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. Northern Bulgaria attained autonomy in 1878 and all of Bulgaria became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1908. Having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, Bulgaria 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. The country joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007.

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

43 00 N, 25 00 E

Europe

slightly larger than Tennessee

354 km

temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers

mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast

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

5,880 sq km (2003)

19.4 cu km (2005)

earthquakes; landslides

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

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

7,204,687 (July 2009 est.)

-0.79% (2009 est.)

9.51 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

14.31 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

-3.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

1.41 children born/woman (2009 est.)

less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

346 (2001 est.)

100 (2001 est.)

Bulgarian 83.9%, Turk 9.4%, Roma 4.7%, other 2% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) (2001 census)

Bulgarian Orthodox 82.6%, Muslim 12.2%, other Christian 1.2%, other 4% (2001 census)

Bulgarian 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)

4.5% of GDP (2005)

parliamentary democracy

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, Sofiya-Grad, Stara Zagora, Turgovishte, Varna, Veliko Turnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Yambol

3 March 1878 (as an autonomous principality within the Ottoman Empire); 22 September 1908 (complete independence from the Ottoman Empire)

Liberation Day, 3 March (1878)

adopted 12 July 1991

civil and criminal law based on Roman law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

18 years of age; universal

unicameral National Assembly or Narodno Sabranie (240 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)

independent judiciary comprised of judges, prosecutors and investigating magistrates who are appointed, promoted, demoted, and dismissed by a 25-member Supreme Judicial Council (consists of the chairmen of the two Supreme Courts, the Chief Prosecutor, and 22 members, half of whom are elected by the National Assembly and the other half by the bodies of the judiciary for a 5-year term in office); three levels of case review; 182 courts of which two Supreme Courts act as the last instance on civil and criminal cases (the Supreme Court of Cassation) and appeals of government decisions (the Supreme Administrative Court)

ATAKA (Attack Coalition) (coalition of parties headed by the Attack National Union); Attack National Union [Volen SIDEROV]; Agrarian National Union or ANU [Stefan LICHEV]; Blue Coalition (a coalition of center-right parties dominated by UDF and DSB); Bulgarian New Democracy [Borislav RALCHEV]; Bulgarian Socialist Party or BSP [Sergei STANISHEV]; Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria or GERB [Tsvetan TSVETANOV]; Coalition for Bulgaria or CfB (coalition of parties dominated by BSP) [Sergei STANISHEV]; Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria or DSB [Ivan KOSTOV]; Gergyovden [Petar STOYANOVICH]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization or IMRO [Krasimir KARAKACHANOV]; Liberal Initiative for Democratic European Development or LIDER [Khristo KOVACHKI]; Movement for Rights and Freedoms or MRF [Ahmed DOGAN]; Movement Forward (LIDER, IMRO, ANU, Gergyovden); National Movement for Stability and Progress or NDSV [Simeon SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA] (formerly National Movement Simeon II or NMS2); New Time [Emil KOSHLUKOV]; Order, Law, Justice or RZS [Yane YANEV]; Union of Democratic Forces or UDF [Martin DIMITROV]; Union of Free Democrats or UFD [Stefan SOFIYANSKI]; United Agrarians [Anastasia MOZER]

Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria or CITUB; Podkrepa Labor Confederation

ACCT, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU, FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OIF, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate affiliate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red

Bulgaria, a former Communist country that entered the EU on 1 January 2007, has experienced strong growth since a major economic downturn in 1996. Successive governments have demonstrated a commitment to economic reforms and responsible fiscal planning, but have failed so far to rein in rising inflation and large current account deficits. Bulgaria has averaged more than 6% growth since 2004, attracting significant amounts of foreign direct investment, but corruption in the public administration, a weak judiciary, and the presence of organized crime remain significant challenges.

$93.98 billion (2008 est.)

$88.66 billion (2007 est.)

$83.48 billion (2006 est.)

$49.9 billion (2008)

6% (2008 est.)

6.2% (2007 est.)

6.3% (2006 est.)

$12,900 (2008 est.)

$12,100 (2007 est.)

$11,300 (2006 est.)

2.67 million (2008 est.)

6.3% (2008 est.)

7.7% (2007 est.)

14.1% (2003 est.)

30.7 (2007)

26.4 (2001)

33.4% of GDP (2008 est.)

14.1% of GDP (2008 est.)

41.9% of GDP (2004 est.)

12.3% (2008 est.)

9.8% (2007 est.)

5.77% (31 December 2008)

4.58% (31 December 2007)

10.86% (31 December 2008)

10% (31 December 2007)

$14.29 billion (31 December 2008)

$15.58 billion (31 December 2007)

$19.67 billion (31 December 2008)

$17.03 billion (31 December 2007)

$32.04 billion (31 December 2008)

$25.18 billion (31 December 2007)

$8.858 billion (31 December 2008)

$21.79 billion (31 December 2007)

$10.32 billion (31 December 2006)

vegetables, fruits, tobacco, wine, wheat, barley, sunflowers, sugar beets; livestock

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

1.5% (2008 est.)

40.25 billion kWh (2007 est.)

31.08 billion kWh (2007 est.)

8.441 billion kWh (2008 est.)

3.097 billion kWh (2008 est.)

3,357 bbl/day (2008 est.)

124,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)

76,570 bbl/day (2007 est.)

189,000 bbl/day (2007 est.)

15 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

300 million cu m (2008 est.)

3.4 billion cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008)

3.1 billion cu m (2008 est.)

5.663 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

-$12.65 billion (2008 est.)

-$8.716 billion (2007 est.)

$22.71 billion (2008 est.)

$18.58 billion (2007 est.)

clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels

Greece 9.9%, Germany 9.2%, Turkey 8.9%, Italy 8.5%, Romania 7.2%, Belgium 5.9%, France 4.1% (2008)

$35.64 billion (2008 est.)

$28.65 billion (2007 est.)

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

Russia 14.6%, Germany 11.8%, Italy 7.9%, Ukraine 7.3%, Romania 5.6%, Turkey 5.5%, Greece 5.4%, Austria 4.1% (2008)

$17.93 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$17.54 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

$51.46 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$42.62 billion (31 December 2007)

$42.91 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$33.91 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

$1.292 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$559 million (31 December 2007 est.)

leva (BGN) per US dollar - 1.3171 (2008 est.), 1.4366 (2007), 1.5576 (2006), 1.5741 (2005), 1.5751 (2004)

2.258 million (2008)

10.633 million (2008)

AM 31, FM 63, shortwave 2 (2001)

39 (plus 1,242 repeaters) (2001)

.bg

706,648 (2009)

2.647 million (2008)

212 (2009)

3 (2009)

gas 2,926 km; oil 339 km; refined products 156 km (2008)

470 km (2008)

Burgas, Varna

Bulgarian Armed Forces: Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Bulgarian Air Forces (Bulgarski Voennovazdyshni Sily, BVVS) (2009)

18-27 years of age for voluntary military service; as of May 2006, 67% of the Bulgarian Army comprised of professional soldiers; conscription ended January 2008; Air Forces and Naval Forces became fully professional at the end of 2006 (2008)

2.6% of GDP (2005 est.)

none

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)