing new-comer on the market.

History

– The Bulgarians were the first people to use the Cyrillic alphabet immediately after its inception in the 9th century.
The Cyrillic and the Glagolitic alphabets are the two ancient Slavic types of writing. The Glagolitic alphabet was invented, according to manuscripts, by St. Cyril (a Byzantine missionary) together with his brother St. Methodius (826-884), who intended to convert Slavs to Christianity and decided to transcribe the Bible into Slavic. Their work was then carried on by their students, who created the Cyrillic alphabet in the second half of the 9th century. The alphabet has spread to other countries such as Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Mongolia, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and the Ukraine.
Some 260 million people around the world today use Cyrillic, 224 million of them in Europe and 60 million in Central Asian countries.

– The ancient Bulgarians knew the basic laws of motion of the
planets and the Earth around the Sun perfectly, and because of that
they possess the most impeccable calendar ever created.
The ancient Bulgarian calendar is based on observations of Jupiter
and the Sun and is more precise than the modern Western
(Gregorian) calendar we use today.

– Bulgaria and Denmark were the only European countries to save their Jews during the Holocaust.

– Bulgaria is one of only a few countries that have never had slaves.

– The oldest golden treasure in the world was found in Bulgaria (more than 3000 gold objects dating back 6000 years).

– Bulgaria ranks third in Europe only after Greece and Italy for the number of its valuable archaeological monuments.