Geography of Thailand political development of this region. International access through the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand made the south a crossroads for both Theravada Buddhism, centered at Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Islam, especially in the former Pattani Kingdom on the border with Malaysia. Thailand's regions are divided politically into a total of 76 provinces plus Bangkok, which is a special administrative area. Thailand's climate is influenced by monsoon winds that have a seasonal character (the southwest and northeast monsoon). The southwest monsoon, which starts from May until October is characterized by movement of warm, moist air from the Indian Ocean
Provinces of Bulgaria Provinces of Bulgaria The provinces of Bulgaria ( Oblasti na Bǎlgarija) are the first level administrative subdivisions of the country. Since 1999, Bulgaria has been divided into 28 provinces ( – "oblasti;" singular: област – "oblast"; also translated as "regions") which correspond approximately to the 28 districts (in Bulgarian: окръг – "okrags", plural: окръзи – "okrǎzi"), that existed before 1987. The provinces are further subdivided into 265 municipalities (singular: община – "obshtina", plural: общини – "obshtini"). Sofia – the capital city of Bulgaria and the largest settlement in the country, is the administrative centre of both Sofia Province and Sofia