Bulgaria
Country Guide

Explore Bulgaria

Bulgaria with its capital Sofia is located in Europe (Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea). It covers some 110,880 square kilometers (almost identical in size to Virginia) with 7,101,510 citizens. Bulgarian and Turkish are the common languages used in Bulgaria. Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey are bordering countries.

Bulgaria is a country in the Balkans on the western side of the Black Sea. The Bulgarian language is related to Serbian, Russian and other Eastern European languages, but contains many international words. Bulgarians use the Cyrillic alphabet which can make the task of getting around the country somewhat difficult if you aren't familiar with this alphabet as most signs are written in it. However, getting acquainted with the alphabet isn't very difficult and may save you a lot of trouble, especially as many common words are homophones of English or French words. Bulgaria is a member of the Schengen Agreement but has not yet fully implemented it. For EU and EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) citizens, an officially approved ID card (or a passport) is sufficient for entry. In no case will they need a visa for a stay of any length. Others will generally need a passport for entry.

Popular Destinations in Bulgaria

Administrative regions of Bulgaria

• Blagoevgrad
• Burgas
• Gabrovo
• Haskovo
• Lovech
• Oblast Dobrich
• Oblast Kardzhali
• Oblast Kyustendil
• Oblast Montana
• Oblast Pleven
• Oblast Razgrad
• Oblast Ruse
• Oblast Shumen
• Oblast Silistra
• Oblast Sliven
• Oblast Smolyan
• Oblast Stara Zagora
• Oblast Targovishte
• Oblast Veliko Tarnovo
• Oblast Vidin
• Oblast Vratsa
• Oblast Yambol
• Pazardzhik
• Pernik
• Plovdiv
• Sofia
• Sofia-Grad
• Varna

About the country

The landscape is mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast. The average density of population is about 64 per km². The climate in Bulgaria can be described as temperatecold, damp winters, hot, dry summers. Potential threats by nature are earthquakes landslides

To reach someone Bulgaria dial +359 prior to a number. The local cellular networks are operated on 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 3G, 4G. Websites typically end with the top level domain ".bg". If you want to bring electric appliances (e.g. battery chaarger), keep in min the local 230 V - 50 Hz (plugs: C, F). The sign for the locally used currency Lev is BGN.

Three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red; the pan-Slavic white-blue-red colors were modified by substituting a green band (representing freedom) for the blue.

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.

Geography

Area
Total (World Rank: 106)	110,879	sq km
Land (World Rank: 102)	108,489	sq km
Water (World Rank: 86)	2,390	sq km
Forest (World Rank: 112)	15.50	%
Comparative	almost identical in size to Virginia; slightly larger than Tennessee
Coastline
354
Landborder
1806
Elevation
Highest point (World Rank: 75)	2,925	m
Agricultural land
Total (World Rank: 77)	46.90	%
Arable (World Rank: 30)	29.90	%
Permanent crops (World Rank: 106)	1.50	%
Permanent pastures (World Rank: 112)	15.50	%
Irrigated land (World Rank: 92)	1,020	sq km
Map reference
Europe
Environment
Issues	- air pollution from industrial emissions - deforestation - detergents - forest damage from air pollution and resulting acid rain - heavy metals - rivers polluted from raw sewage - soil contamination from heavy metals from metallurgical plants and industrial wastes
Agreement party	- Air Pollution - Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides - Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants - Air Pollution-Sulfur 85 - Air Pollution-Sulfur 94 - Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds - Antarctic Treaty - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol - Antarctic-Marine Living Resources - Biodiversity - Climate Change - Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol - Desertification - Endangered Species - Environmental Modification - Hazardous Wastes - Law of the Sea - Marine Dumping - Ozone Layer Protection - Ship Pollution - Wetlands
Hazzards	- earthquakes - landslides
Location
Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey
Climate
temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers
Terrain
mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast

