Bulgaria




                                 Geography


Location:
     Balkan State, Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between
     Romania and Turkey
Map references:
     Africa, Arctic Region, Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe, Middle
     East, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
     110,910 sq km
land area:
     110,550 sq km
comparative area:
     slightly larger than Tennessee
Land boundaries:
     total 1,808 km, Greece 494 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of
     Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia and Montenegro 318 km (all
     with Serbia), Turkey 240 km
Coastline:
     354 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone:
     24 nm
exclusive economic zone:
     200 nm
territorial sea:
     12 nm
International disputes:
     none
Climate:
     temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers
Terrain:
     mostly mountains with lowlands in north and south
Natural resources:
     bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land
Land use:
arable land:
     34%
permanent crops:
     3%
meadows and pastures:
     18%
forest and woodland:
     35%
other:
     10%
Irrigated land:
     10 sq km (1989 est.)




Environment:
current issues:
     air pollution from industrial emissions; rivers polluted from raw
     sewage, heavy metals, detergents; deforestation; forest damage from
     air pollution; soil contamination from heavy metals from metallurgical
     plants and industrial wastes
natural hazards:
     subject to earthquakes, landslides
international agreements:
     party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
     Pollution-Sulphur, Antarctic Treaty, Endangered Species, Environmental
     Modification, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
     Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Volatile
     Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity,
     Climate Change, Law of the Sea
Note:
     strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from
     Europe to Middle East and Asia


                                  People


Population:
     8,799,986 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
     -0.32% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
     11.71 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
     11.38 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
     -3.49 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
     12 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
     73.24 years
male:
     69.99 years
female:
     76.67 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
     1.71 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
     Bulgarian(s)
adjective:
     Bulgarian
Ethnic divisions:
     Bulgarian 85.3%, Turk 8.5%, Gypsy 2.6%, Macedonian 2.5%, Armenian
     0.3%, Russian 0.2%, other 0.6%
Religions:
     Bulgarian Orthodox 85%, Muslim 13%, Jewish 0.8%, Roman Catholic 0.5%,
     Uniate Catholic 0.2%, Protestant, Gregorian-Armenian, and other 0.5%
Languages:
     Bulgarian; secondary languages closely correspond to ethnic breakdown




Literacy:
     age 15 and over can read and write (1970 est.)
total population:
     93%
male:
     NA%
female:
     NA%
Labor force:
     4.3 million
by occupation:
     industry 33%, agriculture 20%, other 47% (1987)


                                Government


Names:
conventional long form:
     Republic of Bulgaria
conventional short form:
Digraph:
     BU
Type:
     emerging democracy
Capital:
     Sofia
Administrative divisions:
     9 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast); Burgas, Grad Sofiya,
     Khaskovo, Lovech, Montana, Plovdiv, Ruse, Sofiya, Varna
Independence:
     22 September 1908 (from Ottoman Empire)
National holiday:
     Independence Day 3 March (1878)
Constitution:
     adopted 12 July 1991
Legal system:
     based on civil law system, with Soviet law influence; has accepted
     compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
     18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Executive branch:
chief of state:
     President Zhelyu Mitev ZHELEV (since 1 August 1990); Vice President
     (vacant); election last held January 1992; results - Zhelyu ZHELEV was
     elected by popular vote
head of government:
     Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) Lyuben Borisov
     BEROV (since 30 December 1992); Deputy Chairman of the Council of
     Ministers (Deputy Prime Minister) Evgeniy MATINCHEV (since 30 December
     1992)
cabinet:
     Council of Ministers; elected by the National Assembly
Legislative branch:
     unicameral




