Situated in south-East Europe, Bulgaria occupies the north-eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The country’s total territory is 111 000 sq. km (43 000 sq. miles). Bulgaria has existed for more than 13 centuries in Europe, linking East and West. Bulgaria has various protected areas and natural parks, one of which is Vitosha Mountain. It rises immediately above Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital and is one of the symbols of the capital. With its highest peak - Cherni Vrah (2286 m.) it occupies the fourth place among the Bulgarian mountains.

Vitosha includes two wildlife reserves, three climatic zones, varied flora and fauna, curative mineral springs and a rare natural phenomenon - eight Moraines. These so-called "stone rivers" (moreni) are piles of huge rounded granite stones on many of the river valleys reaching up to 2 km in length and 50 m in width. Similar phenomena can be seen in other Bulgarian mountains too, the Vitosha Moreni however being unique. They are the symbol of the mountain.

Vitosha is an attractive tourist destination, both in summer and winter; it is a popular mountain resort for winter holidays and skiing, with modern hotels and ski facilities.

Vitosha is the first park in Bulgaria and on the Balkan Peninsula and is among the first ones in Europe as well. The park was declared as such in 1934 with a total area of 6 410 hectares. During the years the territory has been changed many times and today it is 26 606 hectares, which is over 90% of the total mountain.

Vitosha National Park is a home to a multitude of species of butterflies, birds and many mammals. Opened in 1934, it covers the whole of Vitosha mountain, once covered by the "Great Bulgarian Forest". Besides being rich in fauna, it also offers shelter to wolves, bears and even wild cats and a host of less dangerous animals like the badger and the deer.

The Bulgarian information node to the European NATURE-GIS network aims at providing GIS information and services, presentation and exchange of GIS information about Vitosha and other protected areas in Bulgaria and in particular about the parks in Bulgaria (3 national and 10 natural parks). Currently the information node presents information and maps of the Natural Park VITOSHA.

The services, which the information node offers are: visualization of GIS maps and GIS information, simple and/or combined search by categories specified using GML such as: name, size, date of establishment of the protected area, geographic description etc. Categories can be combined, and all protected areas stored in the database can be displayed with links to the corresponding maps, to the meta database and metadata search facility. Other data that can be requested are data about forestry, tourist and other maps with related information. The search can be done by specific information, such as species etc within the thematic modules of the service. This can be linked to legislative information or other related subjects.

Open Source software is used for the realization of the Bulgarian node, in particular Apache web server, web map service and web map server, XML, PHP. Data are stored in GIS shape files, along with other data, proprietary formats. The application thus demonstrates that various, previously incompatible formats could be made visible together using OGC’s web services and specifications.

The information node is designed to serve mostly the general public and could be used for tourist, educational and other purposes. Tourists can choose their hiking trails, can study fauna and flora on their paths, understand the geology of the mountain and its history, as well as get information about the level of protection. Teachers can use the material to inform pupils about all aspects of the nature and prepare excursions on Vitosha to study geography or the flora directly.