The Bulgarian culture and traditions are rooted in antiquity. The country has a rich and diverse heritage that includes Thracian, Hellenistic, and Roman civilizations. Bulgarians have preserved many of the customs, festivals and rituals of their forefathers. They are a religious people with strong family values, and the family is at the center of their lives. Men and women enjoy equal rights, including the right to vote, and both may own property. However, women tend to have lower paying jobs and lag behind men in educational achievement. They also often assume household chores and child care duties, and are expected to defer to male authority.
Unlike most Balkan nations, Bulgaria is not a predominantly Christian nation, although Christianity is the dominant religion. The majority of Bulgarians are Orthodox Christians. However, there is a substantial minority of Muslims and a small Jewish community. The religions coexist peacefully with no significant conflicts.
Bulgarian cuisine is influenced by both its Slavic and Ottoman pasts. The most important dishes are bor
The Bulgarians are renowned for their folk songs and are among the world’s best musicians. The song Izlel ye Delyo Haydutin, by Valya Balkanska, was selected to be part of the Golden Record aboard the spacecraft Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.
In terms of industry, Bulgaria is heavily dependent on heavy manufacturing, particularly machinery, electronics, mining and metallurgy, textiles, food processing, and tobacco manufacture. Agriculture remains an important sector of the economy. The country’s principal imports are fuel, raw materials, and manufactured goods.
Bulgaria is a member of the European Union and has free-trade agreements with other members. Its most important trading partners are Germany, Greece, Italy, and Russia.
The Bulgarian language is a member of the Eastern Slavic branch of the Slavic languages. It has three grammatically distinct positions in time – present, past and future – which combine with aspect and mood to produce a large number of formations. Bulgarian is viewed as having four moods — indicative, imperative, and conditional – by most contemporary linguists, although some exclude the subjunctive and include the inferential mood.
During the socialist era, Bulgaria’s major industries were in heavy and light manufacturing, along with mining and metallurgy. These sectors continued to dominate the economy after the transition to a market-oriented economic system. Major export categories include chemical and petroleum products, machinery, electronics, metals, and processed food, beverages, and tobacco. The Bulgarian economy is growing rapidly.