Bulgaria

Communist state, but democratic elections planned for 1990Independence 22 September 1908 (from Ottoman Empire)

Bulgaria as the 1990 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 74 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalSofia

Area110,910 km2

Populationas each edition published it

8.93 million July 1990 · 6.74m in 2025

Population growth% a year

Not in this edition -0.39% in 1993

Median ageyears

Not in this edition 40.5 yrs in 2003

Life expectancyyears at birth

Not in this edition 72.82 yrs in 1993

Fertility ratechildren per woman

1.9 children per woman 1990 · 1.52 in 2025

Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births

13 deaths per 1,000 live births 1990 · 7.5 in 2025

GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars

Not in this edition $3,800 in 1993

GDP real growth% a year

Not in this edition -7.7% in 1993

Geography

14 fields

Land useshare of 110,910 km2

arable land 34%permanent crops 3%meadows and pastures 18%forest and woodland 35%other 10%includes 11% irrigated

Total area

110,910km2

land area: 110,550 km2Comparative area: slightly larger than Tennessee

Coastline

354km

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Land boundaries

1,881km total

Greece 494 km, Romania 608 km, Turkey 240 km, Yugoslavia 539 km

Disputes

Macedonia question with Greece and Yugoslavia

Climate

temperate;
cold, damp winters;
hot, dry summers

Terrain

mostly mountains with lowlands in north and south

Natural resources

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

Environment

subject to earthquakes, landslides;
deforestation;
air pollution

Note

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

People

14 fields

Population

8,933,544

(July 1990), growth rate - 0.3% (1990)

Per 1,000 population(1990)

Birth

13Death

Ethnic divisions

Bulgarian 85.3%Turk 8.5%Gypsy 2.6%Macedonian 2.5%Armenian 0.3%Russian 0.2%other 0.6%

Literacy

95%

(est.)

Nationality

noun--Bulgarian(s); adjective--Bulgarian

Religion

religious background of population is 85% Bulgarian Orthodox, 13% Muslim, 0.8% Jewish, 0.7% Roman Catholic, 0.5% Protestant, Gregorian-Armenian, and other

Language

Bulgarian; secondary languages closely correspond to ethnic breakdown

Labor force

4,300,000; 33% industry, 20% agriculture, 47% other (1987)

Organized labor

all workers are members of the Central Council of Trade Unions (CCTU); Pod Krepa (Support), an independent trade union, legally registered in January 1990

Government

Communist state, but democratic elections planned for 1990

18 fields

National Assembly, 400 seats, elected 8 June 1986seats by party

BKP 276BZNS 99others 25

Type

Communist state, but democratic elections planned for 1990

Administrative divisions

8 provinces (oblasti, singular--oblast) and 1 city* (grad); Burgas, Grad Sofiya*, Khaskovo, Lovech, Mikhaylovgrad, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Sofiya, Varna

Legal system

based on civil law system, with Soviet law influence;
judicial review of legislative acts in the State Council;
has accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday

Anniversary of the Socialist Revolution in Bulgaria, 9 September (1944)

Executive branch

president, chairman of the Council of Ministers, four deputy chairmen of the Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers

Legislative branch

unicameral National Assembly (Narodno Sobranyie)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court Chief of State--President Petur Toshev MLADENOV (chairman of the State Council since 11 November 1989; became president on 3 April 1990 when the State Council was abolished);
Head of Government--Chairman of the Council of Ministers Andrey LUKANOV (since 3 February 1990);
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Chudomir Asenov ALEKSANDROV (since 8 February 1990);
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Belcho Antonov BELCHEV (since 8 February 1990);
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Konstantin Dimitrov KOSEV (since 8 February 1990);
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Nora Krachunova ANANIEVA (since 8 February 1990)

Political parties and leaders

Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP), Aleksandur Lilov, chairman;
Bulgarian National Agrarian Union (BZNS), Angel Angelov Dimitrov, secretary of Permanent Board;
Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, Petur Dentlieu;
Green Party;
Christian Democrats;
Radical Democratic Party;
others forming

Suffrage

universal and compulsory at age 18 Chairman of the State Council--last held 17 June 1986 (next to be held 10 and 17 June 1990);
results--Todor Zhivkov reelected but was replaced by Petur Toshev Mladenov on 11 November 1989;
National Assembly--last held 8 June 1986 (next to be held 10 and 17 June 1990);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(400 total) BKP 276, BZNS 99, others 25

Other political or pressure groups

Union of Democratic Forces (umbrella organization for opposition groups);
Ecoglenost, Podkrepa Independent Trade Union, Fatherland Front, Communist Youth Union, Central Council of Trade Unions, National Committee for Defense of Peace, Union of Fighters Against Fascism and Capitalism, Committee of Bulgarian Women, All-National Committee for Bulgarian-Soviet Friendship;
Union of Democratic Forces, a coalition of about a dozen dissident groups;
numerous regional and national interest groups with various agendas

Member of

CCC, CEMA, FAO, IAEA, IBEC, ICAO, ILO, ILZSG, IMO, IPU, ITC, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, UN, UNESCO, UPU, Warsaw Pact, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Velichko Filipov VELICHKOV;
Chancery at 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington DC 20008;
telephone (202) 387-7969;
US--Ambassador Sol POLANSKY;
Embassy at 1 Alexander Stamboliski Boulevard, Sofia (mailing address is APO New York 09213);
telephone [359] (2) 88-48-01 through 05