National Assembly (Narodno Sobranie):
     last held 13 October 1991; results - UDF (and breakaway factions) 34%,
     BSP 33%, MRF 7.5%; seats - (240 total) UDF 110, BSP 106, Movement for
     Rights and Freedoms 24
note:
     the UDF split in March 1993 to form the New Union for Democracy (NUD)
     with 18 seats, and the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) with 92 seats
Judicial branch:
     Supreme Court, Constitutional Court
Political parties and leaders:
     Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), Filip DIMITROV, chairman, an
     alliance of approximately 20 pro-Democratic parties including United
     Democratic Center, Democratic Party, Radical Democratic Party,
     Christian Democratic Union, Alternative Social Liberal Party,
     Republican Party, Civic Initiative Movement, and about a dozen other
     groups; Movement for Rights and Freedoms (mainly ethnic Turkish party)
     (MRF), Ahmed DOGAN, chairman; Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Zhan
     VIDENOV, chairman; New Union for Democracy (NUD), Dimitar LUDZHEV,
     chairman
Other political or pressure groups:
     Ecoglasnost; Podkrepa (Support) Labor Confederation; Fatherland Union;
     Bulgarian Democratic Youth (formerly Communist Youth Union);
     Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (KNSB);
     Nationwide Committee for Defense of National Interests; Peasant Youth
     League; Bulgarian Agrarian National Union - United (BZNS); Bulgarian
     Democratic Center; "Nikola Petkov" Bulgarian Agrarian National Union;
     Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Union of Macedonian
     Societies (IMRO-UMS); numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest
     groups with various agendas
Member of:
     ACCT (observer), BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI (participating), CSCE, EBRD,
     ECE, FAO, G-9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO,
     INMARSAT, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer),
     ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
     UNIDO, UNTAC, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
     Ambassador Ognyan Raytchev PISHEV
chancery:
     1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
     (202) 387-7969
FAX:
     (202) 234-7973
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
     Ambassador William D. MONTGOMERY
embassy:
     1 Saborna Street, Sofia
mailing address:
     Unit  25402, Sofia; APO AE 09213
telephone:
     [359] (2) 88-48-01 through 05
FAX:
     [359] (2) 80-19-77




Flag:
     three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red; the
     national emblem formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe has
     been removed - it contained a rampant lion within a wreath of wheat
     ears below a red five-pointed star and above a ribbon bearing the
     dates 681 (first Bulgarian state established) and 1944 (liberation
     from Nazi control)


                                  Economy


Overview:
     The Bulgarian economy continued its painful adjustment in 1993 from
     the misdirected development undertaken during four decades of
     Communist rule. Many aspects of a market economy have been put in
     place and have begun to function, but much of the economy, especially
     the industrial sector, has yet to re-establish market links lost with
     the collapse of other centrally planned Eastern European economies.
     The prices of many imported industrial inputs, especially energy
     products, have risen markedly, and falling real wages have not
     sufficed to restore competitiveness. The trade deficit, exacerbated by
     UN trade sanctions against neighboring Serbia, grew in late 1993,
     accelerating the depreciation of the lev. These difficulties in
     adjusting to the challenges of a more open system, together with a
     severe drought, caused nonagricultural output to fall by perhaps 8% in
     1993. The government plans more extensive privatization in 1994 to
     improve the management of state enterprises and to encourage foreign
     investment in ailing state firms. Bulgaria resumed payments on its $10
     billion in commercial debt in 1993 following the negotiation of a 50%
     write-off. An IMF program and second agreement with official creditors
     on Bulgaria's smaller amount of official debt are required to close
     the debt deal.
National product:
     GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $33.9 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
     -4% (1993 est.)
National product per capita:
     $3,800 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
     64% (1993)
Unemployment rate:
     16% (1993)
Budget:
revenues:
     $14 billion
expenditures:
     $17.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $610 million (1993
     est.)
Exports:
     $3.5 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
     machinery and equipment 30.6%; agricultural products 24%; manufactured
     consumer goods 22.2%; fuels, minerals, raw materials, and metals
     10.5%; other 12.7% (1991)




