Map of Bulgaria | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide19891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023 | More stats

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Background: Bulgaria earned its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1878 but having fought on the losing side in both World Wars it fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990 when Bulgaria held its first multi-party election since World War II and began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy while combating inflation unemployment corruption and crime. Today reforms and democratization keep Bulgaria on a path toward eventual integration into NATO and the EU - with which it began accession negotiations in 2000.


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

Geographic coordinates: 43 00 N 25 00 E

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 110,910 km²
Land: 110,550 km²
Water: 360 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than Tennessee

Land boundaries
Total: 1,808 km
Border countries: (5) Greece 494 km; , The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 148 km; , Romania 608 km; , Yugoslavia 318 km; , 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
Extremes lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
Extremes highest point: Musala 2,925 m

Natural resources: bauxite copper lead zinc coal timber arable land

Land use
Arable land: 43%
Permanent crops: 2%
Permanent pastures: 14%
Forests and woodland: 38%
Other: 3% (1999 est.)

Irrigated land: 12,370 km² (1993 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: earthquakes landslides

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


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Population: 7,707,495 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: -1.14% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: 35% (2000 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Bulgarian
Adjective: Bulgarian

Ethnic groups: Bulgarian 83% Turk 8.5% Roma 2.6% Macedonian Armenian Tatar Gagauz Circassian others (1998)

Languages: Bulgarian secondary languages closely correspond to ethnic breakdown

Religions: Bulgarian Orthodox 83.5% Muslim 13% Roman Catholic 1.5% Uniate Catholic 0.2% Jewish 0.8% Protestant Gregorian-Armenian and other 1% (1998)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 15.11% (male 597,765; female 567,030)
15-64 years: 68.17% (male 2,588,805; female 2,665,736)
65 years and over: 16.72% (male 543,665; female 744,494) (2001 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: -1.14% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 8.06 births/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 14.53 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: -4.9 migrant(s)/1000 population (2001 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
International agreements party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.06 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.05 male/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male/female
65 years and over: 0.73 male/female
Total population: 0.94 male/female (2001 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 14.65 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 71.2 years
Male: 67.72 years
Female: 74.89 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.13 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.01% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: less than 100 (1999 est.)

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 98%
Male: 99%
Female: 98% (1999)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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

Government type: parliamentary democracy

Capital: Sofia

Administrative divisions: 28 provinces (oblasti singular - oblast); Blagoevgrad Burgas Dobrich Gabrovo Khaskovo Kurdzhali Kyustendil Lovech Montana Pazardzhik Pernik Pleven Plovdiv Razgrad Ruse Shumen Silistra Sliven Smolyan Sofiya Sofiya-Grad Stara Zagora Turgovishte Varna Veliko Turnovo Vidin Vratsa Yambol

Dependent areas

Independence: 3 March 1878 (from Ottoman Empire)

National holiday: Liberation Day 3 March (1878)

Constitution: adopted 12 July 1991

Legal system: civil law and criminal law based on Roman law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Petar STOYANOV (since 22 January 1997); Vice President Todor KAVALDZHIEV (since 22 January 1997)
Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) Ivan KOSTOV (since 19 May 1997); Deputy Prime Minister Petur ZHOTEV (since 21 December 1999)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers elected by the National Assembly
Elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms; election last held 27 October and 3 November 1996 (next to be held NA 2001); chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) nominated by the president; deputy prime ministers nominated by the prime minister
Election results: Petar STOYANOV elected president; percent of vote - Petar STOYANOV 59.73%

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 17 June 2001 (next to be held NA June 2005)
Election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - National Movement for Simeon II 120, UDF 51, BSP 48, DPS 21

Judicial branch: Supreme Administrative Court; Supreme Court of Cassation; Constitutional Court (12 justices appointed or elected for nine-year terms); Supreme Judicial Council (consists of the chairmen of the two Supreme Courts the Chief Prosecutor and 22 other members; responsible for appointing the justices prosecutors and investigating magistrates in the justice system; members of the Supreme Judicial Council elected for five-year terms 11 elected by the National Assembly and 11 by bodies of the judiciary)

Political parties and leaders: Alliance for National Salvation or ANS (coalition led mainly by Movement for Rights and Freedoms or MRF) [Ahmed DOGAN]; Bulgarian Business Bloc or BBB [Georgi GANCHEV]; Bulgarian Socialist Party or BSP [Georgi PURVANOV chairman]; Democratic Left or DL (bloc led by BSP includes Ecoglasnost Political Club and Bulgarian Agrarian National Union) [leader NA]; Euro-left [Aleksandur TOMOV]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization or UMRO [Aleksander KARAKACHNOV]; Kingdom of Bulgaria Federation [leader NA]; Movement for Rights and Freedom or DPS [Ahmed DOGAN]; National Movement for Simeon II [Simeon II former king]; New Civic Party for Bulgaria [Bogomil BONEV]; People's Union or PU (includes Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union and Democratic Party) [Anastasiya MOZER]; St. George's Day [Lyuben DILOV]; Union of Democratic Forces or UDF (an alliance of pro-democratic parties) [Ivan KOSTOV]

