Bulgaria

Republic of Bulgaria

republicIndependence 22 September 1908 (from Ottoman Empire)

Bulgaria as the 1999 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 108 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
Position43 00 N, 25 00 E
Area110,910 sq km
LocationSoutheastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between
1999

Every edition of Bulgaria

Populationas each edition published it
8.19 million July 1999 est. · 8.93m in 1990
Population growth% a year
-0.52% 1999 est. · -0.39% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 40.5 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
72.27 years 1999 est. · 72.82 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
1.23 children per woman 1999 est. · 1.9 in 1990
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
12.37 deaths per 1,000 live births 1999 est. · 13 in 1990
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
$4,100 1998 est. · $3,800 in 1993
GDP real growth% a year
4% 1998 est. · -7.7% in 1993

Introduction

1 field

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.

Geography

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

18 fields

Land useshare of 110,910 sq km

arable land 37%permanent crops 2%permanent pastures 16%forests and woodland 35%other 10% (1993 est.)irrigated 12,370 sq km (1993 est.)
Area
110,910sq km
land: 110,550 sq kmwater: 360 sq kmslightly larger than Tennessee
Coastline
354km
contiguous zone: 24 nmexclusive economic zone: 200 nmterritorial sea: 12 nm
Highest point
2,925m
Musalalowest point: Black Sea 0 m
Land boundaries
1,808km
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

Location

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

Geographic coordinates

43 00 N, 25 00 E

Climate

  • temperate;
  • cold, damp winters;
  • hot, dry summers

Terrain

mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast

Natural resources

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

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

People

15 fields
Population
8,194,772
(July 1999 est.)growth rate: -0.52% (1999 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1999 est.)

Birth
8.71Death
13.2Net migration
-0.66

Male · female

TotalMale · femaleLife expectancy years (1999 est.)72.27
68.72 · 76.03
TotalMale · femaleLiteracy (1992 est.)98%
99% · 97%
MaleFemaleLiteracy definition: age 15 and over can read and write

Ethnic groups

Bulgarian 85%Turk 9%other 6%

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.)

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.)

Total fertility rate

1.23 children born/woman (1999 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

Republic; President Petar STOYANOV (since 22 January 1997); Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) Ivan Kostov (since 19 May 1997)

19 fields

Presidential electionpercent of vote

52%
-UDF 52%BSP 22%ANS 7%Euro-left 5.5%BBB 4.95%last held 19 April 1997 (next to be held NA 2001)

Legislature, 240 seats, elected 19 April 1997one dot, one seat

-UDF 137BSP 58ANS 19Euro-left 14BBB 12

Percent of vote

-UDF 52%BSP 22%ANS 7%Euro-left 5.5%BBB 4.95%

Country name

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

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

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 (coalition led mainly by Movement for Rights and Freedoms or DPS 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
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

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

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.

31 fields
GDP per capita, PPP
$4,100
purchasing power parity? · (1998 est.)
Real growth rate
4%
(1998 est.)industrial production growth: NA%
Unemployment rate
12.2%
(1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector(1997 est.)

agriculture 26%industry 29%services 45% (1997 est.)

Budget

Revenues
$4.1 billionExpenditures
$3.8 billion (1998 est.)
expenditures including capital expenditures of $NA

Electricity

fossil fuel 51.17%hydro 6.1%nuclear 42.73%other 0%
Electricity production
41.575 billion (1996)Electricity consumption
41.08 billion (1996)Electricity exports
2.045 billion (1996)Electricity imports
1.55 billion (1996)

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.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%:
3.3%
highest 10%:
24.7% (1992)

Labor force

3.57 million (1996 est.)

Industries

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

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.)

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

Communications

6 fields
Fixed lines
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)

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.)

Transportation

9 fields

Merchant marine, 89 ships by typeone square, one ship · (1998 est.)

bulk 44cargo 20chemical tanker 4container 2oil tanker 8passenger-cargo 1railcar carrier 2refrigerated cargo 1roll-on/roll-off cargo 6short-sea passenger 1

Airports by runway lengthpaved only

under 914 m
25
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 19 1,524 to 2,437 m: 11

Airports by runway lengthunpaved only

under 914 m
4
total: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 1

Networkskm

Highways
36,724Railways
4,292Waterways
470 (1987)
Highways: paved: 33,786 km (including 314 km of expressways) · unpaved: 2,938 km (1997 est.) · Railways: 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)

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.)

Pipelines

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

Ports and harbors

Burgas, Lom, Nesebur, Ruse, Varna, Vidin

Airports

61 (1998 est.)

Military

Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Border | Troops, Internal Troops

7 fields

Military branches

Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Border Troops, Internal Troops

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.)

Transnational Issues

2 fields

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

Central Intelligence Agency. “Bulgaria.” The World Factbook 1999. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/bulgaria/1999.

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