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Sofia is the capital city of Bulgaria and it is situated in the western part of the country at the foot of Vitosha Mountain. The city has 550 m altitude and is characterized by the following geographic parameters: 23° 19' 39'' eastern longitude and 42° 41' 30'' northern latitude. It has a territory of approximately 1311 sq.m.
It was founded more than 7000 years ago by the proto Thracian tribe Serdi where the first name of the capital – Serdika
(wisdom) originated from.
The capital city of Bulgaria is a basic administrative, industrial and transport centre of the country.
In 1900 the city council of Sofia devises the coat-of-arms of the city and establishes its motto saying “Sofia grows but not ages”, which is still well-known.
Since 1992, the day of 17th September, is officially announced as the Day of Sofia in honour of St. Holy Martyr Sofia and Her Daughters – St. Hope, St. Belief and St. Charity.
The outskirts of the city are extremely abundant in natural resources, cultural and historical places of interest and offer excellent opportunities for recreation and tourist activities.
On its territory there are a number of established preserved areas. Among them are Vitosha Natural Park, Bistrishko Branishte /forest reserve/, Torfeno Branishte, as well as the natural formations – Katinski pyramids, Boyanski waterfall, Alekovi falls and Samokovishteto along with a great number of preserved flora and fauna species.
Vitosha Natural Park has become the first park in Bulgaria and on the Balkan Peninsula registered in the United Nations Organization Official List of national parks and reserves.
The relief formations such as
 The Vitosha plateau;
The stone rivers;
Taluses along with other rock formations;
The numerous river falls and shoots.
of Vitosha Natural Park are unique in their nature.
Sofia city is one of the most significant transport and communication centres on the Balkans. Despite of the fact that the south-eastern Europe and the Balkan Peninsula are located at the periphery of the European continent they have an extremely important priority which is their closeness to the two neighbouring continents i.e. Asia and Africa.
On the territory of Sofia two of the major transport high roads on Balkan Peninsula intersect i.e.: Varna – Sofia-Gyueshevo leading to Skopie and Dragoman – Sofia - Kapitan Andreevo leading to Istanbul.
The first transport destination continues to Romania, Ukraine and Russia and the second one makes the practical connection with the countries from central and western Europe.
The characteristic features of geographical location and the peculiarities of city relief, facilitate the natural link between the roads running along the valleys of Iskar and Struma Rivers in this part of the country.
The city is the administrative centre of Bulgaria. It hosts all state institutions of the country.
Developed into a national cultural centre the city hosts weekly diverse cultural and political events. The life in the city is dynamic and offers a variety of things to do. For the last 10 years the city has grown giving its residents wide opportunities and a high life standard – in fact the highest in Bulgaria.
During the years of transition the city of Sofia developed into a modern European city offering plenty of employment opportunities and chances for implementation of great range of projects – a characteristic feature of all mega polices in Europe.
Sofia stirs greatly the interest of a number of investors from all over the world. Its dynamics determines its rapid growth and development into a beautiful and modern city of Europe.
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BULGARIA
