Bulgaria

Republic of Bulgaria

emerging democracyIndependence 22 September 1908 (from Ottoman Empire)

Bulgaria as the 1993 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 79 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

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

Populationas each edition published it

8.83 million July 1993 est. · 8.93m in 1990

Population growth% a year

-0.39% 1993 est. · -0.66% in 2025

Median ageyears

Not in this edition 40.5 yrs in 2003

Life expectancyyears at birth

72.82 years 1993 est. · 76.1 yrs in 2025

Fertility ratechildren per woman

1.71 children per woman 1993 est. · 1.9 in 1990

Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births

12.6 deaths per 1,000 live births 1993 est. · 13 in 1990

GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars

$3,800 1992 · $34,100 in 2025

GDP real growth% a year

-7.7% 1992 · 2.8% in 2025

Geography

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

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Land useshare of 110,910 km2

arable land 34%permanent crops 3%meadows and pastures 18%forest and woodland 35%other 10%irrigated 10 km2 (1989 est.)

Area

110,910km2

land area: 110,550 km2comparative area: slightly larger than Tennessee

Coastline

354km

contiguous zone: 24 nmexclusive economic zone: 200 nmterritorial sea: 12 nm

Land boundaries

1,808km

total · Greece 494 km, Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia and Montenegro 318 km (all with Serbia), Turkey 240 km

Location

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

Map references

Africa, Arctic Region, Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

International disputes

Macedonia question with Greece and Macedonia

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

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Population

8,831,168

(July 1993 est.)growth rate: -0.39% (1993 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1993 est.)

Birth

11.69Death

11.54Net migration

-4.05

Ethnic divisions

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

Labor force

4.3million

by occupation: industry 33%, agriculture 20%, other 47% (1987)

Literacy

15and over can read and write

age · (1970)total population: 93%male: NA%female: NA%

Infant mortality rate

12.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population:: 72.82 years
male:: 69.55 years
female:: 76.26 years (1993 est.)

Nationality

noun:: Bulgarian(s)
adjective:: Bulgarian

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

Government

Emerging democracy

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Names

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

Administrative divisions

9 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast); Burgas, Grad Sofiya, Khaskovo, Lovech, Mikhaylovgrad, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Sofiya, Varna

Legal system

based on civil law system, with Soviet law influence; has accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Political parties and leaders

Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), Filip DIMITROV, chairman, an alliance of approximately 20 pro-Democratic parties including United Democratic Center, Democratic Party, Radical Democratic Party, Christian Democratic Union, Alternative Social Liberal Party, Republican Party, Civic Initiative Movement, Union of the Repressed, and about a dozen other groups;
Movement for Rights and Freedoms (ethnic Turkish party) (MRF), Ahmed DOGAN, chairman;
Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Zhan VIDENOV, chairman

Other political or pressure groups

Ecoglasnost;
Podkrepa (Support) Labor Confederation;
Fatherland Union;
Bulgarian Democratic Youth (formerly Communist Youth Union);
Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (KNSB);
Nationwide Committee for Defense of National Interests;
Peasant Youth League;
Bulgarian Agrarian National Union - United (BZNS);
Bulgarian Democratic Center;
"Nikola Petkov" Bulgarian Agrarian National Union;
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Union of Macedonian Societies (IMRO-UMS);
numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest groups with various agendas

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Elections

President:: last held January 1992; results - Zhelyu ZHELEV was elected by popular vote
National Assembly:: last held 13 October 1991;
results - UDF 34%, BSP 33%, MRF 7.5%;
seats - (240 total) UDF 110, BSP 106, Movement for Rights and Freedoms 24

Executive branch

president, chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister), three deputy chairmen of the Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers

Legislative branch

unicameral National Assembly (Narodno Sobranie)

Leaders

Chief of State:: President Zhelyu Mitev ZHELEV (since 1 August 1990); Vice President Blaga Nikolova DIMITROVA (since NA)
Head of Government:: Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) Lyuben Borisov BEROV (since 30 December 1992);
Deputy Chairmen of the Council of Ministers (Deputy Prime Ministers) Valentin KARABASHEV, Neycho NEEV, and Evgeniy MATINCHEV (since 30 December 1992)

BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, G-9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNTAC, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission:: Ambassador Ognyan Raytchev PISHEV
chancery:: 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:: (202) 387-7969
FAX:: (202) 234-7973

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission:: Ambassador Hugh Kenneth HILL
embassy:: 1 Alexander Stamboliski Boulevard, Sofia, Unit 25402
mailing address:: APO AE 09213-5740
telephone:: [359] (2) 88-48-01 through 05
FAX:: [359] (2) 80-19-77

Flag

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

Growth in the lackluster Bulgarian economy fell to the 2% annual level in | the 1980s.

