Iran, (Persian: ايران,[ʔiˈɾɒn] (help·info) ĭrănˈ), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI, Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ايران, pronounced [dʒomhuɾije ʔeslɒmije ʔiɾɒn]), formerly known internationally as Persia until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia. Iran is bounded by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south and the Caspian Sea to its north. Shi’a Islam is the official religion, and Persian is the official language.^[4] The 18th largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km², Iran has a population of over seventy million. Iran borders Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan to the north, Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, and Turkey and Iraq to the west. Being a littoral state of the Caspian sea (an internal sea and condominium), also Kazakhstan and Russia are Iran’s direct neighbours.

Iran is home to one of the world’s oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to 4000 BC.^[5][6][7] Throughout history, Iran has been of geostrategic importance because of its central location in Eurasia and is a regional power.^[8][9] Iran is a founding member of the UN, NAM, OIC, and OPEC. The political system of Iran, based on the 1979 Constitution, comprises several intricately connected governing bodies. The highest state authority is the Supreme Leader, currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran occupies an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. The name Iran is a cognate of Aryan, and means “Land of the Aryans“.^[10][11][12] “Land of Kindness” (سرزمين مهر) is used as an alternative name for Iran in Persian literature and Iranian media

Varna (Bulgarian: Варна) is the largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, and 81st-largest in the European Union, with a population of 349,031.^[1] The actual daily population, including commuters, is widely believed to have made it the country’s second-largest city.^[2]

Commonly referred to as the marine capital (or summer capital) of Bulgaria, Varna is a major tourist destination, university centre, seaport, and headquarters of the Bulgarian Navy and merchant marine, as well as the centre of Varna Province and Bulgaria’s North-Eastern planning region (NUTS II), comprising the provinces of Dobrich, Shumen, Targovishte, and Varna.

Bulgaria (Bulgarian: България, Balgariya,^[1] pronounced IPA: [bɤlˈgarijə]), officially the Republic of Bulgaria (Република България, Republika Balgariya, pronounced IPA: [rɛˈpubliˌkə bɤlˈgarijə]) re-incarnates one of the oldest states in Europe^[3], located in Southeastern Europe, bordering five other countries: Romania to the north (mostly along the Danube), Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south. The Black Sea defines the extent of the country to the east.

Bulgaria comprises the classical regions of Moesia, Thrace, and Macedonia. Old European culture in the region started to produce golden artifacts by the fifth millennium BCE.

The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name, language, and alphabet) of the First Bulgarian Empire (632/681 – 1018), which at times covered most of the Balkans and spread its alphabet, literature and culture among the Slavic and other peoples of Eastern Europe. Centuries later, with the decline of the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185 – 1396/1422), the country came under Ottoman rule for nearly five centuries. Diplomacy re-established Bulgaria as a constitutional monarchy in 1878, with the Treaty of San Stefano marking the birth of the Third Bulgarian Kingdom. After World War II, Bulgaria became a communist state and part of the Eastern Bloc. In 1990, after the Revolutions of 1989, the Communists gave up their monopoly on power and Bulgaria transitioned to democracy and free-market capitalism.

Currently, Bulgaria functions as a parliamentary democracy under a unitary constitutional republic. A member of the European Union since 2007 and NATO since 2004, it has a population of approximately 7.7 million, with Sofia as its capital and largest city.