Country Facts - Bulgaria

The People

Nationality

Bulgarian(s)

Ethnic Composition

Bulgarian	88.3%
Turk	9.5%
Roma	4.6%
Other (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian)	2.3%

Religious Composition

Bulgarian Orthodox	83.8%
Muslim	12.1%
Roman Catholic	1.7%
Jewish	0.8%
Protestant, Gregorian-Armenian, and other	1.6%

Languages Spoken

Bulgarian (official), Turkish, and Romani.

Education and Literacy

Education is free of charge and compulsory to the age of 15. Adult literacy is 98 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 3.83 million (2000)
By occupation:

Services	43%
Industry	31%
Agriculture	26%

Geography

Land Mass Total

42,822 sq mi (110,910 sq km)

Land

42,683 sq mi (110,550 sq km)

Water

138 sq mi (360 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 1,123 mi (1,808 km)

Border countries: Greece 306 mi (494 km), The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 91 mi (148 km), Romania 377 mi (608 km), Yugoslavia 197 mi (318 km) Turkey 149 mi (240 km).

Coastline

219 mi (354 km)

Maritime claim

Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

Temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers.

Terrain

Mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Black Sea 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Musala 9,596 ft (2,925 m)

Natural Resources

Bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land.

Land use

Arable land	39%
Permanent crops	2%
Other	59%

(1998)

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.

Geography Note

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

Demographics

Population

7,621,337 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	14.6%	Male: 572,961	Female: 543,004
15-64 years:	68.5%	Male: 2,569,199	Female: 2,648,461
65 years and over:	16.9%	Male: 540,109	Female: 747,603

Growth Rate

-1.11% (2002)

Life Expectancy

71.5 years (2002)
female: 75.22 years
male: 67.98 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$6,200 (2001)

Infant Mortality

14.18 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

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:	0.72 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.94 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

-4.74 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Bulgaria, a former communist country striving to enter the European Union, has experienced macroeconomic stability and positive growth rates since a major economic downturn in 1996 led to the fall of the then socialist government. The current government, elected in 2001, has pledged to maintain the fundamental economic policy objectives of its predecessor, i.e., retaining the Currency Board, practicing sound financial policies, accelerating privatization, and pursuing structural reforms. A US$300 million stand-by agreement negotiated with the IMF at the end of 2001 will help the government maintain economic stability as it seeks to overcome high rates of poverty and unemployment. At the opening of 2003, the government pledged its continued concentration on meeting the requirements for Bulgaria's acceptance into the E.U., which is scheduled for 2007. Other tasks include development of the nation's basic infrastructure, construction of the bridge over the Danube at Vidin-Calafat, expansion of facilities along the Pan-European Transport Corridor VIII, opening of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant, completion of the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, and the modernization of Sofia Airport.

Unemployment

17.5% (2001)

Inflation Rate

7.5% (2001)

Industries

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

Exports

US$4.6 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$6.2 billion (f.o.b., 2001 )

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$48 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

Italy 14%, Turkey 10%, Germany 9%, Greece 8%, Yugoslavia 8% (2000)

Top Import Partners

Russia 24%, Germany 14%, Italy 8%, Greece 5%, France 5% (2000)

Top Exports

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

Top Imports

Fuels, minerals, and raw materials; machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; food, textiles

Debt - external

US$10.2 billion (2001)

Economic aid

Recipient: US$1 billion (1999)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	9a.m. to 6p.m.	Closed
Retail	9a.m. to 5 p.m. Many stores and government offices in rural areas close between 1 and 2p.m.	Saturday 9a.m. to 5 p.m.
Banks	9a.m. to noon and 1p.m. to 5p.m.	Saturday 9 a.m. to noon.
Government	8:30a.m. to 4:30p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
National Holiday	March 3	March 3	March 3
Labor Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Good Friday	April 25	April 9	March 25
Easter (Orthodox)¹	April 27	April 11	May 1
Easter Monday	April 28	April 12	May 2
St. George's Day and Bulgarian Army Day	May 6	May 6	May 6
Education and Culture Day (Day of Slavic Heritage)	May 24	May 24	May 24
Day of the Union of Eastern Rumelia with the Bulgarian Principality in 1885	September 6	September 6	September 6
Independence Day	September 22	September 22	September 22
Day of the Leaders of the Bulgarian National Revival	November 1	November 1	November 1
Christmas Eve	December 24	December 24	December 24
Christmas Day²	December 25	December 25	December 25
Second Day of Christmas	December 26	December 26	December 26

Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.

Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press