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Bulgaria Country Guide

Explore Bulgaria in Europe

Bulgaria with the capital city Sofia is located in Europe (Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea). It covers some 110,910 square kilometres (slightly larger than Tennessee) with 7,262,000 citizens.

Interactive map of Bulgaria

The topography includes mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast. The average density of population is approximately 65 per km². The notable climate conditions in Bulgaria can be described as temperate with cold, damp winters and hot, dry summers. Possible natural disasters include earthquakes or landslides.

To reach someone in Bulgaria dial +359 prior to a number. There are 2,164,000 installed telephones. And there are 10,617,000 registered mobile phones. The cellular networks commonly support frequencies of 900/1800 MHz. Websites registered in this country end with the top level domain ".bg". If you want to bring electric equipment on your trip (e.g. laptop power supply), note the local power outlet of 230V - 50Hz.

About the flag and history of Bulgaria

Bulgaria Flag Icon

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 note: the national emblem, formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe, has been removed.


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 Quick-Facts

SummaryContinent: Europe
Neighbours: Macedonia, Greece, Romania, , Turkey, Serbia
Capital: Sofia
Size110,910 square kilometers (km² or sqkm) or 42,822 square miles (mi² or sqmi)
slightly larger than Tennessee
Population7,262,000
CurrencyName Lev, Currency Code:BGN
Country Top Level Domain (cTLD).bg
Telephone Country Prefix+359
Mobile Phone Connections10,617,000
Landline Phone Connections2,164,000

Country Position in World Rankings

Information about single country attributes and how these compare against the rest of the world. The information below is compiled with data from 2013. As such, it may differ a bit to the Information above in the text (which is from 2010).

Geography

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Area110,879 (sq km)105

People and Society

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Population6,981,642 101
Population growth rate-0.81 (%)229
Birth rate9.07 (births/1,000 population)206
Death rate14.31 (deaths/1,000 population)8
Net migration rate-2.86 (migrant(s)/1,000 population)172
Maternal mortality rate11.00 (deaths/100,000 live births)152
Infant mortality rate15.60 (deaths/1,000 live births)105
Life expectancy at birth74.08 (years)114
Total fertility rate1.43 (children born/woman)199
Health expenditures6.90 (% of GDP)84
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate0.10 (%)118
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS3,800 122
HIV/AIDS - deaths200 103
Obesity - adult prevalence rate23.70 (%)72
Children under the age of 5 years underweight1.60 (%)125
Education expenditures4.60 (% of GDP)92
Unemployment, youth ages 15-2426.60 (%)34

Economy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
GDP (purchasing power parity)105,500,000,000 72
GDP - real growth rate0.80 (%)165
GDP - per capita (PPP)14,500 93
Labor force2,451,000 113
Unemployment rate9.90 (%)108
Distribution of family income - Gini index45.30 39
Investment (gross fixed)20.40 (% of GDP)91
Taxes and other revenues33.70 (% of GDP)72
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)-1.40 (% of GDP)70
Public debt17.90 (% of GDP)134
Inflation rate (consumer prices)2.40 (%)52
Central bank discount rate0.22 (%)142
Commercial bank prime lending rate10.63 (%)81
Stock of narrow money13,910,000,000 70
Stock of broad money37,680,000,000 73
Stock of domestic credit37,110,000,000 68
Market value of publicly traded shares7,276,000,000 76
Industrial production growth rate5.90 (%)52
Current account balance542,800,000 44
Exports27,670,000,000 68
Imports30,320,000,000 65
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold17,930,000,000 60
Debt - external50,540,000,000 61
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home52,290,000,000 54
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad1,893,000,000 71

Energy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Electricity - production41,900,000,000 (kWh)56
Electricity - consumption28,100,000,000 (kWh)65
Electricity - exports12,000,000,000 (kWh)16
Electricity - imports1,166,000,000 (kWh)60
Electricity - installed generating capacity12,000,000 (kW)51
Electricity - from fossil fuels46.40 (% of total installed capacity)163
Electricity - from nuclear fuels20.30 (% of total installed capacity)11
Electricity - from hydroelectric plants22.20 (% of total installed capacity)85
Electricity - from other renewable sources1.90 (% of total installed capacity)59
Crude oil - production1,000 (bbl/day)96
Crude oil - imports123,400 (bbl/day)45
Crude oil - proved reserves15,000,000 (bbl)87
Refined petroleum products - production120,000 (bbl/day)69
Refined petroleum products - consumption112,700 (bbl/day)74
Refined petroleum products - exports78,180 (bbl/day)47
Refined petroleum products - imports29,940 (bbl/day)88
Natural gas - production68,000 (cu m)94
Natural gas - consumption2,170,000,000 (cu m)78
Natural gas - imports2,480,000,000 (cu m)47
Natural gas - proved reserves5,663,000,000 (cu m)88
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy42,170,000 (Mt)66

Communications

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Telephones - main lines in use2,356,000 54
Telephones - mobile cellular10,475,000 73
Internet hosts976,277 47
Internet users3,395,000 63

Transportation

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Airports202 28
Railways4,152 (km)40
Roadways19,512 (km)109
Waterways470 (km)84
Merchant marine22 93

Military

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Military expenditures2.60 (% of GDP)49

Data based on CIA facts book 2010 & 2013, wikipedia, national statistical offices and their census releases

List of current world heritage sites

NameSince
Ancient City of Nessebar
Situated on a rocky peninsula on the Black Sea, the more than 3,000-year-old site of Nessebar was originally a Thracian settlement (Menebria). At the beginning of the 6th century BC, the city became a Greek colony. The city’s remains, which date most ...
1983
Boyana Church
Located on the outskirts of Sofia, Boyana Church consists of three buildings. The eastern church was built in the 10th century, then enlarged at the beginning of the 13th century by Sebastocrator Kaloyan, who ordered a second two storey building to b ...
1979
Madara Rider
The Madara Rider, representing the figure of a knight triumphing over a lion, is carved into a 100-m-high cliff near the village of Madara in north-east Bulgaria. Madara was the principal sacred place of the First Bulgarian Empire before Bulgaria’s c ...
1979
Pirin National Park
Spread over an area of over 27,000 ha, at an altitude between 1008 and 2914 m in the Pirin Mountains, southwest Bulgaria, the site comprises diverse limestone mountain landscapes with glacial lakes, waterfalls, caves and predominantly coniferous fore ...
1983
Rila Monastery
Rila Monastery was founded in the 10th century by St John of Rila, a hermit canonized by the Orthodox Church. His ascetic dwelling and tomb became a holy site and were transformed into a monastic complex which played an important role in the spiritua ...
1983
Rock-Hewn Churches of Ivanovo
In the valley of the Roussenski Lom River, in north east Bulgaria, a complex of rock-hewn churches, chapels, monasteries and cells developed in the vicinity of the village of Ivanovo. This is where the first hermits had dug out their cells and church ...
1979
Srebarna Nature Reserve
The Srebarna Nature Reserve is a freshwater lake adjacent to the Danube and extending over 600 ha. It is the breeding ground of almost 100 species of birds, many of which are rare or endangered. Some 80 other bird species migrate and seek refuge ther ...
1983
Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak
Discovered in 1944, this tomb dates from the Hellenistic period, around the end of the 4th century BC. It is located near Seutopolis, the capital city of the Thracian king Seutes III, and is part of a large Thracian necropolis. The tholos has a narro ...
1979
Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari
Discovered in 1982 near the village of Sveshtari, this 3rd-century BC Thracian tomb reflects the fundamental structural principles of Thracian cult buildings. The tomb has a unique architectural decor, with polychrome half-human, half-plant caryatids ...
1985