Map of Bulgaria | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

top of page


Background: A Slavic state, Bulgaria achieved independence in 1908 after 500 years of Ottoman rule. Bulgaria fought on the losing side in both World Wars. After World War II it fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. Communist domination ended in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, and Bulgaria began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy. In addition to the problems of structural economic reform, particularly privatization, Bulgaria faces the serious issues of keeping inflation under control and unemployment, combatting corruption, and curbing black-market and mafia-style crime.


top of page


Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe

Area
Total area total: 110,910 km²
Land: 110,550 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than Tennessee

Land boundaries: total 1,808 km, Greece 494 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia and Montenegro 318 km (all with Serbia), Turkey 240 km

Coastline: 354 km

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers

Terrain: mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast

Elevation

Natural resources: bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land

Land use
Arable land: 34%
Permanent crops: 3%
Meadows and pastures: 18%
Forest and woodland: 35%
Other: 10%

Irrigated land: 10 km² (1989 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia


top of page


Population: 8,775,198 (July 1995 est.)
Growth rate: -0.25% (1995 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Bulgarian(s)
Adjective: Bulgarian

Ethnic groups: Bulgarian 85.3%, Turk 8.5%, Gypsy 2.6%, Macedonian 2.5%, Armenian 0.3%, Russian 0.2%, other 0.6%

Languages: Bulgarian; secondary languages closely correspond to ethnic breakdown

Religions: Bulgarian Orthodox 85%, Muslim 13%, Jewish 0.8%, Roman Catholic 0.5%, Uniate Catholic 0.2%, Protestant, Gregorian-Armenian, and other 0.5%

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 19% (female 800,413; male 841,697)
15-64 years: 66% (female 2,927,880; male 2,910,133)
65 years and over: 15% (female 735,706; male 559,369) (July 1995 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: -0.25% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 11.75 births/1000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 11.31 deaths/1000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: -2.91 migrant(s)/1000 population (1995 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: air pollution from industrial emissions; rivers polluted from raw sewage, heavy metals, detergents; deforestation; forest damage from air pollution and resulting acid rain; soil contamination from heavy metals from metallurgical plants and industrial wastes
Current issues natural hazards: earthquakes, landslides
Current issues international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic Treaty, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 11.4 deaths/1000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 73.68 years
Male: 70.43 years
Female: 77.1 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.71 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1992)
Total population: 98%
Male: 99%
Female: 97%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


top of page


Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Bulgaria
Conventional short form: Bulgaria

Government type: emerging democracy

Capital: Sofia

Administrative divisions: 9 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast; Burgas, Grad Sofiya, Khaskovo, Lovech, Montana, Plovdiv, Ruse, Sofiya, Varna

Dependent areas

Independence: 22 September 1908 (from Ottoman Empire)

National holiday: Independence Day 3 March (1878)

Constitution: adopted 12 July 1991

Legal system: based on civil law system, with Soviet law influence; has accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Zhelyu Mitev ZHELEV (since 1 August 1990); Vice President (vacant); election last held January 1992; results - Zhelyu ZHELEV was elected by popular vote
Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) Zhan VIDENOV (since 25 January 1995); Deputy Prime Ministers Doncho KONAKCHIEV, Kiril TSOCHEV, Rumen GECHEV, Svetoslav SHIVAROV (since 25 January 1995)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers; elected by the National Assembly

Legislative branch: unicameral
National Assembly Narodno Sobranie: last held 18 December 1994 (next to be held NA 1997); results - BSP 43.5%, UDF 24.2%, PU 6.5%, MRF 5.4%, BBB 4.7%; seats - (240 total) BSP 125, UDF 69, PU 18, MRF 15, BBB 13

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, Constitutional Court

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: ACCT, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI (associate members), EBRD, ECE, FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Snezhana Damianova BOTUSHAROVA
In the us chancery: 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 387-7,969
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 234-7,973
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador William D. MONTGOMERY
From the us embassy: 1 Saborna Street, Sofia
From the us mailing address: Unit 1335, Sofia; APO AE 9,213-1335
From the us telephone: [359] (2) 88-48-01 through 05
From the us FAX: [359] (2) 80-19-77

