City and capitel of Bulgaria, in Sofia Region, on an elevated plain at the foot of
the Balkan Mountains, in the western part of the country.
It is Bulgaria's largest city and its chief commercial, manufacturing,
transportation, and cultural center. Major manufactures include metal, 
wood, and rubber products, machinery, chemicals, electronic and
transportation equipment, processed food, textiles, clothing, footwear,
and printed materials. Government activities, construction, and tourism are
also important in the city's economic base.
Sofia is the site of the University of Sofia (1888); higher institutes of
chemical technology, engineering, forestry, mining, economics,
and fine arts; the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (1869); the
Academy of Medicine (1972); the Bulgarian State Conservatory
(1904); and Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius National Library (1878). 
Among the city's many museums are the National Natural History Museum;
the National Archaeological Museum; the National Art Gallery, with a
collection of Bulgarian and foreign art; the National Ethnographical
Museum, with displays of regional ethnography and folklore items;
and the Museum of Sofia's History. Other points of interest include 
the 4th-century Church of Saint George, the oldest structure in the city;
the ruins of the 6th-century Church of Saint Sofia; Alexander Nevsky Cathedral; 
and the 15th-century Buyuk Dzhamiya Mosque.
A Thracian settlement on the site of the present-day city was captured by
the Romans around 29 BC. In the early 2nd century AD the community was
fortified by the Roman emperor Trajan and was known as Serdica
(Greek Sardica). The community was plundered and burned by the 
Huns around 447 and was rebuilt during the 6th century by the Byzantine 
emperor Justinian I. In 809 it was taken by the Bulgarians, who renamed
the settlement Sredets, but it again came under Byzantine rule from 
1018 to 1185, when the Second Bulgarian Empire was established.
In 1382 the town was captured by the Ottomans. About this time the name Sofia
taken from the 6th-century church, came into use. Bulgaria became independent
of the Ottomans in 1878, and the following year Sofia was chosen as the nationa
l capital. During World War II (1939-1945) the city suffered heavy damage, but it
was rebuilt after 1945. During the early and mid-1990s, rising rents and housing
shortages were a constant problem in Sofia, and food and water shortages
necessitated rationing. Population (1992 estimate) 1,114,476.