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People

Population
Total (World Rank: 103)	7,101,510
Deathrate (World Rank: 3)	1.45	%
Birthrate (World Rank: 209)	0.87	%
Growthrate (World Rank: 220)	-0.61	%
Migration rate (World Rank: 84)	-0.03	%
Fertility rate (World Rank: 199)	1.46	%
Median age
Male (World Rank: 26)	40.90
Female (World Rank: 18)	44.70
Age structure
0 14 male (World Rank: 118)	532,924
0 14 female (World Rank: 118)	502,277
15 24 male (World Rank: 121)	354,872
15 24 female (World Rank: 122)	325,538
25 54 male (World Rank: 100)	1,576,980
25 54 female (World Rank: 102)	1,491,490
55 64 male (World Rank: 76)	445,412
55 64 female (World Rank: 76)	502,924
65 x male (World Rank: 62)	554,486
65 x female (World Rank: 58)	814,608
Health
Infant mortality rate (World Rank: 147)	0.84	%
Life expectancy total (World Rank: 119)	75	years
Life expectancy female (World Rank: 108)	78	years
Life expectancy male (World Rank: 124)	71	years
Physicians per 1000 (World Rank: 15)	4.00
Hospital bed per 1000 (World Rank: 19)	6.40
Sanitation access total (World Rank: 108)	86.00	%
Obesity adult (World Rank: 53)	25.00	%
Drinking water access (World Rank: 58)	99.40	%

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Energy

Electricity
Production (World Rank: 56)	46,150,000,000	kWh
Consumption (World Rank: 59)	31,790,000,000	kWh
Export (World Rank: 13)	14,830,000,000	kWh
Import (World Rank: 43)	4,250,000,000	kWh
Source fossil (World Rank: 171)	36.30	%
Source nuclear (World Rank: 92)	17.30	%
Source renew (World Rank: 40)	16.40	%
Crude oil
Production (World Rank: 92)	1,000	bbl / day
Imports (World Rank: 40)	122,800	bbl / day
Proved reserves (World Rank: 87)	15,000,000	bbl
Refined products
Production (World Rank: 62)	132,000	bbl / day
Consumption (World Rank: 85)	89,000	bbl / day
Export (World Rank: 43)	83,450	bbl / day
Import (World Rank: 86)	44,600	bbl / day
Natural gas
Production (World Rank: 82)	94,000,000	m³
Consumption (World Rank: 74)	3,209,000,000	m³
Import (World Rank: 50)	0	m³
Carbon footprint
49920000

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Nation

Budget
Education (World Rank: 105)	4	% of GDP
Military (World Rank: 78)	1	% of GDP
Health (World Rank: 49)	8	% of GDP
Surplus (World Rank: 13)	3	% of GDP
National symbol
lion
National colours
white
Adjective
Bulgarian
Noun
Bulgarian(s)
Background
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.
Flag description
three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red; the pan-Slavic white-blue-red colors were modified by substituting a green band (representing freedom) for the blue

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Economy

Gdp
Purchasing power parity (World Rank: 76)	144,600,000,000	USD
Real growth rate (World Rank: 81)	3.40	%
Per capita purchasing power parity (World Rank: 84)	20,400	USD
Source agriculture (World Rank: 131)	4.40	%
Source industry (World Rank: 94)	28.00	%
Source service (World Rank: 79)	67.60	%
Labourforce
Total (World Rank: 115)	2,556,000
In poverty (World Rank: 94)	22.00	%
Products
Industries	- automotive parts - base metals - beverages - chemical products - coke - electricity - equipment - food - gas - machinery - nuclear fuel - outsourcing centers - refined petroleum - tobacco - water
Agriculture	- barley - fruits - livestock - sugar beets - sunflowers - tobacco - vegetables - wheat - wine
Exports	- agriculture - clothing - equipment - footwear - fuels - iron - IT components - machinery - steel - tobacco
Imports	- chemicals - equipment - fuels - machinery - metals - minerals - ores - plastics - raw materials

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Communication

Phone
Landline total (World Rank: 64)	1,478,980
Landline per 100 (World Rank: 84)	21.00
Mobile per 100 (World Rank: 65)	126.00
Assessment	0
Internet
Users (World Rank: 85)	4,274,330
Population (World Rank: 94)	59.80	%

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Transport

Air
Airports paved (World Rank: 43)	57.00
Airports unpaved (World Rank: 127)	11.00
Heliports (World Rank: 83)	1.00
Rail
Total length (World Rank: 37)	5,114
Road
Total length (World Rank: 112)	19,512
Paved length (World Rank: 59)	19,235
Unpaved length (World Rank: 139)	277
Water
Total length (World Rank: 85)	470

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