For more information see the Bulgaria profile.

The Republic of Bulgaria, located in southeastern Europe, is bounded on the north by Romania, the west by former Yugoslavia, the south by Greece, the southeast by Turkey and the east by the Black Sea. Although regarded as a nation since the fifth century, it has rarely been independent.

Orthodoxy was the state religion until 1945, then Communism until 1989. The new democratic constitution proclaims freedom for all denominations, but makes the status of the Orthodox Church one of ambiguous primacy. Bulgaria's political and spiritual transformation has been one of the most dramatic in the former Communist blog: from one of the most repressive regimes, with severe persecution of Christians, to multi-party democracy (albeit somewhat tumultuous).