including Sapareva Banya, Hisarya, Sandanski, Bankya, Varshets, Pavel Banya, Devin, Velingrad and many others. Climate Bulgaria has a temperate climate, with cold winters (with considerable snowfall) and hot summers (rainy at first and dry during the second half). The Black Sea coast has a milder climate than rest of the country, but strong winds and violent local storms occur frequently during the winter. The barrier effect of the Balkan Mountains has some influence on climate throughout the country: northern Bulgaria experiences colder temperatures and receives more rain than the southern lowlands. A satellite photo of Bulgaria in December. The Northern Thracian Plain (middle-south Bulgaria) has a climate resembling that of the Corn Belt in the United States. Precipitation in Bulgaria averages about 630 millimetres per year. In the lowlands rainfall varies between 500 and 800 mm, and in the mountain areas rainfall is between 1,000 and 1,400 mm per year. Drier areas include Dobrudja and the northern coastal strip, while the higher parts of the Rila, Pirin, Rhodope Mountains,Stara Planina (Balkan) Mountains, Osogovska Mountain and Vitosha receive the highest levels of precipitation. In summer, temperatures in the southest Bulgaria often exceed 40 degrees Celsius, but remain cooler by the coast. The town of Sadovo, near Plovdiv, has recorded the highest known temperature: 45.2 degrees Celsius. The recorded absolute minimum temperature of -39.3 degrees celsius occurred west of Sofia, near the town of Trun. The usual temperature around the Stara Planina region averages 10 to 15 degrees celsius. The highest mountains (over 900 or 1000 meters above sea-level) have an alpine climate. The lowest parts of the Struma and Maritza valleys have a subtropical (Mediterranean) influences, as do the Eastern Rhodope or Low Rhodope mountains. The extreme south-west part of Bulgaria (near the towns of Sandanski and Petrich) has one of the warmest climates in the country. Urban geography See also: List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, List of villages in Bulgaria, List of rivers of Bulgaria, List of islands of Bulgaria, and List of reservoirs and dams in Bulgaria Bulgaria's larger cities include:[9] Place City Population View Place City Population View 1. 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History Main article: History of Bulgaria Prehistory and antiquity Further information: Neolithic Europe, Bronze Age Europe, Thrace, and Slavs The Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari, a 3rd century BC tomb listed as one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites Prehistoric cultures in the Bulgarian lands include the Neolithic Hamangia culture and Vinca culture (6th to 3rd millennia BC), the eneolithic Varna culture (5th millennium BC; see also Varna Necropolis), and the Bronze Age Ezero culture. The Karanovo chronology serves as a gauge for the prehistory of the wider Balkans region. The Thracians, the earliest known identifiable people to inhabit the present-day territory of Bulgaria, have left lasting traces throughout the Balkan region, despite its tumultuous subsequent history of many conquests. The Thracians lived divided into numerous separate tribes until King Teres united most of them around 500 BC in the Odrysian kingdom, which peaked under the kings Sitalces and Cotys I (383-359 BC). In 188 BC the Romans invaded Thrace, and warfare continued until 45 AD when Rome finally conquered the region. The conquerors quickly Romanised or hellenised the population. By the time the Slavs arrived, the Thracians had already lost their indigenous identity and had dwindled in number following frequent invasions. The Slavs emerged from their original homeland in the early 6th century and spread to most of the eastern Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, forming in the process three main branches: the West Slavs, the East Slavs and the South Slavs. Some eastern South Slavs became ancestors of the modern Bulgarians. They assimilated what remained of the Thracians.[10] The First Bulgarian Empire Main article: First Bulgarian Empire The Battle of Anchialos (917), in which the Bulgarians defeated the Byzantines: one of the bloodiest battles of the Middle Ages.[11] In 632 the Bulgars, originally from Central Asia, formed under the leadership of Khan Kubrat an independent state that became known as Great Bulgaria. Its territory extended from the lower course of the Danube to the west, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea to the south, the Kuban River to the east, and the Donets River to the north.