partners:
     former CEMA countries 57.7% (USSR 48.6%, Poland 2.1%, Czechoslovakia
     0.9%); developed countries 26.3% (Germany 4.8%, Greece 2.2%); less
     developed countries 15.9% (Libya 2.1%, Iran 0.7%) (1991)
Imports:
     $2.8 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
     fuels, minerals, and raw materials 58.7%; machinery and equipment
     15.8%; manufactured consumer goods 4.4%; agricultural products 15.2%;
     other 5.9%
partners:
     former CEMA countries 51.0% (former USSR 43.2%, Poland 3.7%);
     developed countries 32.8% (Germany 7.0%, Austria 4.7%); less developed
     countries 16.2% (Iran 2.8%, Libya 2.5%)
External debt:
     $12 billion (1993)
Industrial production:
     growth rate -10% (1993 est.); accounts for about 37% of GDP (1990)
Electricity:
capacity:
     11,500,000 kW
production:
     45 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
     5,070 kWh (1992)
Industries:
     machine building and metal working, food processing, chemicals,
     textiles, building materials, ferrous and nonferrous metals
Agriculture:
     climate and soil conditions support livestock raising and the growing
     of various grain crops, oilseeds, vegetables, fruits, and tobacco;
     more than one-third of the arable land devoted to grain; world's
     fourth-largest tobacco exporter; surplus food producer
Illicit drugs:
     transshipment point for southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan
     route
Economic aid:
     $NA
Currency:
     1 lev (Lv) = 100 stotinki
Exchange rates:
     leva (Lv) per US$1 - 32.00 (January 1994), 24.56 (January 1993), 17.18
     (January 1992), 16.13 (March 1991), 0.7446 (November 1990), 0.84
     (1989); note - floating exchange rate since February 1991
Fiscal year:
     calendar year


                              Communications


Railroads:
     4,300 km total, all government owned (1987); 4,055 km 1.435-meter
     standard gauge, 245 km narrow gauge; 917 km double track; 2,640 km
     electrified




Highways:
total:
     36,930 km
paved:
     33,902 km (including 276 km expressways)
unpaved:
     earth 3,028 km (1991)
Inland waterways:
     470 km (1987)
Pipelines:
     crude oil 193 km; petroleum products 525 km; natural gas 1,400 km
     (1992)
Ports:
     coastal - Burgas, Varna, Varna West; inland - Ruse, Vidin, and Lom on
     the Danube
Merchant marine:
     111 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 1,225,996 GRT/1,829,642 DWT,
     bulk 48, cargo 30, chemical carrier 4, container 2, oil tanker 16,
     passenger-cargo 1, railcar carrier 2, roll-on/roll-off cargo 6,
     short-sea passenger 2
note:
     Bulgaria owns 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 8,717 DWT operating
     under Liberian registry
Airports:
total:
     487
usable:
     85
with permanent-surface runways:
     32
with runways over 3659 m:
     0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
     21
with runways 1,060-2,439 m:
     36
note:
     a C-130 can land on a 1,060-m airstrip
Telecommunications:
     extensive but antiquated transmission system of coaxial cable and
     microwave radio relay; 2.6 million telephones; direct dialing to 36
     countries; phone density is 29 phones per 100 persons (1992); almost
     two-thirds of the lines are residential; 67% of Sofia households have
     phones (November 1988); telephone service is available in most
     villages; broadcast stations - 20 AM, 15 FM, and 29 TV, with 1 Soviet
     TV repeater in Sofia; 2.1 million TV sets (1990); 92% of country
     receives No. 1 television program (May 1990); 1 satellite ground
     station using Intersputnik; INTELSAT is used through a Greek earth
     station


                              Defense Forces


Branches:
     Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Frontier Troops, Internal
     Troops




Manpower availability:
     males age 15-49 2,175,921; fit for military service 1,816,484; reach
     military age (19) annually 70,306 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
     5.77 billion leva, NA% of GDP (1993 est.); note - conversion of
     defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate
     could produce misleading results