Country Profiles

Location:

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

Area:

total: 110,910 sq km
land: 110,550 sq km
water: 360 sq km

Land boundaries:

total: 1,808 km
border countries: Greece 494 km, Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia and Montenegro 318 km, Turkey 240 km

Coastline:

354 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate:

temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers

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: 40.02%
permanent crops: 1.92%
other: 58.06%

Irrigated land:

8,000 sq km

Geography - note:

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

Population:

7,450,349 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 14.1% (male 539,005/female 512,762)
15-64 years: 68.7% (male 2,516,368/female 2,599,524)
65 years and over: 17.2% (male 531,008/female 751,682) (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:

-0.89% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:

9.66 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate:

14.26 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 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 (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 20.55 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 24.31 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 16.56 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Bulgarian(s)
adjective: Bulgarian

Ethnic groups:

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

Religions:

Bulgarian Orthodox 82.6%, Muslim 12.2%, Roman Catholic 1.7%, Jewish 0.1%, Protestant, Gregorian-Armenian, and other 3.4%

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%

Country name:

conventional long form: Republic of Bulgaria

conventional short form: Bulgaria

Government type:

parliamentary democracy

Capital:

Sofia

Administrative divisions:

28 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast); Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Dobrich, Gabrovo, Haskovo, Kurdzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Ruse, Shumen, Silistra, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofia, Sofia-Grad, Stara Zagora, Targovishte, Varna, Veliko Turnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Yambol

Independence :

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

National holiday:

Liberation Day, 3 March (1878)

Constitution:

adopted 12 July 1991

Legal system:

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

International organization participation:

ACCT, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EU (applicant), FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO , NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMIL, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate affiliate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO , ZC