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. Northern Bulgaria attained autonomy in 1878 and all of Bulgaria became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1908. Having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, Bulgaria 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 the EU. The country joined NATO in 2004.

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

43 00 N, 25 00 E

total: 110,910 sq km
land: 110,550 sq km
water: 360 sq km

total: 1,808 km
border countries: Greece 494 km, Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia and Montenegro 318 km, Turkey 240 km

354 km

territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers

mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast

lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Musala 2,925 m

bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land

arable land: 29.94%
permanent crops: 1.9%
other: 68.16% (2005)

5,880 sq km (2003)

earthquakes, landslides

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

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

7,385,367 (July 2006 est.)

0-14 years: 13.9% (male 527,881/female 502,334)
15-64 years: 68.7% (male 2,496,054/female 2,579,680)
65 years and over: 17.3% (male 527,027/female 752,391) (2006 est.)

total: 40.8 years
male: 38.7 years
female: 42.9 years (2006 est.)

-0.86% (2006 est.)

9.65 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

14.27 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

-4.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female
total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

total: 19.85 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 23.52 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 15.95 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

total population: 72.3 years
male: 68.68 years
female: 76.13 years (2006 est.)

1.38 children born/woman (2006 est.)

less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

346 (2001 est.)

100 (2001 est.)

noun: Bulgarian(s)
adjective: Bulgarian

Bulgarian 83.9%, Turk 9.4%, Roma 4.7%, other 2% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) (2001 census)

Bulgarian Orthodox 82.6%, Muslim 12.2%, other Christian 1.2%, other 4% (2001 census)

Bulgarian 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.6%
male: 99.1%
female: 98.2% (2003 est.)

conventional long form: Republic of Bulgaria
conventional short form: Bulgaria

parliamentary democracy

Sofia

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

3 March 1878 (as an autonomous principality within the Ottoman Empire); 22 September 1908 (complete independence from the Ottoman Empire)

Liberation Day, 3 March (1878)

adopted 12 July 1991

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

18 years of age; universal

unicameral National Assembly or Narodno Sobranie (240 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 25 June 2005 (next to be held June 2009)
election results: percent of vote by party - CfB 31.1%, NMS2 19.9%, MRF 12.7%, ATAKA 8.2%, UDF 7.7%, DSB 6.5%, BPU 5.2%; seats by party - CfB 83, NMS2 53, MRF 33, UDF 20, ATAKA 17, DSB 17, BPU 13, independents 4

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)

Bulgaria, a former communist country striving to enter the European Union, has experienced macroeconomic stability and strong growth since a major economic downturn in 1996 led to the fall of the then socialist government. As a result, the government became committed to economic reform and responsible fiscal planning. Minerals, including coal, copper, and zinc, play an important role in industry. In 1997, macroeconomic stability was reinforced by the imposition of a fixed exchange rate of the lev against the German D-mark and the negotiation of an IMF standby agreement. Low inflation and steady progress on structural reforms improved the business environment; Bulgaria has averaged 4% growth since 2000 and has begun to attract significant amounts of foreign direct investment. Corruption in the public administration, a weak judiciary, and the presence of organized crime remain the largest challenges for Bulgaria.

$67.29 billion (2005 est.)

$25.75 billion (2005 est.)

5.7% (2005 est.)

$9,000 (2005 est.)

agriculture: 10.1%
industry: 30.2%
services: 59.7% (2005 est.)

3.34 million (2005 est.)

agriculture: 11%
industry: 32.7%
services: 56.3% (3rd qtr. 2004 est.)

11.5% (2005 est.)

13.4% (2002 est.)

lowest 10%: 4.5%
highest 10%: 22.8% (1997)

31.9 (2001)

4.5% (2005 est.)

22.1% of GDP (2005 est.)

revenues: $11.18 billion
expenditures: $10.9 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)

32.4% of GDP (2005 est.)

vegetables, fruits, tobacco, wine, wheat, barley, sunflowers, sugar beets; livestock

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

7% (2005 est.)

38.07 billion kWh (2003)

31.75 billion kWh (2003)

5.449 billion kWh (2003)

1.8 billion kWh (2003)

2,908 bbl/day (2003)

107,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

8.1 million bbl (1 January 2002)

1 million cu m (2003 est.)

5.401 billion cu m (2003 est.)

5.8 billion cu m (2001 est.)

5.947 billion cu m (1 January 2002)

-$2.741 billion (2005 est.)

$11.67 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels

Italy 13.1%, Germany 11.6%, Turkey 9.3%, Belgium 6.1%, Greece 5.6%, US 5.3%, France 4.9% (2004)

$15.9 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; fuels, minerals, and raw materials

Germany 15.1%, Italy 10.2%, Russia 7.9%, Greece 7.5%, Turkey 6.9%, France 4.4% (2004)

$9.707 billion (2005 est.)

$15.46 billion (2005 est.)

$300 million (2000 est.)

lev (BGL)

calendar year

2,726,800 (2004)

 4,729,700 (2004)

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: country code - 359; direct dialing to 58 countries; satellite earth stations - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region); 2 Intelsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions)

AM 31, FM 63, shortwave 2 (2001)

39 (plus 1,242 repeaters) (2001)

.bg

95,539 (2005)

630,000 (2002)

213 (2005)

total: 128
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 19
1,524 to 2,437 m: 15
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 92 (2005)

total: 85
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 11
under 914 m: 72 (2005)

1 (2005)

gas 2,425 km; oil 339 km; refined products 156 km (2004)

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 (2004)

total: 102,016 km
paved: 93,855 km (including 328 km of expressways)
unpaved: 8,161 km (2003)

470 km (2006)

total: 73 ships (1000 GRT or over) 862,164 GRT/1,276,562 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 40, cargo 15, chemical tanker 4, container 6, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 4
foreign-owned: 1 (Germany 1)
registered in other countries: 40 (Cambodia 1, Comoros 1, Malta 14, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 16, Slovakia 7, unknown 1) (2005)

Burgas, Varna

Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces

none

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