[12] Pressure from the Khazars led to the subjugation of Great Bulgaria in the second half of the 7th century. Kubrat’s successor, Khan Asparuh, migrated with some of the Bulgar tribes to the lower courses of the rivers Danube, Dniester and Dniepr (known as Ongal), and conquered Moesia and Scythia Minor (Dobrudzha) from the Byzantine Empire, expanding his new khanate further into the Balkan Peninsula.[13] A peace treaty with Byzantium in 681 and the establishment of the Bulgar capital of Pliska south of the Danube mark the beginning of the First Bulgarian Empire. At the same time one of Asparuh's brothers, Kuber, settled with another Bulgar group in present-day[update] Macedonia.[14] During the siege of Constantinople in 717-718 the Bulgarian ruler Khan Tervel honoured his treaty with the Byzantines by sending troops to help the populace of the imperial city. According to the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes, in the decisive battle the Bulgarians killed 22,000 Arabs, thereby eliminating the threat of a full-scale Arab invasion into Eastern and Central Europe.[15] The influence and territorial expansion of Bulgaria increased further during the rule of Khan Krum,[16] who in 811 won a decisive victory against the Byzantine army led by Nicephorus I in the Battle of Pliska.[17] Baba Vida fortress in Vidin, built in the 10th century In 864, Bulgaria under Boris I The Baptist accepted Eastern Orthodox Christianity.[18] Bulgaria became a major European power in the ninth and the tenth centuries, while fighting with the Byzantine Empire for the control of the Balkans. This happened under the rule (852–889) of Boris I. During his reign, the Cyrillic alphabet was created in Preslav and Ohrid,[19] adapted from the Glagolitic alphabet invented by the monks Saints Cyril and Methodius.[20] The Cyrillic alphabet became the basis for further cultural development. Centuries later, this alphabet, along with the Old Bulgarian language, fostered the intellectual written language (lingua franca) for Eastern Europe, known as Church Slavonic. The greatest territorial extension of the Bulgarian Empire — covering most of the Balkans — occurred under Emperor Simeon I The Great, the first Bulgarian Tsar (Emperor), son of Boris I.[21] The Bulgarian Empire ca. 893 in white, and territorial gains until 927 with beige However, Simeon's greatest achievement consisted of Bulgaria developing a rich, unique Christian Slavonic culture, which became an example for the other Slavonic peoples in Eastern Europe and also ensured the continued existence of the Bulgarian nation despite forces that threatened to tear it into pieces throughout its long and war-ridden history. Bulgaria declined in the mid-tenth century, worn out by wars with Croatia, by frequent Serbian rebellions sponsored by Byzantine gold, and by disastrous Magyar and Pecheneg invasions.[22] Because of this, Bulgaria collapsed in the face of an assault of the Rus' in 969-971.[23] The Byzantines then began campaigns to conquer Bulgaria. In 971, they seized the capital Preslav and captured Emperor Boris II.[24] Resistance continued under Tsar Samuil in the western Bulgarian lands for nearly half a century. The country managed to recover and defeated the Byzantines in several major battles, taking the control of the most of the Balkans and in 991 invaded the Serbian state.[25] But the Byzantines led by Basil II ("the Bulgar-Slayer") destroyed the Bulgarian state in 1018 after their victory at Kleidion.[26] Byzantine Bulgaria No evidence remains of major resistance or any uprising of the Bulgarian population or nobility in the first decade after the establishment of Byzantine rule. Given the existence of such irreconcilable opponents to Byzantium as Krakra, Nikulitsa, Dragash and others, such apparent passivity seems difficult to explain. Some historians[27] explain this as a consequence of the concessions that Basil II granted the Bulgarian nobility in order to gain their obedience. In the first place, Basil II guaranteed the indivisibility of Bulgaria in its former geographic borders and did not officially abolish the local rule of the Bulgarian nobility, who became part of Byzantine aristocracy as archons or strategoi. Second, special charters (royal decrees) of Basil II recognised the autocephaly of the Bulgarian Archbishopric of Ohrid and set up its boundaries, securing the continuation of the dioceses already existing under Samuel, their property and other privileges.