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GDP per capita, PPP

$3,800

(1992)

Real growth rate

-7.7%

(1992)industrial production growth: growth rate -21% (1992 est.); accounts for about 37% of GDP (1990)

Inflation, consumer prices

80%

(1992)

Unemployment rate

15%

(1992)

Budget

Revenues

$8 billionExpenditures

$5 billion

expenditures, including capital expenditures of $NA (1991 est.)

Overview

Growth in the lackluster Bulgarian economy fell to the 2% annual level in the 1980s. By 1990, Sofia's foreign debt had skyrocketed to over $10 billion - giving a debt-service ratio of more than 40% of hard currency earnings and leading the regime to declare a moratorium on its hard currency payments.

The post-Communist government 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 over one-third in 1990);

and motivating workers, in part by giving them a share in the earnings of their enterprises. Political bickering in Sofia and the collapse of the DIMITROV government in October 1992 have slowed the economic reform process. New Prime Minister BEROV, however, has pledged to continue the reforms initiated by the previous government.

He has promised to continue cooperation with the World Bank and IMF, advance negotiations on rescheduling commercial debt, and push ahead with privatization. BEROV's government - whose main parliamentary supporters are the former Communist Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) - nonetheless appears likely to pursue more interventionist tactics in overcoming the country's economic problems.

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $34.1 billion (1992)

Exports

$3.5 billion (f.o.b., 1991)

commodities:: machinery and equipment 30.6%;
agricultural products 24%;
manufactured consumer goods 22.2%;
fuels, minerals, raw materials, and metals 10.5%;
other 12.7% (1991)
partners:: former CEMA countries 57.7% (USSR 48.6%, Poland 2.1%, Czechoslovakia 0.9%);
developed countries 26.3% (Germany 4.8%, Greece 2.2%);
less developed countries 15.9% (Libya 2.1%, Iran 0.7%) (1991)

Imports

$2.8 billion (f.o.b., 1991)

commodities:: fuels, minerals, and raw materials 58.7%;
machinery and equipment 15.8%;
manufactured consumer goods 4.4%;
agricultural products 15.2%;
other 5.9%
partners:: former CEMA countries 51.0% (former USSR 43.2%, Poland 3.7%);
developed countries 32.8% (Germany 7.0%, Austria 4.7%);
less developed countries 16.2% (Iran 2.8%, Libya 2.5%)

External debt

$12 billion (1991)

Electricity

11,500,000 kW capacity; 45,000 million kWh produced, 5,070 kWh per capita (1992)

Industries

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

Agriculture

accounts for 22% of GDP (1990);
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

Illicit drugs

transshipment point for southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan route

Economic aid

donor - $1.6 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries (1956-89)

Currency

1 lev (Lv) = 100 stotinki

Exchange rates

leva (Lv) per US$1 - 24.56 (January 1993),17.18 (January 1992), 16.13 (March 1991), 0.7446 (November 1990), 0.84 (1989), 0.82 (1988), 0.90 (1987);
note - floating exchange rate since February 1991

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

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Merchant marine, 112 ships by type

short-sea passenger 2cargo 30container 2passenger-cargo training 1roll-on/roll-off 6oil tanker 15chemical carrier 4railcar carrier 2bulk; Bulgaria owns 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 8,717 DWT operating under Liberian registry 50112 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 1,262,320 GRT/1,887,729 DWT

Networkskm

Highways

36,908 (1987)Railroads

4,300Inland waterways

470 (1987)

Highways: ; 33,535 km hard surface (including 242 km superhighways); 3,373 km earth roads · Railroads: , all government owned (1987); 4,055 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 245 km narrow gauge; 917 km double track; 2,640 km electrified

Railroads

4,300 km total, all government owned (1987);
4,055 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 245 km narrow gauge;
917 km double track;
2,640 km electrified

Highways

36,908 km total;
33,535 km hard surface (including 242 km superhighways);
3,373 km earth roads (1987)

Pipelines

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

Ports

coastal - Burgas, Varna, Varna West; inland - Ruse, Vidin, and Lom on the Danube

Airports

total:: 380 usable: 380
with permanent-surface runways:: 120
with runways over 3659 m:: 0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:: 20
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:: 20

Telecommunications

extensive but antiquated transmission system of coaxial cable and mirowave radio relay;
2.6 million telephones;
direct dialing to 36 countries;
phone density is 29 phones per 100 persons (1992);
almost two-thirds of the lines are residential;
67% of Sofia households have phones (November 1988);
telephone service is available in most villages;
broadcast stations - 20 AM, 15 FM, and 29 TV, with 1 Soviet TV repeater in Sofia;
2.1 million TV sets (1990);
92% of country receives No. 1 television program (May 1990);
1 satellite ground station using Intersputnik;
INTELSAT is used through a Greek earth station