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red; the national emblem formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe has been removed - it contained a rampant lion within a wreath of wheat ears below a red five-pointed star and above a ribbon bearing the dates 681 (first Bulgarian state established) and 1944 (liberation from Nazi control)

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


top of page


Economy overview: The Bulgarian economy continued its painful adjustment in 1994 from the misdirected development undertaken during four decades of Communist rule. Many aspects of a market economy have been put in place and have begun to function, but much of the economy, especially the industrial sector, has yet to re-establish market links lost with the collapse of the other centrally planned Soviet Bloc economies. The prices of many imported industrial inputs, especially energy products, have risen markedly, and falling real wages have not sufficed to restore competitiveness. The government plans more extensive privatization in 1995 to improve the management of enterprises and to encourage foreign investment. Bulgaria resumed payments on its $10 billion in commercial debt in 1993 following the negotiation of a 50% write-off.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 0.2% (1994 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $3,830 (1994 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: climate and soil conditions support livestock raising and the growing of various grain crops, oilseeds, vegetables, fruits, and tobacco; more than one-third of the arable land: devoted to grain; world's fourth-largest tobacco exporter; surplus food producer

Industries: machine building and metal working, food processing, chemicals, textiles, building materials, ferrous and nonferrous metals

Industrial production growth rate: 4% (1994; accounts for about 37% of GDP (1990)

Labor force: 4.3 million
By occupation industry: 33%
By occupation agriculture: 20%
By occupation other: 47% (1987)

Unemployment rate: 16% (1994)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $14 billion
Expenditures: $17.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $610 million (1993 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $3.6 billion (f.o.b., 1993)
Commodoties: machinery and equipment 30.6%; agricultural products 24%; manufactured consumer goods 22.2%; fuels, minerals, raw materials, and metals 10.5%; other 12.7% (1991)
Partners: former CEMA countries 57.7% (FSU 48.6%, Poland 2.1%, Czechoslovakia 0.9%; developed countries 26.3% (Germany 4.8%, Greece 2.2%; less developed countries 15.9% (Libya 2.1%, Iran 0.7%) (1991)

Imports: $4.3 billion (c.i.f., 1993)
Commodoties: fuels, minerals, and raw materials 58.7%; machinery and equipment 15.8%; manufactured consumer goods 4.4%; agricultural products 15.2%; other 5.9%
Partners: former CEMA countries 51.0% (FSU 43.2%, Poland 3.7%; developed countries 32.8% (Germany 7.0%, Austria 4.7%; less developed countries 16.2% (Iran 2.8%, Libya 2.5%)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $12 billion (1994)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: leva (Lv) per US$1 - 67.04 (January 1995), 32.00 (January 1994), 24.56 (January 1993), 17.18 (January 1992), 16.13 (March 1991), 0.7446 (November 1990; note - floating exchange rate since February 1991


top of page


Electricity
Capacity: 11,500,000 kW
Production: 35.9 billion kWh
Production consumption per capita: 3,827 kWh (1993)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


top of page


Telephones

Telephone system: 2,600,000 telephones; 29 telephones/100 persons (1992); extensive but antiquated transmission system of coaxial cable and microwave radio relay; direct dialing to 36 countries; telephone service is available in most villages; almost two-thirds of the lines are residential; 67% of Sofia households have phones (November 1988)
Local: NA
Intercity: NA
International: 1 earth station using Intersputnik; INTELSAT link used through a Greek earth station

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


top of page


Military expenditures: 13 billion leva, NA% of GDP (1994 est.), note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


top of page


National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 355
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 17
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 10
With paved runways under 914 m: 88
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 2
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2438 m: 1
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 10
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 226

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil 193 km; petroleum products 525 km; natural gas 1,400 km (1992)

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 470 km (1987)

Merchant marine
Total: 109 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,191,231 GRT/1,762,461 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 47, cargo 29, chemical carrier 4, container 2, oil tanker 15, passenger-cargo 2, railcar carrier 2, roll-on/roll-off cargo 6, short-sea passenger 1, refrigerated cargo 1
Note: Bulgaria owns 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 12,960 DWT operating under Liberian registry

Ports and terminals


top of page


Disputes international: none

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for southwest Asian heroin and South American cocaine transiting the Balkan route; limited producer of precursor chemicals