Bulgaria is a small country with a total area of 111 000 sq. km. It is famous for its natural ancient beauty and nice climate. The capital, Sofia, is situated in the Western part of the country with over 2,000,000 citizens. Sofia is the highest capital in Europe (550m) and is a modern as well as attractive city. It is dominated by the Vitosha mountain to the south which is the home of the famous ski resort, Vitosha. The Black sea is on the Eastern side of Bulgaria. It has a 380 km. long coastal strip with extraordinary golden beaches with a lot of resorts and holiday places. The hottest month is July when, the temperature of the sea water reaches 27 degrees. The most famous resorts are Sunny Beach, Golden sands, Sozopol and Albena. There are many other resorts and vacation areas which have gained popularity in the recent years with the help of Bulgaria property investors such as Elenite, Ravda, Lozenec, etc. The highest mountain of the Balkan-peninsula is called Rila (m. Musala - 2925m) and it’s in the south of Bulgaria. This is where the Rila monastery is located - the largest monastery in the Balkans and the "7 Rila lakes" - alpine lakes with unusual funny shapes. Both are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. There are a further 15 mountains in Bulgaria with their own characteristic features. There are also deep valleys and high plateaus and more than 550 curative, natural mineral springs and many Spa resorts with beautiful recreational facilities. The hottest, natural mineral spring is in Banya near Plovdiv where the temperature in the spring is around 102C. The most attractive region of all is the Rose valley. The valley is spread along a 180 km area in the Thracian with beautiful plantations of roses. Bulgaria is famous for supplying about 75% of the world export of rose oil which is a key ingredient in most of the cosmetic products. There are so much more other natural phenomena such as 2000 magnificent caves where the first traces of human settlements were found dating back to 200,000 years ago. Bulgaria's vegetation’s ranking is among the best in the Central European forest region where the influence of the South Russian and Asia Minor regions can be felt. The higher part of Bulgarian mountains is covered by sub-arctic vegetation, among which juniper forests predominate. In fact, Bulgaria boasts 3000 higher plant varieties - almost twice as many as in England. More then one quarter of the country's territory is covered with forests. The edelweiss which grows in places with difficult access in the Pirin Mountains and the Balkan Range, is one of the rare plants growing in the country. The fishing industry is very well developed. There are a lot of areas on the sea and on the rivers. Fishing is also possible in the lakes, dams and mountain brooks.