Daily Almanac for
Oct 14, 2008
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Bulgaria

Republic of Bulgaria

President: Georgi Purvanov (2002)

Prime Minister: Sergei Stanishev (2005)

Current government officials

Land area: 42,683 sq mi (110,549 sq km); total area: 42,823 sq mi (110,910 sq km )

Population (2008 est.): 7,262,675 (growth rate: –0.8%); birth rate: 9.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 18.5/1000; life expectancy: 72.8; density per sq mi: 65

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Sofia, 1,088,700

Other large cities: Plovdiv, 338,200; Varna, 312,300; Burgas, 192,000; Ruse, 161,000

Monetary unit: Lev

Languages: Bulgarian 85%, Turkish 10%, Roma 4%

Ethnicity/race: Bulgarian 83.9%, Turk 9.4%, Roma 4.7%, other (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) 2% (2001)

National Holiday: Liberation Day, March 3

Religions: Bulgarian Orthodox 83%, Islam 12%, other Christian 1% (2001)

Literacy rate: 98.2% (2006 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $86.32 billion; per capita $11,300. Real growth rate: 6.2%. Inflation: 7.6%. Unemployment: 7.7%. Arable land: 40%. Agriculture: vegetables, fruits, tobacco, wine, wheat, barley, sunflowers, sugar beets; livestock. Labor force: 3.34 million; agriculture 11%, industry 32.7%, services 56.3% (3rd quarter 2004 est.). Industries: electricity, gas, water; food, beverages, tobacco; machinery and equipment, base metals, chemical products, coke, refined petroleum, nuclear fuel. Natural resources: bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land. Exports: $11.67 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): hing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels. Imports: $15.9 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; fuels, minerals, and raw materials. Major trading partners: Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belgium, Greece, U.S., France, Russia (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 2,868,200 (2002); mobile cellular: 2,597,500 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 31, FM 63, shortwave 2 (2001). Television broadcast stations: 39 (plus 1,242 repeaters) (2001). Internet hosts: 53,421 (2004). Internet users: 630,000 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 4,294 km (2004). Highways: total: 37,077 km; paved: 34,111 km (including 328 km of expressways); unpaved: 2,966 km (2002). Waterways: 470 km (2004). Ports and harbors: Burgas, Varna. Airports: 213 (2004 est.).

International disputes: none.

Major sources and definitions

Flag of Bulgaria

Geography

Bulgaria shares borders with Serbia, Macedonia, Romania, Greece, and Turkey. Two mountain ranges and two great valleys mark the topography of Bulgaria, a country the size of Tennessee and situated on the Black Sea. The Maritsa is Bulgaria's principal river, and the Danube also flows through the country.

Government

Parliamentary democracy.

History

The Thracians lived in what is now known as Bulgaria from about 3500 B.C. They were incorporated into the Roman Empire by the first century A.D. At the decline of the empire, the Goths, Huns, Bulgars, and Avars invaded. The Bulgars, who crossed the Danube from the north in 679, took control of the region. Although the country bears the name of the Bulgars, the Bulgar language and culture died out, replaced by a Slavic language, writing, and religion. In 865, Boris I adopted Orthodox Christianity. The Bulgars twice conquered most of the Balkan peninsula between 893 and 1280. But in 1396 they were invaded by the Ottoman Empire, which made Bulgaria a Turkish province until 1878. Ottoman rule was harsh and inescapable, given Bulgaria's proximity to its oppressor. In 1878, Russia forced Turkey to give Bulgaria its independence after the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). But the European powers, fearing Russia's and Bulgaria's dominance in the Balkans, intervened at the Congress of Berlin (1878), limiting Bulgaria's territory and fashioning it into a small principality ruled by Alexander of Battenburg, the nephew of the Russian czar.

Alexander was succeeded in 1887 by Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who declared a kingdom independent of the Ottoman Empire on Oct. 5, 1908. In the First Balkan War (1912–1913), Bulgaria and the other members of the Balkan League fought against Turkey to regain Balkan territory. Angered by the small portion of Macedonia it received after the battle—it considered Macedonia an integral part of Bulgaria—the country instigated the Second Balkan War (June–Aug. 1913) against Turkey as well as its former allies. Bulgaria lost the war and all the territory it had gained in the First Balkan War. Bulgaria joined Germany in World War I in the hope of again gaining Macedonia. After this second failure, Ferdinand abdicated in favor of his son in 1918. Boris III squandered Bulgaria's resources and assumed dictatorial powers in 1934–1935. Bulgaria fought on the side of the Nazis in World War II, but after Russia declared war on Bulgaria on Sept. 5, 1944, Bulgaria switched sides. Three days later, on Sept. 9, 1944, a Communist coalition took control of the country and set up a government under Kimon Georgiev.

A Soviet-style People's Republic was established in 1947 and Bulgaria acquired the reputation of being the most slavishly loyal to Moscow of all the East European Communist countries. The general secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Todor Zhikov, resigned in 1989 after 35 years in power. His successor, Peter Mladenov, purged the Politburo, ended the Communist monopoly on power, and held free elections in May 1990 that led to a surprising victory for the Communist Party, renamed the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). Mladenov was forced to resign in July 1990.

In Oct. 1991, the Union of Democratic Forces won, forming Bulgaria's first non-Communist government since 1946. Power shifted back and forth between the pro-Western Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) and the BSP during the 1990s. The economy continued to deteriorate amid growing concern over the spread of organized crime. A new UDF government, led by Prime Minister Ivan Kostov, was elected in 1997 to overhaul the economic system and institute reforms aimed at stemming corruption. Progress on both fronts remained slow. As a result, the UDF lost the July 2001 election to the former king of Bulgaria, leader of the Simeon II National Movement (SNM). The new prime minister, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Simeon II), had been dethroned 55 years earlier (at age nine) during the Communist takeover of the country. Bulgaria became a member of NATO in 2004. In 2005, the EU approved its membership for 2007, subject to the implementation of reforms, especially the cleaning up of corruption and organized crime.

In June 2005 general elections, no party received a clear majority, and a coalition government was formed with Socialist Party leader Sergei Stanishev as the new prime minister. In 2007, Bulgaria joined the EU.

On July 23, 2008, the European commission suspended about 500 million euros of EU aid to Bulgaria due to suspicion of organized crime and corruption.

See also Encyclopedia: Bulgaria.
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes: Bulgaria
National Statistical Institute www.nsi.bg/ .


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