Being Bulgaria's primate city, Sofia is home of many of the major local universities, cultural institutions and commercial companies. [23] Sofia was Europe's most affordable capital to visit in 2013. Oto najpopularniejsze atrakcje w lokalizacji Sofia: Jakie są najlepsze aktywności na świeżym powietrzu w lokalizacji Sofia? The Iskar flows north and forms the Iskar Gorge. Cinema is the most popular form of entertainment: there were more than 141,000 film shows with a total attendance exceeding 2,700,000 in 2014. A monitoring station on Eagles' Bridge, where some of the highest particulate matter values were measured, was moved away from the location and has measured sharply lower values since then. The recorded history of the city begins with the attestation of the conquest of Serdica by the Roman Republic in 29 BC from the Celtic tribe Serdi. [45][46] The snowiest recorded winter was 1995/1996 with a total snowfall of 171 cm (67.3 in). Book your tickets online for the top things to do in Sofia, Bulgaria on Tripadvisor: See 54,817 traveler reviews and photos of Sofia tourist attractions. Population growth over the years (in thousands): According to 2018 data, the city has a population of 1,400,384 and the whole Sofia Capital Municipality of 1,500,120. [159] It is the economic hub of Bulgaria and home to most major Bulgarian and international companies operating in the country, as well as the Bulgarian National Bank and the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. With its cultural significance in Southeast Europe, Sofia is home to the National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria, the National Palace of Culture, the Vasil Levski National Stadium, the Ivan Vazov National Theatre, the National Archaeological Museum, and the Serdica Amphitheatre. Regional Member Sofia", "Shared Electric Vehicles Spark in Sofia Increase by 170", "Fines for bad repair work – 'Dnevnik' newspaper", "Кои са най-желаните гимназии в София и кои паралелки останаха празни", "Official website of the Sofia university — History", "Sofia University aims to attract more foreign students", "Bulgaria's Nuclear Institute: New Cyclotron To Become Operational in 2 Years", "Sister Cities Association of Pittsburgh", "Sofia, Shanghai to become sister cities", "Sofia, Budapest to Cooperate in Culture, Tourism, Economy", "Acordos de geminação, de cooperação e de amizade", Sofia by Night Light: A Photographic Exhibition, Etymological list of provinces of Bulgaria, Institutional seats of the European Union, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sofia&oldid=984731457, Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments, Articles incorporating a citation from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia without Wikisource reference, Articles incorporating text from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia without Wikisource reference, Articles with dead external links from May 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with Bulgarian-language sources (bg), Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, Articles containing Bulgarian-language text, Pages using infobox settlement with possible motto list, Pages using infobox settlement with possible demonym list, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2009, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2015, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2012, Articles needing additional references from October 2015, All articles needing additional references, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz area identifiers, Wikipedia articles with TDVİA identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 21 October 2020, at 19:29. Sofia applied to host the Winter Olympic Games in 1992 and in 1994, coming second and third respectively. Artificial and dam lakes were built in the twentieth century. It has a humid continental climate. A large number of sports clubs are based in the city. There are two ice skating complexes — the Winter Sports Palace with a capacity of 4,600 and the Slavia Winter Stadium with a capacity of 2,000, both containing two rinks each. Popov, Dimitar (ed.). [200][201] The American College of Sofia, a private secondary school with roots in a school founded by American missionaries in 1860, is among the oldest American educational institutions outside of the United States. Historically, after World War II and the era of industrialisation under socialism, the city and its surrounding areas expanded rapidly and became the most heavily industrialised region of the country, with numerous factories producing steel, pig iron, machinery, industrial equipment, electronics, trams, chemicals, textiles, food. [192] This line will complete the proposed underground system of three lines with about 65 km (40 mi) of lines. Three mountain passes lead to the city, which have been key roads since antiquity, Vitosha being the watershed between Black and Aegean Seas. A third line is under construction and is expected to be finished in the second half of 2019. Much of Bulgaria's educational capacity is concentrated in Sofia. The SS. US and UK Air forces conducted bombings over Sofia, Museum of Contemporary Art – Sofia Arsenal, http://www.mediapool.bg/show/?storyid=134487%7Ctitle=Ромите, Globalization and World Cities Research Network, Vladislav the Grammarian 73rd Secondary School, University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of twin towns and sister cities in Bulgaria, "Население по градове и пол | Национален статистически институт", "Archaeologist Discovers 8,000-Year-Old Nephrite 'Frog-like' Swastika in Slatina Neolithic Settlement in Bulgaria's Capital Sofia – Archaeology in Bulgaria", "CITIES AND THEIR URBANISED AREAS IN THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA", https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=met_d3area&lang=en, https://www.nsi.bg/nrnm/show2.php?sid=57422&ezik=en&e=128142&e=9787, "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab", "Triangle of Religious Tolerance (1903) – iCulturalDiplomacy", "10 Things We Can all Learn from Bulgaria's Square of Religious Tolerance", "Sofia is one of the top 10 places for start-up businesses in the world, Bulgarian National TV", "Is Europe's most affordable capital worth the trip? Line 1 provides a connection to Plovdiv, the second-largest city in Bulgaria, while Line 2 is the longest national railway and connects Sofia and Varna, the largest coastal city.
", "Museum of Socialist Art – National Gallery", "NATIONAL STATISTICAL INSTITUTE – Information for the area of city of Sofia". Kiradzhiev, Svetlin (2006). [54][55], The geographic position of the Sofia Valley limits the flow of air masses, increasing the chances of air pollution by particulate matter and nitrogen oxide. Ivanova, Svetlana, "Ṣofya", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Sofia Municipality is identical to Sofia City Province, which is distinct from Sofia Province, which surrounds but does not include the capital itself.

