n Europe and the Middle East gives the country a very strategic position. Also all land routes from Euro to Asia pass through the country. It is also equidistant from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; this would make Bulgaria a perfect location for manufacturing and distribution to the above mentioned regions. CultureThe social system in this country is quiet interesting. Most manifestations of traditional Bulgarian familial and societal relations disappeared in the initial postwar wave of modernization, but some traditions were persistent and survived into the 1990s, especially in parts of western and southwestern Bulgaria. Although postwar communist regimes nominally emphasized emancipation of women, strong elements of paternalism and emphasis on traditional female roles remained in Bulgarian society. By 1990 economic forces had eliminated traditional extended families and limited the number of children, especially in urban areas. Some evidence of resurging traditional relationships was seen in the immediate post-Zhivkov years. Bulgaria has been a crossroads for population movement. Early settlement occurred mainly in the most fertile agricultural lands. After World War II, however, Bulgarian cities grew rapidly at the expense of rural population in concert with state industrialization policy. Administrative SubdivisionsIn 1991 Bulgaria was divided into nine provinces. These administrative units included the city of Sofia and eight provincial districts: Burgas, Khaskovo, Lovech, Mikhaylovgrad, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Sofiya and Varna. Each province was named for t he city that was its administrative center. Excluding the city of Sofia, the provinces encompassed territories ranging from 9.5 percent of the country to 17.2 percent, and their population ranged from 7.5 percent to 14 percent of the national total. The eight provinces were divided into a total of 273 communities. The city of Sofia was divided into districts. Because this syst...
