Home>Europe>Bulgaria

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.

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

Geographic coordinates: 43 00 N, 25 00 E

Map references: Europe

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

Area—comparative: slightly larger than Tennessee

Land boundaries:
total: 1,808 km
border countries: 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 extremes:
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Musala 2,925 m

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

Land use:
arable land: 37%
permanent crops: 2%
permanent pastures: 16%
forests and woodland: 35%
other: 10% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 12,370 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: earthquakes, landslides

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

Environment—international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

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

Population: 8,194,772 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 16% (male 674,643; female 641,943)
15-64 years: 68% (male 2,744,634; female 2,800,816)
65 years and over: 16% (male 570,766; female 761,970) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.52% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 8.71 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 13.2 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 12.37 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 72.27 years
male: 68.72 years
female: 76.03 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.23 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Bulgarian(s)
adjective: Bulgarian

Ethnic groups: Bulgarian 85%, Turk 9%, other 6%

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

Languages: Bulgarian, secondary languages closely correspond to ethnic breakdown

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98%
male: 99%
female: 97% (1992 est.)

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

Data code: BU

Government type: republic

Capital: Sofia

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

Independence: 22 September 1908 (from Ottoman Empire)

National holiday: Independence Day, 3 March (1878)

Constitution: adopted 12 July 1991

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

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 Ministers Aleksandur BOZHKOV (since 12 February 1997), Evgeniy BAKURDZHIEV (since 21 May 1997), Veselin METODIEV (since 21 May 1997)
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: unicameral National Assembly or Narodno Sobranie (240 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 19 April 1997 (next to be held NA 2001)
election results: percent of vote by party—UDF 52%, BSP 22%, ANS 7%, Euro-left 5.5%, BBB 4.95%; seats by party—UDF 137, BSP 58, ANS 19, Euro-left 14, BBB 12

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, chairman appointed for a seven-year term by the president; Constitutional Court, 12 justices appointed or elected for nine-year terms

Political parties and leaders: Bulgarian Socialist Party or BSP [Georgi PURVANOV, chairman]; Union of Democratic Forces or UDF (an alliance of pro-Democratic parties) [Ivan KOSTOV]; Euro-left [Aleksandur TOMOV]; Alliance for National Salvation or ANS (coalition led mainly by Movement for Rights and Freedoms or DPS [Ahmed DOGAN]); People's Union [Anastasiya MOZER and Stefan SAVOV, cochairmen]

Political pressure groups and leaders: Democratic Alliance for the Republic or DAR; New Union for Democracy or NUD; Podkrepa Labor Confederation; Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria or CITUB; Bulgarian Agrarian National Union—United or BZNS; Bulgarian Democratic Center; "Nikola Petkov" Bulgarian Agrarian National Union; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization or IMRO; agrarian movement; numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest groups with various agendas

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

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Philip DIMITROV
chancery: 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 387-7969
FAX: [1] (202) 234-7973
consulate(s): New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Avis T. BOHLEN
embassy: 1 Saborna Street, Sofia
mailing address: American Embassy Sofia, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5740
telephone: [359] (2) 980-52-41 through 48
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)

Economy—overview: In April 1997, the current ruling Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) government won pre-term parliamentary elections and introduced an IMF currency board system which succeeded in stabilizing the economy. The triple digit inflation of 1996 and 1997 has given way to an official consumer price increase of 1% in 1998. Following declines in GDP in both 1996 and 1997, the economy grew an officially estimated 4% in 1998. In September 1998, the IMF approved a three-year Extended Fund Facility, which provides credits worth approximately $864 million, designed to support Bulgaria's reform efforts. The government's structural reform program includes: (a) privatization and, where appropriate, liquidation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs); (b) liberalization of agricultural policies, including creating conditions for the development of a land market; (c) reform of the country's social insurance programs; and, (d) reforms to strengthen contract enforcement and fight crime and corruption.

GDP: purchasing power parity—$33.6 billion (1998 est.)

