Bulgaria

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

agricultural land:

46.9%;

• arable land 29.9%;
• permanent crops 1.5%;
• permanent pasture 15.5%

forest:

36.7%

other:

16.4% (2011 est.)

total:

6.12 cu km/yr (16%/68%/16%)

per capita:

821.8 cu m/yr (2009)

• 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

noun:

Bulgarian(s)

adjective:

Bulgarian

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.09 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.88 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.69 male(s)/female

total population:

0.95 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

conventional long form:

Republic of Bulgaria

conventional short form:

Bulgaria

local long form:

Republika Balgariya

local short form:

Balgariya

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 (Sofia), Sofiya-Grad (Sofia City), Stara Zagora, Turgovishte, Varna, Veliko Turnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Yambol

• several previous;
• latest drafted between late 1990 and early 1991, adopted 12 July 1991;
• amended several times, last in 2007 (2007)

chief of state:

President Rosen PLEVNELIEV (since 22 January 2012); Vice President Margarita POPOVA (since 22 January 2012)

head of government:

• Prime Minister Boyko BORISOV (since 7 November 2014);
• Deputy Prime Ministers Tomislav DONCHEV (since 7 November 2014), Rumyana BACHVAROVA (since 7 November 2014), Meglena KUNEVA (since 7 November 2014), Ivaylo KALFIN (since 7 November 2014);
• note - this is BORISOV's second term as prime minister, he first served between 27 July 2009 and 13 March 2013

cabinet:

Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister, elected by the National Assembly

elections/appointments:

• president and vice president elected on the same ballot by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 23 and 30 October 2011 (next to be held in 2016);
• chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) elected by the National Assembly;
• deputy prime ministers nominated by the prime minister, elected by the National Assembly

election results:

Rosen PLEVNELIEV elected president in runoff election; percent of vote - Rosen PLEVNELIEV (independent) 52.6%, Ivailo KALFIN (BSP) 47.4%

description:

unicameral National Assembly or Narodno Sabranie (240 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 5 October 2014 (next to be held in 2018)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - GERB 32.7%, BSP 15.4%, DPS 14.8%, RB 8.9%, PF 7.3%, BBTs 5.7%, Ataka 4.5%, ABV 4.2%, other 6.5%;
• seats by party - GERB 84, BSP 39, DPS 38, RB 23, PF 19, BBTs 15, Ataka 11, ABV 11

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court of Cassation (consists of a chairman and approximately 72 judges organized into penal, civil, and commercial colleges);
• Supreme Administrative Court (organized in 2 colleges with various panels of 5 judges each);
• Constitutional Court (consists of 12 justices);
• note - Constitutional Court resides outside the Judiciary

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court of Cassation and Supreme Administrative judges elected by the Supreme Judicial Council or SJC (consists of 25 members with extensive legal experience) and appointed by the president;
• judge tenure NA;
• Constitutional Court justices elected by the National Assembly and appointed by the president and the SJC;
• justices appointed for 9-year terms with renewal of 4 justices every 3 years

subordinate courts:

• appeals courts;
• regional and district courts;
• administrative courts;
• courts martial

• Alternative for Bulgarian Revival or ABV [Georgi PARVANOV]
• Attack (Ataka) [Volen Nikolov SIDEROV]
• Bulgarian Socialist Party or BSP [Mihail MIKOV]
• Bulgaria of the Citizens or DBG [Meglena KUNEVA]
• Bulgaria Without Censorship or BBTs [Nikolay BAREKOV]
• Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria or GERB [Boyko BORISOV]
• Coalition for Bulgaria or CfB [Sergei STANISHEV] (coalition of parties dominated by BSP)
• Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria or DSB [Radan KANEV]
• IMRO - Bulgarian National Movement or IMRO-BNM [Krasimir KARAKACHANOV]
• Movement for Rights and Freedoms or DPS [Lyutvi MESTAN]
• National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria or NFSB [Valeri SIMEONOV]
• National Movement for Stability and Progress or NDSV [Hristina HRISTOVA] (formerly National Movement Simeon II or NMS2)
• Order, Law, and Justice or RZS [Yane YANEV]
• Patriotic Front or PF (alliance of IMRO-BNM and NFSB)
• Union of Democratic Forces or SDS [Bozhidar LUKARSKI]
• Reformist Bloc or RB (a five-party alliance including the DSB, DBG, and SDS)

Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EU, FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OIF, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

chief of mission:

Ambassador Elena POPTODOROVA (since 4 August 2010)

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 Marcie B. RIES (since 5 September 2012)

embassy:

16 Kozyak Street, Sofia 1408

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

• three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red;
• the pan-Slavic white-blue-red colors were modified by substituting a green band (representing freedom) for the blue

note: the national emblem, formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe, has been removed

name:

"Mila Rodino" (Dear Homeland)

lyrics/music:

Tsvetan Tsvetkov RADOSLAVOV

note: adopted 1964; composed in 1885 by a student en route to fight in the Serbo-Bulgarian War

• electricity, gas, water;
• food, beverages, tobacco;
• machinery and equipment, base metals, chemical products, coke, refined petroleum, nuclear fuel

agriculture:

6.7%

industry:

30.2%

services:

63.1% (2013)

lowest 10%:

2%

highest 10%:

35.2% (2007)

• machinery and equipment;
• metals and ores;
• chemicals and plastics;
• fuels, minerals, and raw materials

general assessment:

• inherited an extensive but antiquated telecommunications network from the Soviet era;
• quality has improved with a modern digital trunk line now connecting switching centers in most of the regions;
• remaining areas are connected by digital microwave radio relay

domestic:

• the Bulgaria Telecommunications Company's fixed-line monopoly terminated in 2005 in an effort to upgrade fixed-line services;
• mobile-cellular teledensity, fostered by multiple service providers, has reached 150 telephones per 100 persons

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 - 3 (1 Intersputnik in the Atlantic Ocean region, 2 Intelsat in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions) (2011)

• 4 national terrestrial TV stations with 1 state-owned and 3 privately owned;
• a vast array of TV stations are available from cable and satellite TV providers;
• state-owned national radio broadcasts over 3 networks;
• large number of private radio stations broadcasting, especially in urban areas (2010)

total:

5,114 km

standard gauge:

4,989 km 1.435-m gauge (2,880 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

125 km 0.760-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 41

total:

19,512 km

paved:

19,235 km (includes 458 km of expressways)

unpaved:

277 km

note: does not include Category IV local roads (2011)

country comparison to the world: 111

• 18-27 years of age for voluntary military service;
• conscription ended in January 2008;
• service obligation 6-9 months (2012)

males age 16-49:

1,637,470

females age 16-49:

1,621,352 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,320,955

females age 16-49:

1,337,616 (2010 est.)

male:

33,444

female:

32,075 (2010 est.)

refugees (country of origin):

8,501 (Syria) (2014)

stateless persons:

67 (2014)

• 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;
• vulnerable to money laundering because of corruption, organized crime;
• some money laundering of drug-related proceeds through financial institutions (2008)