Evidence, including pottery shards, a fireplace and flint tools, of ancient Bulgar Bronze Age civilization dating back to at least 2700 BC (and possibly several thousand years earlier) exists in sites such as Magura Cave in the Stara Planina. Thracian tribes have left wall carvings and cave paintings, made with bat guano, which portray people hunting and dancing as well as
creatures curiously resembling giraffes and kangaroos.
Long a crossroads of civilizations (archaeological finds date back to 4600 B.C.), Danube Bulgaria (Bulgaria of present) was first recognized as an independent state in AD 681 and is among the countries in Europe, which survived and kept their original name from the longest time ago. Bulgarian Orthodox Christianity, which became a hallmark of national identity, was
established in the 9th century. Bulgaria was ruled by the Byzantine Empire from 1018 to 1185 and the Ottoman Empire from 1396 to 1878. In 1879, Bulgaria adopted a democratic constitution and invited a German nobleman, Alexander of Battenberg, to be prince.
The present-day Republic of Bulgaria is situated in South-eastern Europe, to the right of the lower reaches of the Danube River. Her Black Sea coastline is famous for its resorts. The distinguishing geographic feature of the Balkan Peninsula - the Balkan Range (the Haemus, the Balkan) - stretches within its borders. The mountain massifs the Balkan Range, Sredna Gora, Strandja, the Rhodopes, Rila and the Pirin mountains - and the open plains make up the relief of this country which, over the elapsed thirteen centuries, has more than once discovered, rediscovered and revived itself; it has been discovered and rediscovered by other nations and countries as well. Bulgaria emerged and received official recognition following two victories over the cosmopolitan Byzantine empire. The first battles took place in the Danube delta area in the year 680 A.D. The conflicts continued in the following year, spreading south of the Balkan Range. This is cited in the Acts of the Sixth Oecumenical Council of the Christian Church in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul).
). And it is swiss german, so I'm suprised that you know the latter terms.
