But Bulgaria's water economy does not rely solely on nature's efforts. Big dams have been built in the years of people's rule. Filled with millions of cubic metres of water, they serve both as sources of electrical power and for irrigation and water supply, for fisheries, for the practice of aquatic sports, etc. On Bulgaria's map artificial water basins have made their appearance, such as the Isker Dam, those of Stouden Kladenets, Batak, Alexander Stamboliiski, Georgi Dimitrov, Kalin, etc. – some 20 in number so far, with still more under construction.
Of course, Bulgaria is fortunate that her territory borders to the north on the Danube and to the east on the Black Sea. These are 470 and 378 km of water courses – the first one linking the country with the greater part of Europe, and the second – with all maritime states in the world.
But perhaps we have had enough of geography. Let us now give you a brief outline of Bulgaria's history.
FROM THE THRACIAN HORSEMEN DOWN TO OUR CWN TIMES
Many tribes and people have travelled across the territory of Bulgaria through the ages and each of them has left behind something of its material culture. An exhibition of Bulgarian history a few years ago in Paris provoked great interest there and elsewhere.
We have reliable data that the Bulgarian lands were inhabited by man as early as the Musterian Age, i.e. some 100,000 years ago. Evidence of this are the stone implements found in the Bacho Kiro Cave near the Dryanovo Monastery; they are the earliest cultural remains in the Balkan Peninsula.
The first cultured tribes came to Bulgaria's lands in the second millennium B.C. They were the Thracians who, at first scattered, in the 5th century B.C. set up a mighty state under the guidance of the Odryssae tribe. In the field of arts and crafts the Thracians borrowed from the culture of the Greeks (Greek colonies along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast were set up as early as the 7th century B.C.) daily ephesus tours, but this did not stop them creating an original and very rich Thracian culture of their own.
Roman influence in the Balkan Peninsula started to spread after the 2nd century B.C. The foundations of more than 20 Roman towns which have been excavated in present-day Bulgaria reveal advanced constructional skills. This is particularly true of those centres on the right-hand bank of the Danube, which best reveal the domination of Rome during the lst-6th centuries A.D.
The first Bulgarian state, however, was established by two ethnical groups: Slavs and Proto-Bulgarians. The Slav tribes, or the so-called eastern group, came here in the 5th and 6th centuries. One century later, seven of them united and, in the area between the Danube and the Balkan Range, laid the foundations of an alliance, while preserving at the same time their patriarchal and communal relations. It was these Slavs that the Proto- Bulgarians of Asparouh came upon on their way from Southern Bessarabia, and it was together with them that they laid the foundations of the First Bulgarian State. This act took place in the year 681, when a peace treaty with the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IV Pogonatus recognized its existence.
First Bulgarian State
The First Bulgarian State (^681-1018) developed, briefly, as follows: at the time of Khan Kroum (803-814) the country was consolidated and expanded its boundaries; his successor Omourtag (814-831) concluded a 30-year peace treaty with Byzantium and devoted himself to construction. In 865, under Prince Boris I, Bulgarians and Slavs adopted the Christian religion – an act of tremendous significance for the further development of the state. Cyril and Methodius evolved the Bulgarian alphabet, which became the basis of all Slavonic letters. Under Simeon (893-927) – the son of Boris I – Bulgarian culture enjoyed its 'golden age'. After that came a period of decline and Bulgaria fell under Byzantine rule (1018-1185). In the same period the well-known social movement of Bogomilism made its appearance and later passed on to Italy and to France.
The Second Bulgarian State comprises the period of 1185 to 1396. The Bulgarians liberated themselves from Byzantine rule in 1185 as a result of a people's uprising, led by the brothers Assen and Peter. Under Kaloyan (1197-1207) and Ivan Assen II (1218-1241) Bulgaria was the strongest state in South-eastern Europe and her frontiers were washed by three seas — the Black Sea, the Aegean and the Adriatic. After that, cruel internecine struggles flared up and 14 kings reigned in rapid succession. This undermined the foundations of the state and facilitated the victory of the Ottoman Turks, who invaded the Peninsula at the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century. In 1396 all Bulgaria fell under Turkish domination.
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