[28] The people of Bulgaria challenged Byzantine rule several times in the 11th century and again in the early 12th century. The biggest uprising occurred under the leadership of Peter II Delyan (proclaimed Emperor of Bulgaria in Belgrade in 1040). In the mid to late 11th century, the Normans, fresh from their recent conquests in southern Italy and Sicily, landed in the Balkans and began advancing against the Byzantine Empire. They posed a constant threat to Byzantine Bulgaria, and it took Byzantium until 1185 to drive them out. In 1091 another invasion came in the form of the Pechenegs. However, Byzantine forces crushed the Pechenegs at Levounion (1091) and again around 1120. After that, the Hungarians made an attempt to increase their influence beyond the Danube river; John Comnenus' campaigns along the Danube eventually drove back the Hungarians as well by c.1140. Bulgarian nobles ruled the province in the name of the Byzantine Empire until a rebellion by Ivan Asen I and Peter IV of Bulgaria led to the establishment of the Second Bulgarian Empire. The Second Bulgarian Empire Main article: Second Bulgarian Empire From 1185, the Second Bulgarian Empire once again established Bulgaria as an important power in the Balkans for two more centuries with its capital based in Veliko Tarnovo and under the Asen dynasty. Kaloyan, the third of the Asen monarchs, extended his dominions to Belgrade, Nish and Skopie (Uskub); he acknowledged the spiritual supremacy of the pope, and received the royal crown from a papal legate.[10] The Bulgarian ruler from 1218 to 1241, Ivan Asen II extended his rule over Albania, Epirus, Macedonia and Thrace.[29] During his reign, the state saw a period of cultural growth, with important artistic achievements of the Tarnovo artistic school.[10] The Asen dynasty ended in 1257, and due to Tatar invasions (beginning in the later 13th century), internal conflicts, and constant attacks from the Byzantines and the Hungarians, the power of the country declined. Emperor Theodore Svetoslav (reigned 1300-1322) restored Bulgarian prestige from 1300 onwards. But by the end of the 14th century the country had disintegrated into several feudal principalities, which the Ottoman Empire eventually conquered. Ottoman rule The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (October 2008) Main articles: History of early Ottoman Bulgaria and National awakening of Bulgaria By the end of the 14th century, factional divisions between Bulgarian feudal landlords (boyars) had gravely weakened the cohesion of the Second Bulgarian Empire. It split into three small Tsardoms and several semi-independent principalities which fought among themselves, and also with Byzantines, Hungarians, Serbs, Venetians, and Genoese. In these battles, they often allied with the Ottoman Turks. Similar situations of internecine quarrel and infighting existed also in Byzantium and Serbia. In the period 1365-1370, the Ottomans conquered most Bulgarian towns and fortresses south of the Balkan Mountains.[30] Painting depicting the Battle of Nicopolis, 1396 In 1393, the Ottomans captured Tarnovo, the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, after a three-month siege. In 1396, the Vidin Tsardom fell after the defeat of a Christian crusade at the Battle of Nicopolis. With this, the Ottomans finally subjugated and occupied Bulgaria.[31][32][33] A Polish-Hungarian crusade commanded by Wladyslaw III of Poland set out to free the Balkans in 1444, but the Turks defeated it in the battle of Varna. Some accounts of the five centuries of Ottoman rule highlight its violence and oppression. The Ottomans decimated the Bulgarian population, which lost most of its cultural relics. Turkish authorities destroyed most of the medieval Bulgarian fortresses in order to prevent rebellions. Large towns and the areas where Ottoman power predominated remained severely depopulated until the 19th century.[11] The new authorities dismantled Bulgarian institutions at anything above the village or communal level, and merged the separate Bulgarian Church into the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople, although a small, autocephalous Bulgarian archbishopric of Ohrid survived until January 1767. Bulgarians in the Ottoman empire had to endure a number of disabilities; they paid more taxes than Moslems, they lacked legal equality with Moslems, they could not carry arms, their clothes could not rival those of Moslems in color, nor could their churches tower as high