Nikolay Doychinov / AFP - Getty Images

A man rides a bicycle as he passes by a sign marking the entrance of the village of Barakovo, Bulgaria on Jan. 21, 2013.

A tiny Bulgarian village that says it is a namesake of Barack Obama will be closely following the U.S. President's second inauguration today and is hopeful he will one day come and visit.

The residents of the southwestern village of Barakovo, which means "of Barak" in Bulgarian, saw their wish come true in a way last week when the cultural attache of the U.S. embassy in Sofia, Richard Damstra, presented them with a lifesize cardboard cut-out of Obama. Since then, young and old have come to see "the president" and have their picture taken with him. 

"We don't really know where the name of the village came from but we found the phonetic resemblance when Obama won his first term," Barakovo mayor Julieta Lazarova told AFP.

-- Agence France-Presse

Nikolay Doychinov / AFP - Getty Images

Children from Barakovo's kindergarten pose for a picture next to a life-size cardboard cut-out of Barack Obama, inside the village's cultural club on Jan. 21, 2013.