Flag

three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red with the national emblem on the hoist side of the white stripe;
the emblem contains 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

16 fields

Inflation, consumer prices

12%

(1989)

External debt

$10billion

(1989)

Budget

Revenues

$26 billionExpenditures

$28 billion

expenditures, including capital expenditures of $NA billion (1988)

Growth in the sluggish Bulgarian economy fell to the 2% annual level in the 1980s, and by 1989 Sofia's foreign debt had skyrocketed to $10 billion--giving a debt service ratio of more than 40% of hard currency earnings. The post-Zhivkov regime faces major problems of renovating an aging industrial plant, keeping abreast of rapidly unfolding technological developments, investing in additional energy capacity (the portion of electric power from nuclear energy reached 37% in 1988), and motivating workers, in part by giving them a share in the earnings of their enterprises.

A major decree of January 1989 summarized and extended the government's economic restructuring efforts, which include a partial decentralization of controls over production decisions and foreign trade. The new regime promises more extensive reforms and eventually a market economy.

But the ruling group cannot (so far) bring itself to give up ultimate control over economic affairs exercised through the vertical Party/ministerial command structure. Reforms have not led to improved economic performance, in particular the provision of more and better consumer goods.

A further blow to the economy was the exodus of 310,000 ethnic Turks in mid-1989, which caused temporary shortages of skilled labor in glassware, aluminum, and other industrial plants and in tobacco fields.

GNP

$51.2 billion, per capita $5,710; real growth rate - 0.1% (1989 est.)

Unemployment rate

NA%

Exports

$20.3 billion (f.o.b., 1988);
commodities--machinery and equipment 60.5%;
agricultural products 14.7%;
manufactured consumer goods 10.6%;
fuels, minerals, raw materials, and metals 8.5%;
other 5.7%;
partners--Socialist countries 82.5% (USSR 61%, GDR 5.5%, Czechoslovakia 4.9%);
developed countries 6.8% (FRG 1.2%, Greece 1.0%);
less developed countries 10.7% (Libya 3.5%, Iraq 2.9%)

Imports

$21.0 billion (f.o.b., 1988);
commodities--fuels, minerals, and raw materials 45.2%;
machinery and equipment 39.8%;
manufactured consumer goods 4.6%;
agricultural products 3.8%;
other 6.6%;
partners--Socialist countries 80.5% (USSR 57.5%, GDR 5.7%), developed countries 15.1% (FRG 4.8%, Austria 1.6%);
less developed countries 4.4% (Libya 1.0%, Brazil 0.9%)

Industrial production

growth rate 0.9% (1988)

Electricity

11,500,000 kW capacity; 45,000 million kWh produced, 5,000 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries

food processing, machine and metal building, electronics, chemicals

Agriculture

accounts for 15% of GNP;
climate and soil conditions support livestock raising and the growing of various grain crops, oilseeds, vegetables, fruits and tobacco;
more than one-third of the arable land devoted to grain;
world's fourth-largest tobacco exporter;
surplus food producer

Aid

donor--$1.6 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries (1956-88)

Currency

lev (plural--leva); 1 lev (Lv) = 100 stotinki

Exchange rates

leva (Lv) per US$1--0.84 (1989), 0.82 (1988), 0.90 (1987), 0.95 (1986), 1.03 (1985)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

9 fields

Merchant marine, 108 ships by type

short-sea passenger 2cargo 32container 2passenger-cargo training 1roll-on/roll-off 5petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker 16railcar carriers 2bulk 48108 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 1,240,204 GRT/1,872,723 DWT

Networkskm

Highways

37,397 (1986)Railroads

4,294Inland waterways

470 (1986)

Highways: ; 33,352 km hard surface (including 228 km superhighways); 4,045 km earth roads · Railroads: , all government owned (1986); 4,049 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 245 km narrow gauge; 908 km double track; 2,342 km electrified

Railroads

4,294 km total, all government owned (1986);
4,049 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 245 km narrow gauge;
908 km double track;
2,342 km electrified

Highways

37,397 km total;
33,352 km hard surface (including 228 km superhighways);
4,045 km earth roads (1986)

Pipelines

crude, 193 km; refined product, 418 km; natural gas, 1,400 km (1986)

Ports

Burgas, Varna, Varna West; river ports are Ruse, Vidin, and Lom on the Danube

Civil air

65 major transport aircraft

Airports

380 total, 380 usable;
about 120 with permanent-surface runways;
20 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
20 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications

stations--15 AM, 16 FM, 13 TV;
1 Soviet TV relay;
2,100,000 TV sets;
2,100,000 radio receivers;
at least 1 satellite earth station

Defense Forces

Bulgarian People's Army, Bulgarian Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Frontier Troops

3 fields

Military manpower

males 15-49

2,177,404fit for military service

1,823,111reach military age (19) annually

66,744

Defense expenditures

1.6051billion leva

(1989); note--conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the official administratively set exchange rate would produce misleading results

Branches