Eastern Europe · BGR

Bulgaria

The story · 12 chapters

How it was drawn

Thracian, Roman and Byzantine land where two medieval Bulgarian empires fought Byzantium, then five Ottoman centuries, rebirth in 1878 and six decades of wars over its borders.

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Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Bulgaria fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Achaemenid Empire513 BC to 479 BC
Darius I crossed Thrace around 513 BC on his campaign against the Scythians and left the coast under Persian control, until the Greek victories of 480 and 479 BC forced Persia out of Europe.
Kingdom of Macedon342 BC to 323 BC
Philip II conquered the Odrysian kingdom in 342 to 340 BC and founded Philippopolis, today's Plovdiv. Alexander crushed the Triballi north of the Balkan mountains in 335 BC before invading Persia.
Roman Empire29 BC to 46
Marcus Crassus conquered the tribes of Moesia in 29 to 28 BC. The Thracian kingdom survived as a client state until Emperor Claudius annexed it as a province in AD 46.
Byzantine Empire680 to 1018
Bulgars defeated Byzantium at Ongal in 680. Khan Krum killed Emperor Nikephoros I in 811, Simeon won at Achelous in 917, but Basil II won at Kleidion in 1014 and conquered Bulgaria by 1018.
Kievan Rus'968 to 971
Prince Sviatoslav of Kyiv invaded in 968, took the capital Preslav and planned to settle on the Danube, until Byzantine armies besieged and defeated him at Dorostolon in 971.
Latin Empire1204 to 1230
After the crusaders took Constantinople, Tsar Kaloyan crushed them at Adrianople in 1205 and captured Emperor Baldwin I, who died in Bulgarian captivity.
Ottoman Empire1371 to 1913
Ottoman victory at the Maritsa in 1371 opened Bulgaria, conquered by 1396. Five centuries later the April Uprising and Russian war ended their rule; in 1912 to 1913 Bulgaria took and lost Adrianople.
Kingdom of Serbia1885 to 1918
Serbia attacked in 1885 and was beaten at Slivnitsa. The two allies of 1912 fell out over Macedonia and fought in 1913, then again in the First World War.
Kingdom of Greece1913 to 1944
Greece fought Bulgaria for Macedonia and Thrace in 1913, took Western Thrace in 1919, clashed briefly at Petrich in 1925, and suffered Bulgarian occupation of its northeast from 1941 to 1944.
Kingdom of Romania1913 to 1940
Romania invaded in 1913 and took Southern Dobruja. Bulgarian and German troops beat it at Tutrakan in 1916, but the land went back to Romania in 1919, until the Treaty of Craiova returned it in 1940.
Soviet Union1944
The Soviet Union declared war on 5 September 1944 and its troops crossed the Danube days later. A coup on 9 September brought the communist-led Fatherland Front to power.
North MacedoniaSince 2020Still open
Bulgaria, which sees the Macedonian language and much of its history as Bulgarian, vetoed North Macedonia's EU talks in 2020. A 2022 compromise requires Skopje to name Bulgarians in its constitution, which it has not done.

Today

Bulgaria now

The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century, the Ottoman Turks overran the country. Northern Bulgaria attained autonomy in 1878, and all of Bulgaria became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1908.

Capital: Sofia
Government: parliamentary republic
Head of government: Rumen Radev
Head of state: Iliana Iotova
Languages: Bulgarian
Area: 111,000 km²

Through time

Then and now

Population6.8 million2023 · 7.2 million in 1950
Life expectancy75.6 years2023 · 61.5 years in 1950
GDP per person$20,5922022 · $2,632 in 1950
Living in cities74%2025 · 27% in 1950
Literacy98%2011 · 78% in 1950
Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
Military alliancesNATO2024 · None of these in 1950
Military spending2.0% of GDP2025
War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Close partners

United States
France
Germany

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Bulgaria fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Achaemenid Empire513 BC to 479 BC

Darius I crossed Thrace around 513 BC on his campaign against the Scythians and left the coast under Persian control, until the Greek victories of 480 and 479 BC forced Persia out of Europe.

Kingdom of Macedon342 BC to 323 BC

Philip II conquered the Odrysian kingdom in 342 to 340 BC and founded Philippopolis, today's Plovdiv. Alexander crushed the Triballi north of the Balkan mountains in 335 BC before invading Persia.

Roman Empire29 BC to 46

Marcus Crassus conquered the tribes of Moesia in 29 to 28 BC. The Thracian kingdom survived as a client state until Emperor Claudius annexed it as a province in AD 46.

Byzantine Empire680 to 1018

Bulgars defeated Byzantium at Ongal in 680. Khan Krum killed Emperor Nikephoros I in 811, Simeon won at Achelous in 917, but Basil II won at Kleidion in 1014 and conquered Bulgaria by 1018.

Kievan Rus'968 to 971

Prince Sviatoslav of Kyiv invaded in 968, took the capital Preslav and planned to settle on the Danube, until Byzantine armies besieged and defeated him at Dorostolon in 971.

Latin Empire1204 to 1230

After the crusaders took Constantinople, Tsar Kaloyan crushed them at Adrianople in 1205 and captured Emperor Baldwin I, who died in Bulgarian captivity.

Ottoman Empire1371 to 1913

Ottoman victory at the Maritsa in 1371 opened Bulgaria, conquered by 1396. Five centuries later the April Uprising and Russian war ended their rule; in 1912 to 1913 Bulgaria took and lost Adrianople.

Kingdom of Serbia1885 to 1918

Serbia attacked in 1885 and was beaten at Slivnitsa. The two allies of 1912 fell out over Macedonia and fought in 1913, then again in the First World War.

Kingdom of Greece1913 to 1944

Greece fought Bulgaria for Macedonia and Thrace in 1913, took Western Thrace in 1919, clashed briefly at Petrich in 1925, and suffered Bulgarian occupation of its northeast from 1941 to 1944.

Kingdom of Romania1913 to 1940

Romania invaded in 1913 and took Southern Dobruja. Bulgarian and German troops beat it at Tutrakan in 1916, but the land went back to Romania in 1919, until the Treaty of Craiova returned it in 1940.

Soviet Union1944

The Soviet Union declared war on 5 September 1944 and its troops crossed the Danube days later. A coup on 9 September brought the communist-led Fatherland Front to power.

North MacedoniaSince 2020Still open

Bulgaria, which sees the Macedonian language and much of its history as Bulgarian, vetoed North Macedonia's EU talks in 2020. A 2022 compromise requires Skopje to name Bulgarians in its constitution, which it has not done.

Bulgaria now

Capital

Sofia

Government

parliamentary republic

Head of government

Rumen Radev

Head of state

Iliana Iotova

Languages

Bulgarian

Area

111,000 km²

Then and now

Population6.8 million2023 · 7.2 million in 1950

Life expectancy75.6 years2023 · 61.5 years in 1950

GDP per person$20,5922022 · $2,632 in 1950

Living in cities74%2025 · 27% in 1950

Literacy98%2011 · 78% in 1950

Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950

Military alliancesNATO2024 · None of these in 1950

Military spending2.0% of GDP2025

War deathsNone2025