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. The country joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007.

Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey
43 00 N, 25 00 E
Europe
total: 110,910 sq km ; land: 110,550 sq km ; water: 360 sq km
slightly larger than Tennessee
total: 1,808 km ; border countries: Greece 494 km, Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia 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)
19.4 cu km (2005)
Total: 6.92 cu km/yr (3%/78%/19%) ; Per capita: 895 cu m/yr (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
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands ; signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia
7,322,858 (July 2007 est.)
0-14 years: 13.9% (male 521,117/female 496,022) ; 15-64 years: 68.7% (male 2,472,424/female 2,556,102) ; 65 years and over: 17.4% (male 523,660/female 753,533) (2007 est.)
total: 40.9 years ; male: 38.8 years ; female: 43.1 years (2007 est.)
-0.837% (2007 est.)
9.62 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
14.28 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
-3.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female ; under 15 years: 1.051 male(s)/female ; 15-64 years: 0.967 male(s)/female ; 65 years and over: 0.695 male(s)/female ; total population: 0.924 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
total: 19.16 deaths/1,000 live births ; male: 22.75 deaths/1,000 live births ; female: 15.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total population: 72.57 years ; male: 68.95 years ; female: 76.4 years (2007 est.)
1.39 children born/woman (2007 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: 98.2% ; male: 98.7% ; female: 97.7% (2001 census)


conventional long form: Republic of Bulgaria ; conventional short form: Bulgaria ; local long form: Republika Balgariya ; local short form: Balgariya
parliamentary democracy
name: Sofia ; geographic coordinates: 42 41 N, 23 19 E ; time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ; daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
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 with reservations
18 years of age; universal
chief of state: President Georgi PARVANOV (since 22 January 2002); Vice President Angel MARIN (since 22 January 2002) ; head of government: Prime Minister Sergei STANISHEV (since 16 August 2005); Deputy Prime Ministers Ivaylo KALFIN, Daniel VULCHEV, and Emel ETEM (since 16 August 2005) ; cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister and elected by the National Assembly ; elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 22 and 29 October 2006 (next to be held in 2011); chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) nominated by the president and elected by the National Assembly; deputy prime ministers nominated by the prime minister and elected by the National Assembly ; election results: Georgi PURVANOV reelected president; percent of vote - Georgi PURVANOV 77.3%, Volen SIDEROV 22.7%; Sergei STANISHEV elected prime minister, result of legislative vote - 168 to 67
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 in 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%, other 8.7%; 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)
ATAKA (Attack Coalition) (coalition of parties headed by the Attack National Union); Attack National Union [Volen SIDEROV]; Bulgarian Agrarian National Union-People's Union or BANU [Anastasia MOZER]; Bulgarian People's Union or BPU (coalition of UFD, IMRO, and BANU); Bulgarian Socialist Party or BSP [Sergei STANISHEV]; Coalition for Bulgaria or CfB (coalition of parties dominated by BSP) [Sergei STANISHEV]; Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria or DSB [Ivan KOSTOV]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization or IMRO [Krasimir KARAKACHANOV]; Movement for Rights and Freedoms or MRF [Ahmed DOGAN]; National Movement for Stability and Progress or NDSV [Simeon SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA]; New Time [Emil KOSHLUKOV]; Union of Democratic Forces or UDF [Petar STOYANOV]; Union of Free Democrats or UFD [Stefan SOFIYANSKI]; United Democratic Forces or UtDF (a coalition of center-right parties dominated by UDF)
Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria or CITUB; Podkrepa Labor Confederation; numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest groups with various agendas
ACCT, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EU (new member), FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OIF, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate affiliate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red; note - the national emblem, formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe, has been removed
chief of mission: Ambassador Elena B. POPTODOROVA ; chancery: 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 ; telephone: [1] (202) 387-0174 ; FAX: [1] (202) 234-7973 ; consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York
chief of mission: Ambassador John Ross BEYRLE ; embassy: 16 Kozyak Street, Sofia 1407 ; mailing address: American Embassy Sofia, US Department of State, 5740 Sofia Place, Washington, DC 20521-5740 ; telephone: [359] (2) 937-5100 ; FAX: [359] (2) 937-5320





