BURGAS
Burgas (Bulgarian: Бургас, sometimes transliterated as Bourgas) is the second-largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast with population 210,260. It is also the fourth-largest by population in the country, after Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna. It is the capital of Burgas Province and an important industrial, transport, cultural and tourist centre.
Surrounded by the coastal Burgas Lakes and located at the westernmost point of the Black Sea, the large Burgas Bay, Burgas has the largest and most important Bulgarian port. Today, it is a key economic, cultural and tourist centre of southeastern Bulgaria, with the Burgas Airport serving the resorts of the southern Bulgarian coast.
Burgas is situated in the westernmost point of the bay of the same name and in the eastern part of the Burgas plain which is located to the east of the Upper Thracian Plain. Burgas is located at 389 km of Sofia, 272 km of Plovdiv and 350 km of Istanbul. To the east and north the city is surrounded by the Burgas Lakes - Vaya, Atanasovsko and Mandrensko which are home to several hundred bird species. Pan-European corridor 8 passes through the city.[1]
Burgas is a successor of the Ancient Greek city of Pyrgos (Πύργος, Greek for "tower")[citation needed], founded by colonists from Apollonia as a military and observational post against the other important settlement in the region — Mesembria. Besides Pyrgos, the present-day city expands over the area of three other ancient settlements: Castrition, Skafida and Rossokastron.[citation needed]
During the rule of the Ancient Romans, Burgas was known as Debeltum[citation needed], and was established as a military colony for veterans by Vespasian. In the Middle Ages, a small fortress called Pyrgos was erected on the place and was most probably used as a watchtower. It was only in the 17th century that a settlement named Ahelo-Pirgas grew in the modern area of the city. It was later renamed to Bourgas and had only about 3,000 inhabitants, most of them Greeks at the time of the Liberation. The city was a township in İslimye sanjak in at first Rumelia Eyalet, after that in the Silistre Province and Edirne Province before the liberation in 1878. It was a sanjak centre in Eastern Rumelia before incorporated in the Principality of Bulgaria in 1885.
Later, it became a major centre on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and a city of well-developed industry and trade. A number of oil and chemical companies were gradually built. Salt and iron are also mined and traded abroad.
In 19th century, with the increasing maritime trade in the Black Sea Burgas became one of the most important port-cities. However, it has lost some of its importance with the shift of the trade between Balkans-Istanbul-Trabzon to Southern port-cities with the construction of Salonica-Istanbul railways. In 1903, the railway station in Burgas opened, giving an additional boost to the city's expansion. Burgas, unlike many other Bulgarian cities, was not much affected by Communist-type urbanization and has kept many of its 19th and early 20th century architecture.
Today the local port is the largest in Bulgaria adding significantly to the regional economy. Burgas also holds annual national exhibitions and international festivals and has a vibrant student population of over 6,000 that add to the city's appeal. The historical society also maintains an open-air museum at Beglik Tash.
Several countries have consulates in Burgas, among them Turkey, Belarus, Romania, Russia and Ukraine.
Burgas Peninsula on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after the city of Burgas.