International organization participation: ACCT BIS BSEC CCC CE CEI CERN EAPC EBRD ECE EU (applicant) FAO G- 9 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICFTU ICRM IFC IFRCS IHO (pending member) ILO IMF IMO Inmarsat Intelsat Interpol IOC IOM ISO ITU NAM (guest) NSG OAS (observer) OPCW OSCE PCA PFP UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UNMEE UNMIBH UNMIK UNMOP UPU WCL WEU (associate partner) WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Philip DIMITROV
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
In the us consulates: New York
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Richard M. MILES
From the us embassy: 1 Suborna Street, Sofia
From the us mailing address: American Embassy Sofia, Department of State, Washington, DC 20,521-5,740
From the us telephone: [359] (2) 980-52-41
From the us fax: [359] (2) 981-89-77

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


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Economy overview: Bulgaria a former communist country struggling to enter the European market economy suffered a major economic downturn in 1996 and 1997 with triple digit inflation and GDP contraction of 10.6% and 6.9%. The current government - which took office in May 1997 after pre-term parliamentary elections - stabilized the economy and promoted growth by implementing a currency board practicing sound financial policies invigorating privatization and pursuing structural reforms. Additionally strong assistance from international financial institutions - most notably the IMF which approved a three-year Extended Fund Facility worth approximately $900 million in September 1998 - played a critical role in turning the economy around. After several years of tumult Bulgaria's economy has stabilized. Its better-than-expected economic performance in 1999 - despite the impact of the Kosovo conflict the 1998 Russian financial crisis and structural reforms - and strong growth in 2000 portends solid growth over the next few years; this assumes continued fiscal restraint additional structural reforms aid from abroad and prosperous times in the EU economy.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 5% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita ppp

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 15%
Industry: 29%
Services: 56% (2000 est.)

Agriculture products: vegetables fruits tobacco livestock wine wheat barley sunflowers sugar beets

Industries: electricity gas and water; food beverages and tobacco; machinery and equipment base metals chemical products coke refined petroleum nuclear fuel

Industrial production growth rate: 10.8% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 3.83 million (2000 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 26%
By occupation industry: 31%
By occupation services: 43% (1998 est.)

Unemployment rate: 17.7% (2000 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 35% (2000 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 3.4%
Highest 10: 22.5% (1995)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $4.85 billion
Expenditures: $4.92 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)

Public debt

Taxes and other revenues

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Current account balance

Inflation rate consumer prices: 10.4% (2000 est.)

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: $4.8 billion (f.o.b. 2000 est.)
Commodities: clothing footwear iron and steel machinery and equipment fuels
Partners: Italy 14% Turkey 10% Germany 9% Greece 8% Yugoslavia 8% Belgium 6% France 5% US 4% (2000)

Imports: $5.9 billion (f.o.b. 2000 est.)
Commodities: fuels minerals and raw materials; machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; food textiles
Partners: Russia 24% Germany 14% Italy 8% Greece 5% France 5% Romania 4% Turkey 3% US 3% (2000)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $10.4 billion (2000 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates
Note: on 5 July 1999, the lev was redenominated; the post-5 July 1999 lev is equal to 1,000 of the pre-5 July 1999 lev


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Electricity access

Electricity production: 36.217 billion kWh (1999)
By source fossil fuel: 51.52%
By source hydro: 8.35%
By source nuclear: 40.12%
By source other: 0.01% (1999)

Electricity consumption: 33.182 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity exports: 2.2 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity imports: 1.7 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity installed generating capacity

Electricity transmission distribution losses

Electricity generation sources

Petroleum

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones fixed lines

Telephones mobile cellular: 596,000 (2000)

Telephone system
General assessment: extensive but antiquated
Domestic: more than two-thirds of the lines are residential; telephone service is available in most villages; a fairly modern digital cable trunk line now connects switching centers in most of the regions, the others are connected by digital microwave radio relay
International: direct dialing to 58 countries; satellite earth stations - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region); 2 Intelsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions)

Broadcast media

Internet country code: .bg

Internet users: 200,000 (2000)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $344 million (FY00)
Percent of gdp: 2.4% (FY00)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 215 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 128
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 19
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 15
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1
With paved runways under 914 m: 92 (2000 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 87
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 2
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 10
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 75 (2000 est.)

Airports with paved runways
Total: 128
Over 3047 m: 1
2438 to 3047 m: 19
15-24 to 2437 m: 15
914 to 1523 m: 1
Under 914 m: 92 (2000 est.)

Airports with unpaved runways
Total: 87
15-24 to 2437 m: 2
914 to 1523 m: 10
Under 914 m: 75 (2000 est.)

Heliports: 1 (2000 est.)

Pipelines: petroleum products 525 km; natural gas 1500 km (1999)

Railways
Total: 4,294 km
Standard gauge: 4,049 km 1.435-m gauge (2,710 km electrified; 917 km double track)
Narrow gauge: 245 km 0.760-m gauge (1998)

Roadways

Waterways: 470 km (1987)

Merchant marine
Total: 81 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 938,706 GRT/1,440,374 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 44, cargo 16, chemical tanker 4, container 2, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 6, railcar carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 3, short-sea passenger 1, specialized tanker 1 (2000 est.)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs