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| Bulgaria |
 Click to enlarge |
Home Reference Maps Appendixes
| Background: |
The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Turks. Bulgaria regained its independence in 1878, but having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, it fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990, when Bulgaria held its first multiparty election since World War II and began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy while combating inflation, unemployment, corruption, and crime. Today, reforms and democratization keep Bulgaria on a path toward eventual integration into NATO and the EU - with which it began accession negotiations in 2000. |
| 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 water: 360 sq km land: 110,550 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, 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: 39% permanent crops: 1.8% other: 59.2% (1998 est.) |
| Irrigated
land: |
8,000 sq km (1998 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-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, 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-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: |
7,537,929 (July 2003 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years: 14.2% (male 549,142; female 520,057) 15-64 years: 68.8% (male 2,551,548; female 2,632,978) 65 years and over: 17% (male 535,165; female 749,039) (2003 est.) |
| Median
age: |
total: 40.5 years male: 38.4 years female: 42.4 years (2002) |
| Population
growth rate: |
-1.09% (2003 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
8.02 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
14.34 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
-4.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
total: 13.7 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) male: 15.43 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total population: 71.8 years male: 68.26 years female: 75.56 years (2003 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
1.13 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Bulgarian(s) adjective: Bulgarian |
| Ethnic
groups: |
Bulgarian 83.6%, Turk 9.5%, Roma 4.6%, other 2.3% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) (1998) |
| Religions: |
Bulgarian Orthodox 83.8%, Muslim 12.1%, Roman Catholic 1.7%, Jewish 0.1%, Protestant, Gregorian-Armenian, and other 2.3% (1998) |
| Languages: |
Bulgarian, secondary languages closely correspond to ethnic breakdown |
| Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98.6% male: 99.1% female: 98.2% (2003 est.) |
| Economy
- overview: |
Bulgaria, a former communist country striving to enter the European Union, has experienced macroeconomic stability and strong growth since a major economic downturn in 1996 led to the fall of the then socialist government. As a result, the government became committed to economic reform and responsible fiscal planning. A $300 million stand-by agreement negotiated with the IMF at the end of 2001 will support government efforts to overcome high rates of poverty, unemployment, and inflation. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $50.6 billion (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
4.8% (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power parity - $6,600 (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture: 13.7% industry: 28.5% services: 57.8% (2001) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
12.6% (2001 est.) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%: 4.5% highest 10%: 22.8% (1997) |
| Distribution
of family income - Gini index: |
26.4 (2001) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
5.9% (2002 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
3.83 million (2000 est.) |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
agriculture 26%, industry 31%, services 43% (1998 est.) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
18% (2002 est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues: $5.57 billion expenditures: $5.68 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
| Industries: |
electricity, gas and water; food, beverages and tobacco; machinery and equipment, base metals, chemical products, coke, refined petroleum, nuclear fuel |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
2% (2002 est.) |
| Electricity
- production: |
41.38 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel: 47.8% hydro: 8.1% other: 0% (2001) nuclear: 44.1% |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
32.52 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
6.79 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
830 million kWh (2001) |
| Oil
- production: |
603 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil
- consumption: |
94,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil
- exports: |
NA (2001) |
| Oil
- imports: |
NA (2001) |
| Oil
- proved reserves: |
8.1 million bbl (January 2002 est.) |
| Natural
gas - proved reserves: |
3.724 billion cu m (January 2002 est.) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
vegetables, fruits, tobacco, livestock, wine, wheat, barley, sunflowers, sugar beets |
| Exports: |
$5.3 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels |
| Exports
- partners: |
Italy 14%, Turkey 10%, Germany 9%, Greece 8%, Serbia and Montenegro 8% (2000) |
| Imports: |
$6.9 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
fuels, minerals, and raw materials; machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; food, textiles |
| Imports
- partners: |
Russia 19.9%, Germany 15.3%, Italy 9.6%, France 6.0% (2000) |
| Debt
- external: |
$10.3 billion (yearend 2002) |
| Economic
aid - recipient: |
$300 million (2000 est.) |
| Currency: |
lev (BGL) |
| Currency
code: |
BGN |
| Exchange
rates: |
leva per US dollar - 2.077 (2002), 2.1847 (2001), 2.1233 (2000), 1.8364 (1999), 1.7604 (1998) note: on 5 July 1999, the lev was redenominated; the post-5 July 1999 lev is equal to 1,000 of the pre-5 July 1999 lev |
| Fiscal
year: |
calendar year |
| |
