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Capitals of the world
Sofia, capital of Bulgaria: facts and figures
Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria. It has about 1,280,000 residents, which makes it the 100th most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 548 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is Skopje, 174 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Bulgaria |
| Continent | Europe |
| City population | 1,280,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 100th of 172 |
| Elevation | 548 m |
| Founded | not reported |
| Time zone | Europe/Sofia |
| Coordinates | 42.70° N, 23.32° E |
| Country population | 6,433,302 residents |
| Country GDP | 130.8 billion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $20,328 |
| Life expectancy | 75.8 years |
| Internet users | 82.4 % |
| Big Mac price | not reported |
Climate through the year
Sofia averages 1.9 °C in winter and 21.6 °C in summer. January is the coldest month of the year and July the warmest, and the city receives 667 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | 0.1 °C |
| February | 3.3 °C |
| March | 5.8 °C |
| April | 10.8 °C |
| May | 15.3 °C |
| June | 19.8 °C |
| July | 22.5 °C |
| August | 22.5 °C |
| September | 18.0 °C |
| October | 12.2 °C |
| November | 6.7 °C |
| December | 2.4 °C |
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. Skopje is the closest capital to Sofia.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Skopje | North Macedonia | 174 km |
| Bucharest | Romania | 295 km |
| Tirana | Albania | 327 km |
| Belgrade | Serbia | 327 km |
| Podgorica | Montenegro | 334 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach Sofia to a place and a number you already know: it is 174 km from Skopje, and it is the 100th largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how Bulgaria compares with every other country on figures like these, the richest countries by GDP per capita ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria, in Europe, with about 1,280,000 residents, averaging 1.9 °C in winter and 21.6 °C in summer.
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Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of Bulgaria?
Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria. It has about 1,280,000 residents and lies in Europe.
How many people live in Sofia?
About 1,280,000, which ranks Sofia 100th of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in Sofia?
Sofia averages 1.9 °C in winter and 21.6 °C in summer, with 667 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is Sofia?
GDP per capita in the country is $20,328, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- Skopje, capital of North Macedonia: facts and figures
Skopje is the capital of North Macedonia: 590,000 residents, 251 m above sea level, 3.4 °C in winter and 24.9 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Bucharest, capital of Romania: facts and figures
Bucharest is the capital of Romania: 1,800,000 residents, 83 m above sea level, 1.9 °C in winter and 23.9 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Tirana, capital of Albania: facts and figures
Tirana is the capital of Albania: 520,000 residents, 119 m above sea level, 7.7 °C in winter and 25.0 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.