Geographic location

Bulgaria is located in Southeastern Europe, in the northeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. It is a European, Balkan, Black Sea and Danube country. This geographical location puts it at the crossroads between Europe, Asia and Africa.

Bulgaria is located relatively close to the equator, it falls in the southern part of the temperate climate zone with the influence of the subtropics. Its position in the transition between two climate zones affects the climate, soils, flora and fauna. They are all characterized by a very large variety. The official time in Bulgaria is Eastern European, which is two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. The favorable natural geographical position of Bulgaria creates excellent preconditions for the development of tourism.

Bulgaria is a transport crossroads and transit territory between Western Europe, the Middle East and the Mediterranean. A number of the main pan-European transport corridors pass through Bulgaria. These transport corridors are crossed by international highways from Western and Central Europe (via Belgrade - Sofia - Svilengrad) to the Middle East (with a branch to Baghdad and Basra on the Persian Gulf); from the Baltic Sea (via Moscow - Kiev - Bucharest - Ruse - Stara Zagora - Thessaloniki) to the Aegean Sea and the Adriatic Sea (Sofia - Skopje - Drach). The road Constanta - Varna - Burgas - Tsarevo - Malko Tarnovo - Istanbul is of important transport importance. In the trans-European network Bulgaria is also connected through the sections Berlin - Prague - Budapest - Sofia - Thessaloniki and Istanbul and the section Durres - Tirana - Skopje - Sofia - Varna and Burgas. The main transport routes crossing the country are duplicated by railways. In addition, Bulgaria's wide access to the Black Sea connects it with all Black Sea countries. It offers exceptional opportunities for the development of transport and loading and unloading through the large bays - Burgas and Varna. The Danube River connects the Rhine-Main-Danube transport corridor and the internal waterway network of Western Europe.

The total length of the Bulgarian borders is 2245 km. Of these, 1181 km are land, 686 km are river and 378 km are sea. Bulgaria borders Romania to the north, the Black Sea to the east, Turkey and Greece to the south, and Macedonia and Serbia to the west. The distances between Sofia and the capitals of the neighboring Balkan countries are: Skopje - 239 km, Belgrade - 374 km, Bucharest - 395 km, Athens - 837 km, Ankara - 1012 km. The following border checkpoints operate at the country's borders - at the Bulgarian-Serbian border - Bregovo border checkpoint, Vrashka Chuka border checkpoint, Kalotina border checkpoint, Strezimirovtsi border checkpoint, Oltomantsi border checkpoint; along the Bulgarian-Macedonian border - Gueshevo border checkpoint, Stanke Lisichkovo border checkpoint, Zlatarevo border checkpoint; along the Bulgarian-Turkish border - Malko Tarnovo border checkpoint, Lesovo border checkpoint, Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint; along the Bulgarian-Greek border - Kulata border checkpoint, Ilinden border checkpoint, Kapitan Petko Voyvoda border checkpoint, Ivaylovgrad border checkpoint, Zlatograd border checkpoint; along the Bulgarian-Romanian border - Vidin border checkpoint - ferry, Oryahovo border checkpoint - ferry, Ruse border checkpoint - Danube bridge, Silistra border checkpoint, Kardam border checkpoint, Durankulak border checkpoint; along the river ports - Vidin border checkpoint, Lom border checkpoint, Somovit border checkpoint - Nikopol, Svishtov border checkpoint, Ruse border checkpoint, Tutrakan border checkpoint, Silistra border checkpoint; at the seaports - Balchik Border Checkpoint, Varna Border Checkpoint, Burgas Border Checkpoint, Tsarevo Border Checkpoint, and at the airports - Sofia Airport Border Checkpoint, Plovdiv Airport Border Checkpoint, Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport Border Checkpoint, Varna Airport Border Checkpoint, Burgas Border Checkpoint.