The National Museum of Natural History ( bg, Национален природонаучен музей, ''Natsionalen prirodonauchen muzey''; abbreviated НПМ, NMNHS) of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
is a
natural history museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
located in
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
, the capital of Bulgaria, on Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard, next to the
Russian church. Founded in 1889, it is affiliated with the
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and is the first and largest museum of this kind in the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
.
The Museum's collection includes over 400 stuffed mammals, over 1,200 species of birds, hundreds of thousands of insects and other invertebrates, as well as samples of about one quarter of the world's mineral species.
The National Museum of Natural History was founded in 1889 as the Natural History Museum of
Knyaz Ferdinand of Bulgaria
, image = Zar Ferdinand Bulgarien.jpg
, caption = Ferdinand in 1912
, reign = 5 October 1908 –
, coronation =
, succession = Tsar of Bulgaria
, predecessor = Himself as Prince
, successor = Boris III
, rei ...
, with various foreign and Bulgarian specialists (e.g.
Ivan Buresh, director from 1913 to 1947) serving as its directors until 1947, when the museum became part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences' Zoological Institute. The Museum became autonomous as a separate institute within the system of BAS in 1974. In 1992, the
Asenovgrad Palaeontology Museum, an NMNH branch in
Asenovgrad
Asenovgrad ( bg, Асеновград ) is a town in central southern Bulgaria, part of Plovdiv Province. It is the largest town in Bulgaria that is not a province center. Previously known as ''Stanimaka'' (; el, Στενήμαχος), it was ...
, was formed.
Currently the museum publishes
Historia naturalis bulgarica journal.
Departments
* Palaeontology and Mineralogy
* Botany
* Invertebrates
* Vertebrates
See also
*
Boyan Petrov
Boyan Petrov ( bg, Боян Петров, born 7 February 1973 – disappeared 5 May 2018) was a Bulgarian zoologist and mountaineer, who worked at the National Museum of Natural History in Sofia.
External links
Official website of the National Museum of Natural History(in Bulgarian and English)
Museums in Sofia
Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
Museums established in 1889
Natural history museums in Bulgaria
Science museums in Bulgaria
Fossil museums
Geology museums in Bulgaria
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