LIVING AND WORKING IN SOFIA
Sofia (София), the capital of Bulgaria, is the 15th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.4 million people. Today, Sofia is a dynamic Eastern European capital, and is one of the few with beautiful scenery of the nearby mountains and a developed ski-resort (Vitosha). Sofia Airport is only 5 km from the COE, which is located in the heart of the city.
SOFIA THROUGH THE CENTURIES
Founded seven thousand years ago, Sofia is the second oldest city in Europe. It has been given several names in the course of history and the remnants of the old cities can still be seen today.
Serdika was the name of the central dwelling of the ancient Thracian tribe known as "Serdi". It bore that name when it became part of the Bulgarian state at the beginning of the ninth century and was soon recognised as one of the most important feudal towns, acquiring the Slavic name Sredets.
Near Sofia lies Boyana church, which is one of the most valuable memorials of Bulgarian and European culture. The church boasts frescoes, acclaimed by specialists as "the best examples of eastern mediaeval art during its twelve century history".
The decline of Sofia during the Ottoman Empire was followed by the rejuvenation after the liberation in 1879, when Sofia was chosen as the capital of Bulgaria at the First National Constituent Assembly. The plans of 1881-1882 were followed by a brisk and straight-forward period of construction. In 1900 the City Council approved the emblem of Sofia and the motto "It Grows but Does not Age".
GENERAL INFORMATION
Sofia is an administrative and territorial unit with status of region.
Sofia in figures (2010):
- Territory - 1349 sq km
- Height above the sea level - 550 m
- Population –1 259 446
FLYING FROM/TO SOFIA
Sofia Airport is the busiest airport in Bulgaria, located only 10 km from the city centre, in the eastern part of Sofia. Over 25 airlines fly in and out of Sofia Airport with daily flights linking Sofia wit: Athens, Paris, Vienna, London, Rome, Amsterdam, Munich, Warsaw, and other European cities. The airlines flying to/from Sofia: Air France, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Czech Airlines, LOT, Lufthansa, Olympic Airways, Tarom and Turkish Airlines.
Low-cost carriers flying to/from Sofia: EasyJet (to/from London-Gatwick, Madrid, Manchester), Germanwings (to/from Cologne-Bonn), Wizz Air (to/from Paris-Beauvais, Barcelona, Brussels-Charleroi, Dortmund, Eindhoven, London-Luton, Milan-Bergamo, Rome-Fiumicino, Valencia).
Bulgaria Air flies to: Alicante, Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Bucharest, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Kiev, Larnaca, London, Madrid, Málaga, Manchester, Moscow, Palma de Mallorca, Paphos, Paris, Rome, Skopje, Tel Aviv, Tirana, Tripoli, Valencia, Vienna, Zürich. Bulgaria Air's operates domestic flights to Burgas and Varna.
EDUCATION in SOFIA:
Sofia has more than:
- 23 universities
- 21 colleges
- 172 secondary schools
- 242 kindergartens and nursery schools.
- A lot of secondary schools, colleges and kindergartens specialized for education of foreign citizens:
- Students at higher educational institutions can choose full-time, part-time, or distance courses. The Doctoral programmes in higher educational institutions and scientific organizations in Republic of Bulgaria are full-time, part-time, distance, and unsupervised on an individual plan.
The full-time and unsupervised individual-plan doctoral programmes are three-year programmes. Applicants must have a Master's degree.
Part-time doctoral programmes last four years. Applicants must have a Master's degree. TheDoctoral degree study is organized in subject areas.
Higher educational institutions in Bulgaria offer programmes for lifelong learning and further qualification. These programmes are organized according to the regulations and curriculum of each institution. The programmes for lifelong learning and further qualification do not lead to awarding a new degree, qualification or speciality. A specializing student is enrolled on a programme with a specialized curriculum, and does not receive a further degree, a new qualification or new specialization.
- The Anglo-American School of Sofia is a diverse and friendly school which provides a vibrant high quality education preparing students to be responsible global citizens and lifelong learners. Have over 380 students, aged 4 to 18, from 44 countries. Offer a curriculum that combines both US and UK best practice. Accredited by the Council of International Schools (CIS) and the New England Association of School and Colleges (NEASC). http://www.aas-sofia.org/
- American University Bulgaria (AUBG) is recognized as one of the finest universities in Europe and currently attracts top students from more than 30 countries around the world. It is a private, undergraduate, residential English-speaking college, where diversity is honored, tolerance is demanded, and academic excellence is always the goal. As a liberal arts institution, AUBG encourages students to develop critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills. To this end, the professors and staff in this supportive community maintain an open-door policy for all students.The school is accredited both in the United States and Bulgaria, and academic credits are fully transferable in Europe and the United States. In addition, students study entirely in English and choose from a wide variety of courses in business, marketing, European and Balkan history, political science, and journalism, among others.
- Euro Lyceum is the first English-speaking school in Bulgaria offering the British National Curriculum. http://www.euroliceum.eu/?cid=55 From kindergarten all the way through to the end of secondary school we give your children the opportunity to study according to the British educational system.