Bulgaria, a former communist country that entered the EU on 1 January 2007, has experienced strong growth since a major economic downturn in 1996. Successive governments have demonstrated commitment to economic reforms and responsible fiscal planning, but have failed so far to rein in rising inflation and large current account deficits. Bulgaria has averaged more than 6% growth since 2004, attracting significant amounts of foreign direct investment, but corruption in the public administration, a weak judiciary, and the presence of organized crime remain significant challenges.
$86.73 billion (2007 est.)
$30.41 billion (2007 est.)
6.1% (2007 est.)
$11,800 (2007 est.)
agriculture: 8.1% ; industry: 31.3% ; services: 60.7% (2007 est.)
3.44 million (2007 est.)
agriculture: 8.5% ; industry: 33.6% ; services: 57.9% (2nd qtr. 2006 est.)
8% (2007 est.)
14.1% (2003 est.)
lowest 10%: 2.9% ; highest 10%: 25.4% (2005)
31.6 (2005)
7.8% (2007 est.)
27.6% of GDP (2007 est.)
revenues: $16.62 billion ; expenditures: $15.18 billion (2007 est.)
18.2% of GDP (2007 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
5.5% (2007 est.)
45.7 billion kWh (2006)
fossil fuel: 47.8% ; hydro: 8.1% ; nuclear: 44.1% ; other: 0% (2001)
37.4 billion kWh (2006)
7.8 billion kWh (2006)
0 kWh (2006)
3,661 bbl/day (2005 est.)
108,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
51,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
138,800 bbl/day (2004 est.)
15 million bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
407,000 cu m (2005 est.)
5.179 billion cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
5.179 billion cu m (2005)
5.703 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
-$7.189 billion (2007 est.)
$19.77 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels
Turkey 12%, Italy 10.4%, Germany 10%, Greece 8.2%, Belgium 6.8%, France 4.3% (2006)
$28.79 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Germany 15%, Italy 10.6%, Turkey 7.2%, Greece 6.3%, China 5%, France 4.9%, Romania 4.5% (2006)

$13.8 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
$29.29 billion (30 June 2007)
$20.86 billion (2006 est.)
$345.8 million (2006 est.)
$10.32 billion (2006)
lev (BGL)
BGN
leva per US dollar - 1.4366 (2007), 1.5576 (2006), 1.5741 (2005), 1.5751 (2004), 1.7327 (2003)
calendar year
$742 million (2005-06 est.)
2.399 million (2006)
8.253 million (2006)
general assessment: an extensive but antiquated telecommunications network inherited from the Soviet era; quality has improved; the Bulgaria Telecommunications Company's fixed-line monopoly terminated in 2005 when alternative fixed-line operators were given access to its network; a drop in fixed-line connections in recent years has been offset by a sharp increase in mobile-cellular telephone use fostered by multiple service providers ; domestic: 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; submarine cable provides connectivity to Ukraine and Russia; a combination submarine cable and land fiber-optic system provides connectivity to Italy, Albania, and Macedonia; satellite earth stations - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region); 2 Intelsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions) (2007)
AM 31, FM 63, shortwave 2 (2001)
4.51 million (1997)
39 (plus 1,242 repeaters) (2001)
3.31 million (1997)
.bg
298,781 (2007)
200 (2001)
1.87 million (2006)

214 (2007)
total: 131 ; over 3,047 m: 2 ; 2,438 to 3,047 m: 18 ; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 15 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 1 ; under 914 m: 95 (2007)
total: 83 ; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 9 ; under 914 m: 72 (2007)
4 (2007)
gas 2,505 km; oil 339 km; refined products 156 km (2006)
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 (2006)
total: 44,033 km ; paved: 43,593 km (includes 333 km of expressways) ; unpaved: 440 km (2004)
470 km (2007)
total: 71 ships (1000 GRT or over) 833,153 GRT/1,194,660 DWT ; by type: bulk carrier 37, cargo 14, chemical tanker 4, container 6, liquefied gas 1, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 4 ; foreign-owned: 3 (Germany 1, Ireland 1, Russia 1) ; registered in other countries: 39 (Comoros 1, Malta 15, Mongolia 2, Panama 1, Slovakia 7, St Vincent and The Grenadines 13) (2007)
Burgas, Varna

Bulgarian Armed Forces: Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Bulgarian Air Forces (Bulgarski Voennovazdyshni Sily, BVVS) (2006)
18-27 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 9 months; as of May 2006, 67% of the Bulgarian Army comprised of professional soldiers; conscription into the Army to end as of 1 January 2008; Air and Air Defense Forces and Naval Forces became fully professional at the end of 2006; Bulgarian Armed Forces encountered difficulties meeting conscript quotas in April 2007 (2007)
males age 18-49: 1,661,211 ; females age 18-49: 1,660,982 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 1,302,037 ; females age 18-49: 1,365,126 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 51,023 ; females age 18-49: 48,651 (2005 est.)
2.6% (2005 est.)

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

