Bulgaria a state in Southeastern Europe, borders five other countries;Romania to the north (mostly along the Danube), Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south. It is bordered by the Black Sea to the east. Bulgaria comprises the classical regions of Thrace, Moesia, and Macedonia and has a civilized history spanning more than 6600 years. It is the sovereign successor of a powerful European medieval empire, the First Bulgarian Empire, which at times covered most of the Balkans and spread its culture and literature among the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe. Centuries later, during the decline of the Second Bulgarian Empire, the country fell under five centuries of Ottoman rule. Bulgaria was re‐established as a constitutional monarchy in 1878, also known as the birth of the Third Bulgarian Empire. After World War II, Bulgaria became a communist state and part of the Eastern Bloc. Today, Bulgaria functions as a democratic, unitary, constitutional republic, a member of the European Union and of NATO. It has a population of approximately 7.7 million, with Sofia as its capital and largest city. Bulgaria joined NATO on March 29, 2004 and signed the Treaty of Accession on 25 April 2005. It became a full member of the European Union on 1 January 2007. The country had joined the United Nations in 1955, and became a founding member of OSCE in 1995. A member of the European Union since 2007, Bulgaria has a rapidly growing, technologically developed economy. The country boasts the second‐highest standard‐of‐living in Southeastern Europe in terms of GDP per capita. Inflation is well under control; unemployment stands lower than the average for the European Union and is steadily declining. Bulgaria offers excellent conditions for high‐tech and telecommunication industries and services with its strategic location, highly‐qualified workforce, macroeconomic stability, growing domestic market and well‐educated specialists due to country's traditionally strong educational system, with one of the highest rankings of youth mathematicians and informaticians in the world. For these reasons some multinational companies chose to build their regional offices and headquarters in Bulgaria — even before Bulgaria joined the EU. To date, the most notable is Hewlett‐Packard, which built its Global Service Centre for Europe, the Middle East and Africa in Sofia.

Bulgaria occupies a unique and strategically important geographic location. Since ancient times, thecountry has served as a major crossroads between Europe, Asia and Africa. Five of the ten Trans European corridors run through its territory.