Here you’ll find 10 Fun facts and Trivia about Bulgaria that you (probably) didn’t know.
Shakes and nods
Bulgarians shake their heads from side to side to mean yes and nod when they mean no. To make things worse, some of them (who know that this custom works the other way around practically everywhere else) will change to Western style nod-for-yes and shake-for-no in order not to confuse you (go figure!). When in doubt, just ask for clarification through a “da” (yes) or “ne” (no).
And I thought Brits were the only ones always doing things the opposite way!.
Infinite magazines
Written press in Bulgaria is completely de-regulated. Newspapers can print as many copies as they want and new publications come and go as they please. Such freedom of press makes it impossible to calculate the exact amount of written publications in the country.
Too dibu dubu dau choo
The most popular Bulgarian video on youtube is an excerpt from the popular TV show “Bulgarian Idol”, where Mariah Carey’s most famous song, Ken Lee, is performed by one gifted contestant.
Bacteriae
Lactobacillus Bulgaricus is the name of a certain kind of bacteria that reputedly can only be found in Bulgaria.
Boom?
The Bulgarian Air Forces were the first ones to develop air-dropped bombs (thank you very much for that one!)
EYPO
Bulgaria is the first country that uses the Cyrillic alphabet to enter the European Union. It is expected that when/if they enter the Euro, notes and coins will have to be re-printed to accomodate the word Euro in the Union’s 3 official alphabets (Latin, Greek and Cyrillic).
Hole-y Land
There are around 4,000 discovered caves, grottoes and caverns around the country.
Oldest Nation
Bulgaria is the oldest nation-state in Europe.
Standing up to the Nazis
Sofia was one of the few cities that defended and protected their Jewish citizens during World War II.
Naming babies was never this easy
Traditionally, Bulgarians take their first name from their paternal grandfather and their surname from their father’s name, changing the suffix depending on the person’s gender (-ov for boys, -ova for girls). That’s how in some cases, depending on the generation, you can find people named the same for name and surname like Angel Angelov or Ivana Ivanova.