GDP—real growth rate: 4% (1998 est.)

GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$4,100 (1998 est.)

GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 26%
industry: 29%
services: 45% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.3%
highest 10%: 24.7% (1992)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1% (1998 est.)

Labor force: 3.57 million (1996 est.)

Labor force—by occupation: NA

Unemployment rate: 12.2% (1998 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $4.1 billion
expenditures: $3.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity—production: 41.575 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity—production by source:
fossil fuel: 51.17%
hydro: 6.1%
nuclear: 42.73%
other: 0% (1996)

Electricity—consumption: 41.08 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity—exports: 2.045 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity—imports: 1.55 billion kWh (1996)

Agriculture—products: grain, oilseed, vegetables, fruits, tobacco; livestock

Exports: $4.5 billion (f.o.b., 1998)

Exports—commodities: machinery and equipment; metals, minerals, and fuels; chemicals and plastics; food, textiles (1997)

Exports—partners: Italy 12%, Germany 10%, Turkey, Greece, Russia (1997)

Imports: $4.6 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)

Imports—commodities: fuels, minerals, and raw materials; machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; food, textiles (1997)

Imports—partners: Russia 28%, Germany 11%, Italy, Greece, US (1997)

Debt—external: $9.3 billion (1998 est.)

Economic aid—recipient: $NA

Currency: 1 lev (Lv) = 100 stotinki

Exchange rates: leva (Lv) per US$1—1,685.10 (January 1999), 1,760.36 (1998), 1,681.88 (1997), 177.89 (1996), 67.17 (1995), 54.13 (1994)
note: the official rate is pegged to the euro as of 1 January 1999

Fiscal year: calendar year

Telephones: 2,773,293 (1993 est.)

Telephone system: almost two-thirds of the lines are residential
domestic: extensive but antiquated transmission system of coaxial cable and microwave radio relay; telephone service is available in most villages
international: direct dialing to 36 countries; satellite earth stations—1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region); Intelsat available through a Greek earth station

Radio broadcast stations: AM 24, FM 93, shortwave 2 (1998)

Radios: NA

Television broadcast stations: 33 (in addition, there are two relays of Russian program OK-1 and two relays of TV-5 Europe) (1997)

Televisions: 2.1 million (May 1990 est.)

Railways:
total: 4,292 km
standard gauge: 4,047 km 1.435-m gauge (2,650 km electrified; 917 km double track)
narrow gauge: 245 km 0.760-m gauge (1995)

Highways:
total: 36,724 km
paved: 33,786 km (including 314 km of expressways)
unpaved: 2,938 km (1997 est.)

Waterways: 470 km (1987)

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

Ports and harbors: Burgas, Lom, Nesebur, Ruse, Varna, Vidin

Merchant marine:
total: 89 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,005,092 GRT/1,508,614 DWT
ships by type: bulk 44, cargo 20, chemical tanker 4, container 2, oil tanker 8, passenger-cargo 1, railcar carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 6, short-sea passenger 1 (1998 est.)

Airports: 61 (1998 est.)

Airports—with paved runways:
total: 56
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 19
1,524 to 2,437 m: 11
under 914 m: 25 (1998 est.)

Airports—with unpaved runways:
total: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 4 (1998 est.)

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Border Troops, Internal Troops

Military manpower—military age: 19 years of age

Military manpower—availability:
males age 15-49: 2,028,930 (1999 est.)

Military manpower—fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 1,693,597 (1999 est.)

Military manpower—reaching military age annually:
males: 59,887 (1999 est.)

Military expenditures—dollar figure: $226.8 million (1997)

Military expenditures—percent of GDP: 2.2% (1997)

Disputes—international: twenty bilateral agreements remain unsigned in a dispute over Bulgarian nonrecognition of Macedonian as a language distinct from Bulgarian

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; significant producer of amphetamines, much of which are consumed in the Middle East

Source: 1999 CIA World Factbook