Bulgaria, which sits on the southern border of Romania, also has a goodly slice of the Black Sea coast, and that is where the tourist business is centered. Bulgaria is about the same size as New York State.
Balkantourist, Bulgaria’s national tourist organization, has created three ultramodern beach resorts on the Black Sea: Druzba, Albena, and Zltne Pjasaci. Balkantourist has seen to it that Bulgaria’s section of the Black Sea will never be overcrowded. Only 20 percent of the beaches will be developed; the rest is to be kept natural.
Partly due to its mountainous terrain, Bulgaria’s population density is one of the lowest in Eastern Europe, about 206 persons per square mile. More than half of the people live in urban areas, with Sofia being by far the largest city. Other major cities are Plovdiv, site of a major annual international trade fair; the Black Sea cities of Varna and Burgas; and Ruse on the Danube River.
In Central Bulgaria, about an hour’s drive from Plondiv in the Valley of the Roses, is an enormous natural garden where acres of roses provide the oil base for most of the world’s perfume. During May and June the fragrance of roses fills the valleys as millions of rose blooms are harvested.