By the time of its liberation the population of the city was 11,649. The transformations of Bulgaria into the People's Republic of Bulgaria in 1946 and into the Republic of Bulgaria in 1990 marked significant changes in the city's appearance. The city houses many cultural institutes such as the Russian Cultural Institute, the Polish Cultural Institute, the Hungarian Institute, the Czech and the Slovak Cultural Institutes, the Italian Cultural Institute, Confucius Institute, Institut Français, Goethe Institut, British Council and Instituto Cervantes which regularly organise temporary expositions of visual, sound and literary works by artists from their respective countries. Following the defeat of the crusader forces in 1444, the city's Christians faced persecution. The mountain offers favourable skiing conditions during the winter. Find what to do today, this weekend, or in October. Serdica became part of the First Bulgarian Empire during the reign of Khan Krum in 809, after a long siege. Manufacturing has registered a strong recovery since 2012, increasing the exports three-fold and the employment by 52% accounting for over 70,000 jobs. [67] Solid fuel used for heating and motor vehicle traffic are significant sources of pollutants. It was the first edict legalising Christianity, preceding the Edict of Milan by two years. [47] The record snow depth is 57 cm (22.4 in) (25 December 2001). [50][51] The hottest recorded month was July 2012 with an average temperature of 25 °C (77 °F). The Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum, where Dimitrov's body had been preserved in a similar way to the Lenin mausoleum, was demolished in 1999.

were built. The President, along with the Council of Ministers, is located on Independence Square, also known as The Largo or The Triangle of Power. Cyril and Methodius National Library are located in Sofia. Being in the centre of the Balkans, it is midway between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea, and closest to the Aegean Sea.[18][19]. Odeon (not part of the Odeon Cinemas chain) shows exclusively European and independent American films, as well as 20th century classics.

[153] A velodrome with 5,000 seats in the city's central park is undergoing renovation. Capitals of European states and territories.

Virtually the entire city (900,000 households and 5,900 companies) is centrally heated, using residual heat from electricity generation (3,000 MW) and gas- and oil-fired heating furnaces; total heat capacity is 4,640 MW. Some of the biggest telecommunications companies, TV and radio stations, newspapers, magazines, and web portals are based in Sofia, including the Bulgarian National Television, bTV and Nova TV. The extension of the underground system is hoped to alleviate the city's immense traffic problems. The Iskar River in its upper course flows near eastern Sofia. Over 99.6% of males and females aged over 9 are recorded as literate. [124], Sofia is the seat of the executive (Council of Ministers), legislative (National Assembly) and judiciary (Supreme Court and Constitutional Court) bodies of Bulgaria, as well as all government agencies, ministries, the National Bank, and the delegation of the European Commission. LI, 25, 4 erhellt)", Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. Smog thus persists over the city as temperature inversions and the mountains surrounding the city prevent the circulation of air masses. The birth rate per 1000 people was 12.3 per mille and steadily increasing in the last 5 years, the death rate reaching 12.1 per mille and decreasing.
Public investments in infrastructure, education and local economy brought greater diversity to the city. 125 years a capital.