For the second time the International Meteor Conference will be held in Bulgaria and we are very happy to be the local organizers again. This time it will be in our Astronomical Observatory and Planetarium "Nicolaus Coperrnicus" in the city of Varna.

Astronomical Observatory and Planetarium "N. Copernicus"

It is one of the first public astronomical observatories and planetaria in Bulgaria functioning since 1963. Our activities include popular lectures and observations for the general public, special lectures and observations for students of different ages, and for teachers, astronomical circles for students especially interested in astronomy and natural science, observing expeditions, a variety of local, national and international education projects, organizing the annual National Youth Astronomical Conference and the National Astronomy Oympiad for high school students with the help of the Ministry of Education and Science; professional observations of minor bodies in collaboration with the National Astronomical Observatory - Rozhen. An active meteor observing group of specialists from the observatory and students carries out a lot of meteor watches and has an experience of about 25 years. It keeps regular contacts with the International meteor Organization since 1988.

The country

Bulgaria is located in South-East Europe on the Balkan Peninsula. The name of the peninsula originates from the Turkish name of the Stara Planina mountain range going across the country. In Bulgarian "Stara Planina" means "an old mountain". The ancient Greek name of the same mountain was Haemus and now there is a lunar mountain that is given the same name. Bulgaria has a territory of 111 000 km2 and a population of about 7.5 million people. They are a mixture of a lot of nations including Bulgarian, Turkish, Romany, Armenian, Greek, Jewish and other people, all contributing to the cultural diversity of the country. People in Bulgaria are distinguished by an ethnic and religious tolerance which unfortunately is not considered so typical for our region nowadays. The capital city of Bulgaria is Sofia with a population of 1.3 million people.

History

Bulgarian state exists from 1300 years. It was established by the end of the 7th century by the proto-Bulgarians who came from Asia and were later completely mixed with the local Slavic and Thracian population. Obviously the Slavs were most numerous and that is why the Bulgarian language which is spoken now in the country is a Slavic language. The basic role for the unifying of the different nations was played by Tsar Boris I who introduced the Christianity as an official religion in the second half of the 9th century. In the same period the Cyrillic letters started to be used in our country and became the main Slavic alphabet that was spread in many other Slavic countries including Russia about a century later. The Christianity helped us to preserve our national culture and spirit during the five-century Turkish yoke from 14th to 19th centuries. Now Bulgaria is one of the East European countries who endeavours to become a member of the European Union. It has an exceptionally rich historical heritage with variety of archeological monuments and treasures, and beautiful landscape with a great potential for developing of tourism in mountain and sea-side resorts.

Language

Bulgarian is a Slavic language using only the Cyrillic alphabet. Practically all Bulgarians can read Latin letters too and there are a lot of people speaking English, German or French. Most of the people have studied Russian at school. Most of the young people study English language. Here are some useful words written in Bulgarian:

The weather

Most often here September is warm and sunny and the sea water temperature is above 20 C so you can enjoy all this. But, just in case, take your umbrella. The average daily maximum temperature for Varna in September is +23 C, and the daily minimum temperature is +14 C. The main total rainfall is 31 mm and the main number of rain days in September is 6.

Currency

The monetary unit is Bulgarian lev. Since 1998 it has a fixed rate 1 EUR = 1.96 levs. Foreign currency can be exchanged for levs and vice versa in banks and exchange offices. Information about the exchange rates for other currencies can be found in the web site of the Bulgarian National Bank.

Useful information

We recommend you to change your money only in the banks and the exchange offices (preferably in the banks). Never exchange money with unauthorized people in the street. If possible, avoid travelling by taxi. Seeing that you are foreigners, the taxi drivers will ask you to pay much more money than it is normal, especially if you travel from or to the airport or between the city and the sea side resort. You can reach everywhere by the cheap public transport.

Visas and invitations

Visitors from Western Europe and most of the East European countries, including all our neighbouring countries don't need visas to come to Bulgaria. See next table:

For people from the countries for which visas are necessary we will gladly send official invitations provided that they inform us about this in time. If you need visa the deadline for the registration is 1.07.2004. in that way we will have enough time to send you official invitation. You can find out whether visas are needed for citizens of your country in the web site of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.