Euro Lyceum's ethos is to provide native and international families the option to study the British National Curriculum in an international setting, thus giving our students the opportunity to sit examinations recognised all over the world.
- Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" Department for Language Teaching and International Students
- Italian lyceum http://www.nukk.org/
- French lyceum "Victor Hugo" http://www.vhugo.org/index.html,
- Russian lyceum "Archbishop Seraphim",
- Other schools and kindergarten www.dugajunior.com, www.zlatarskischool.org, www.cesar-vallejo.org, Spanish Lyceums
HEALTH CARE in SOFIA:
Sofia has more than 54 state and private hospitals, including for special emergency medicine Military Medical Academy and Pirogov Hospital for Active Medical Treatment and Emergency Medicine.
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT BULGARIA
- Area: 110,993.6 Square Kilometres
- Population: 7.847 million
- Capital: Sofia (population – 1.2 million)
- Location: Bulgaria is situated in South-Eastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. It borders on Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece and Turkey. The Black Sea washes its eastern border.
- Local time: GMT+2 (GMT+3 between late March and late October).
- Climate: Temperate continental (2,000 to 2,400 hours of sunshine per year). There are four seasons: Dry and hot summer with average temperature +23°C (April-September). Winter is usually cold with snowfall and mean temperature of 0°C. The average annual temperature is 10.5°C.
- The weather in the end of January is expected to be cold and the day temperatures vary between -5/-10°C in the morning to 0/10°C at noon.
- National Currency: Bulgarian Lev (pl. Leva). Abbreviation: BGN. Fractional coins are called "Stotinka" (100 stotinki = 1 Lev). Money in circulation: banknotes of 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 Leva. The exchange rate against the euro is fixed at BGN 1.95583 for EUR 1.
- Banks and currency exchange: Many local banks and Foreign-Exchange Offices operate in the capital and across the country. Major international banks also have offices here.
- Banking hours: 9 a.m.- 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. Foreign-Exchange Offices are open until 6 p.m., and some around the clock. Currency exchange at the airport on arrival or departure, and in the hotels, is also possible. Do not exchange money in the streets or outside banks and Foreign-Exchange Offices despite the bargain rate offered: you risk being cheated.
- Telecommunications: International direct-dialling access code for Bulgaria: 359, for Sofia: 359 2. Telephone lines in 63 countries of Europe, Asia and Africa are direct dial from Mobicom or BulFon card-phones (require different phone-cards). Inland and international phone, telegram and fax services are available at the Sofia General Post Office and at local post offices in the capital and in the country.
- Electricity: main voltage 220 V/50 Hz, round two-pin plugs.
- Motoring: Drive on the right, overtake on the left, cross only when the traffic light is green, give right of way to vehicles approaching from the right at crossroads and to buses in urban areas, carry your International Driving Permit. Wearing of seat belts is compulsory. Speed limits: built-up areas 60 km/h for motor cars, 50 km/h for coaches, caravans and minibuses, open road 90 km/h for motor cars, 70 km/h for coaches, caravans and minibuses, motorways 120 km/h for motor cars, 100 km/h for coaches, caravans and minibuses.
- Emergency phone: Please call 112.
- Museums Sofia houses numerous museums, notably the National Historical Museum , the Bulgarian Natural History Museum , the Museum of Earth and Men, the Ethnographic Museum, the National Museum of Military History , the National Polytechnical Museum and the National Archaeological Museum. In addition, there are the Sofia City Art Gallery , the Bulgarian National Gallery of Arts , the Bulgarian National Gallery for Foreign Art as well as numerous private art galleries.
- Places of special interest The city also offers many places of special interest such as the Sts. Cyril and Methodius National Library (which houses the largest national book collection and is Bulgaria's oldest cultural institute), the Sofia State Library , the British Council, the Russian Cultural Institute, the Polish Cultural Institute, the Hungarian Institute, the Czech and the Slovak Cultural Institutes, the Italian Cultural Institute, the French Cultural Institute, Goethe Institut, Instituto Cervantes, and the Open Society Institute. Families with children enjoyed Sofia Land , a nearly nine-acre amusement park.
- Sofia currently enjoys a booming film industry as the filming ground of several international film productions. Vitosha Boulevard , also called Vitoshka — ranked as the world's 22nd most expensive commercial street — represents numerous fashion boutiques and luxury goods stores and features exhibitions by world famous fashion designers. Sofia's geographic location, situated in the foothills of the weekend retreat of the Vitosha mountains, further adds to the city's specific atmosphere.
- Maps
o http://www.sofiacityguide.com/
o http://www.map-guide.bg/
o http://www.sofia.bg/en/display.asp?ime=sofia
o- Information about Bulgaria
o http://www.picturesofbulgaria.com/category/about_bulgaria.html
o http://www.discover-bulgaria.com/Insight.aspx?CategoryID=195
o http://www.bulgarianmonastery.com/
http://bulgariatravel.org
