Country Fast Facts: Bulgaria

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.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population:
7,322,858 (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure:
0-14 years: 13.9% (male 521,117/female 496,022)
15-64 years: 68.7% (male 2,472,424/female 2,556,102)
65 years and over: 17.4% (male 523,660/female 753,533) (2007 est.)

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Median age:
total: 40.9 years
male: 38.8 years
female: 43.1 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate:
-0.837% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate:
9.62 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate:
14.28 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate:
-3.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.051 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.967 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.695 male(s)/female
total population: 0.924 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate:
total: 19.16 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 22.75 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 15.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 72.57 years
male: 68.95 years
female: 76.4 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate:
1.39 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
346 (2001 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
100 (2001 est.)

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Nationality:
noun: Bulgarian(s)
adjective: Bulgarian

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Ethnic groups:
Bulgarian 83.9%, Turk 9.4%, Roma 4.7%, other 2% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) (2001 census)

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Religions:
Bulgarian Orthodox 82.6%, Muslim 12.2%, other Christian 1.2%, other 4% (2001 census)

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Languages:
Bulgarian 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)

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Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.2%
male: 98.7%
female: 97.7% (2001 census)

Bulgaria, a former communist country that entered the EU on 1 January 2007, has experienced macroeconomic stability and strong growth since a major economic downturn in 1996 led to the fall of the then socialist government. As a result, the government became committed to economic reform and responsible fiscal planning. Minerals, including coal, copper, and zinc, play an important role in industry. In 1997, macroeconomic stability was reinforced by the imposition of a fixed exchange rate of the lev against the German D-mark - the currency is now fixed against the euro - and the negotiation of an IMF standby agreement. Low inflation and steady progress on structural reforms improved the business environment; Bulgaria has averaged 5.1% growth since 2000 and has begun to attract significant amounts of foreign direct investment. Corruption in the public administration, a weak judiciary, and the presence of organized crime remain the largest challenges for Bulgaria.

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GDP (purchasing power parity):
$78.68 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate):
$28.06 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate:
6.3% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP):
$10,700 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 13.6%
industry: 32.1%
services: 54.3% (2006 est.)

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Labor force:
3.51 million (30 September 2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 8.5%
industry: 33.6%
services: 57.9% (2nd qtr. 2006 est.)

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Unemployment rate:
9.6% (2006 est.)

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Population below poverty line:
14.1% (2003 est.)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.9%
highest 10%: 25.4% (2005)

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Distribution of family income - Gini index:
31.6 (2005)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
6.5% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed):
23.8% of GDP (3rd qtr. 2006 est.)

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Budget:
revenues: $13.28 billion
expenditures: $12.16 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)

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Public debt:
25.6% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products:
vegetables, fruits, tobacco, wine, wheat, barley, sunflowers, sugar beets; livestock

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

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Industrial production growth rate:
11.3% (Third Quarter, 2006 est.)

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Electricity - production:
45.7 billion kWh (2006)

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Electricity - consumption:
37.4 billion kWh (2006)

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Electricity - exports:
7.8 billion kWh (2006)

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Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2006)

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Oil - production:
3,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

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Oil - consumption:
131,400 bbl/day (2005 est.)

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Oil - exports:
51,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

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Oil - imports:
138,800 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - proved reserves:
15 million bbl (1 January 2006)

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Natural gas - production:
407,000 cu m (2005 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption:
3.472 billion cu m (2005 est.)

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Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

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Natural gas - imports:
3.065 billion cu m (2005 est.)

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Natural gas - proved reserves:
5.947 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)

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Current account balance:
-$5.1 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports:
$15.5 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities:
clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels

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Exports - partners:
Turkey 10.8%, Italy 10.1%, Germany 9.9%, Greece 8.2%, Belgium 6.4% (2006)

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Imports:
$23.8 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; fuels, minerals, and raw materials

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Imports - partners:
Russia 16.8%, Germany 12.4%, Italy 8.7%, Turkey 6.4%, China 5.4%, Greece 5.1% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$11.43 billion (February 2007 est.)

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Debt - external:
$24.3 billion (30 November 2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient:
$742 million (2005-06 est.)

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Currency (code):
lev (BGL)

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Exchange rates:
leva per US dollar - 1.5576 (2006), 1.5741 (2005), 1.5751 (2004), 1.7327 (2003), 2.077 (2002)

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Fiscal year:
calendar year