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Extending south from the River Danube, Bulgaria has a mountainous interior, with the popular resorts of the Black Sea to the east. The most populated areas are around Sofia in the west, Plovdiv in the south, and along the Danube plain. Bulgaria was directly ruled by the Ottomans until 1878; Communists overthrew the monarchy in 1946 and, under General Secretary Todor Zhivkov from 1954, Bulgaria was one of the Soviet Union's most loyal allies. Economic and political reform after 1989 was slow, but Bulgaria now hopes to build its future as an integral part of Europe.