Map of Bulgaria | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
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Background: The Bulgars a Central Asian Turkic tribe merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans but by the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Turks. Bulgaria regained its independence 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 multiparty 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
Water: 360 km²
Land: 110,550 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; , Serbia and Montenegro 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: 39%
Permanent crops: 1.8%
Other: 59.2% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 8,000 km² (1998 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: 7,621,337 (July 2002 est.)
Growth rate: -1.11% (2002 est.)
Below poverty line: 35% (2000 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Bulgarian
Adjective: Bulgarian

Ethnic groups: Bulgarian 83.6% Turk 9.5% Roma 4.6% other 2.3% (including Macedonian Armenian Tatar Circassian) (1998)

Languages: Bulgarian secondary languages closely correspond to ethnic breakdown

Religions: Bulgarian Orthodox 83.8% Muslim 12.1% Roman Catholic 1.7% Jewish 0.1% Protestant Gregorian-Armenian and other 2.3% (1998)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 14.6% (male 572,961; female 543,004)
15-64 years: 68.5% (male 2,569,199; female 2,648,461)
65 years and over: 16.9% (male 540,109; female 747,603) (2002 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: -1.11% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 8.05 births/1000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 14.42 deaths/1000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -4.74 migrant(s)/1000 population (2002 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-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, 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-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.06 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.06 male/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male/female
65 years and over: 0.72 male/female
Total population: 0.94 male/female (2002 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 14.18 deaths/1000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 71.5 years
Female: 75.22 years (2002 est.)
Male: 67.98 years

Total fertility rate: 1.13 children born/woman (2002 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: 346 (2000)
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 Georgi PURVANOV (since 22 January 2002); Vice President Angel MARIN (since 22 January 2002)
Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) Simeon SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA (since 24 July 2001); Deputy Prime Ministers Nikolay VASILEV (since 24 July 2001), Kostadin PASKALEV (since 24 July 2001), and Lidiya SHULEVA (since 24 July 2001)
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 11 November and 18 November 2001 (next to be held NA 2006); chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) nominated by the president; deputy prime ministers nominated by the prime minister
Election results: Georgi PURVANOV elected president; percent of vote - Georgi PURVANOV 54.13%, Petar STOYANOV 45.87%

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 17 June 2001 (next to be held NA June 2005)
Election results: percent of vote by party - NMS2 42.74%, UtdDF 18.18%, CFB 17.15%, MRF 7.45%; seats by party - NMS2 120, UtdDF 51, CFB 48, MRF 21; note - seating as of March 2003 - NMS2 110, UtdDF 50, CFB 48, MRF 20, independents 12

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: Bulgarian Socialist Party or BSP [Sergei STANISHEV]; Coalition for Bulgaria or CfB (coalition of parties dominated by BSP) [Sergei STANISHEV]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization or VMRO [Krasimir KARAKACHANOV]; Movement for Rights and Freedoms or MRF [Ahmed DOGAN]; National Movement for Simeon II or NMS2 [Simeon SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA]; People's Union or PU (includes Bulgarian Agrarian National Union and Democratic Party) [Anastasiya MOZER]; St. George's Day [Lyuben DILOV Jr.]; Union of Democratic Forces or UDF [Ekaterina NADEZHDA]; Union of Free Democrats or UFD [Stefan SOFIYANSKI]; United Democratic Forces or UtdDF (a coalition between the UDF and PU dominated by the former)

International organization participation: ACCT Australia Group 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 Interpol IOC IOM ISO ITU NAM (guest) NSG OAS (observer) OPCW OSCE PCA PFP UN UN Security Council (temporary) 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-designate Elena POPTODOROVA
In the us consulates: New York
In the us fax: [1] (202) 234-7,973
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 387-7,969
In the us chancery: 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20,008
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador James William PARDEW
From the us embassy: 1 Suborna Street, Sofia 1000
From the us mailing address: American Embassy Sofia, Department of State, Washington, DC 20,521-5,740
From the us telephone: [359] (2) 937-5,100
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 striving to enter the European Union has experienced macroeconomic stability and positive growth rates since a major economic downturn in 1996 led to the fall of the then socialist government. A $300 million stand-by agreement negotiated with the IMF at the end of 2001 will help the government maintain economic stability as it seeks to overcome high rates of poverty and unemployment and at the same time cut the budget deficit and contain inflation.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 3.4% (2002 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,600 (2002 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 14%
Industry: 29%
Services: 58% (2001)

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: 2% (2002 est.)

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

Unemployment rate: 18% (2002 est.)

Youth unemployment

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

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 5%
Highest 10: 23% (1997)

Distribution of family income gini index: 26 (2001)

Budget
Revenues: $5.57 billion
Expenditures: $5.68 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 5.9% (2002 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: $5.3 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Commodities: clothing footwear iron and steel machinery and equipment fuels
Partners: Italy 14% Turkey 10% Germany 9% Greece 8% Serbia and Montenegro 8% (2001)

Imports: $6.9 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Commodities: fuels minerals and raw materials; machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; food textiles
Partners: Russia 19.9% Germany 15.3% Italy 9.6% France 6.0% (2001)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $10.3 billion (2001 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
Production: 38.84 billion kWh (2000)
Production by source fossil fuel: 48%
Production by source hydro: 8%
Production by source other: 0% (2000)
Production by source nuclear: 44%
Consumption: 34.42 billion kWh (2000)
Exports: 3.2 billion kWh (2000)
Imports: 1.5 billion kWh (2000)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 3,186,731 (2001)
Mobile cellular: 1.054 million (2001)

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
Service providers isps: 200 (2001)
Users: 585,000 (2001)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $356 million (FY02)
Percent of gdp: 2.7% (FY02)

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 (2001)
With paved runways total: 128
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 19
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1
With paved runways under 914 m: 92 (2002)
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 15
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 (2002)

Heliports: 1 (2002)

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)
Narrow gauge: 245 km 0.760-m gauge (2002)

Roadways

Waterways: 470 km (1987)

Merchant marine
Total: 77 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 881,758 GRT/1,312,833 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 43, cargo 15, chemical tanker 4, container 2, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 4, railcar carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 3, short-sea passenger 1, specialized tanker 1 (2002 est.)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: because of a shift in the Danube course since the last correction of the boundary in 1920 a joint Bulgarian-Romanian team will recommend sovereignty changes to several islands and redefine the boundary

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: major European transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and to a lesser degree South American cocaine for the European market; limited producer of precursor chemicals; some money laundering of drug-related proceeds through financial institutions