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Background:
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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.
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Location:
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Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey
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Geographic coordinates:
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43 00 N, 25 00 E
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Map references:
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Area:
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total: 110,910 sq km
land: 110,550 sq km
water: 360 sq km
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Area - comparative:
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slightly larger than Tennessee
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Land boundaries:
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total: 1,808 km
border countries: Greece 494 km, Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia 318 km, Turkey 240 km
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Coastline:
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354 km
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Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
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Climate:
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temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers
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Terrain:
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mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Musala 2,925 m
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Natural resources:
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bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land
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Land use:
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arable land: 29.94%
permanent crops: 1.9%
other: 68.16% (2005)
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Irrigated land:
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5,880 sq km (2003)
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Total renewable water resources:
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19.4 cu km (2005)
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Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
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Total: 6.92 cu km/yr (3%/78%/19%)
Per capita: 895 cu m/yr (2003)
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Natural hazards:
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earthquakes, landslides
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Environment - current issues:
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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
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: 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-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, 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
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
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Geography - note:
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strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia
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Population:
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7,322,858 (July 2007 est.)
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Age structure:
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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:
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total: 40.9 years
male: 38.8 years
female: 43.1 years (2007 est.)
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Population growth rate:
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-0.837% (2007 est.)
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Birth rate:
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9.62 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
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Death rate:
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14.28 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
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Net migration rate:
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-3.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
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Sex ratio:
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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:
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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:
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total population: 72.57 years
male: 68.95 years
female: 76.4 years (2007 est.)
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Total fertility rate:
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1.39 children born/woman (2007 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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346 (2001 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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100 (2001 est.)
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Nationality:
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noun: Bulgarian(s)
adjective: Bulgarian
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Ethnic groups:
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Bulgarian 83.9%, Turk 9.4%, Roma 4.7%, other 2% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) (2001 census)
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Religions:
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Bulgarian Orthodox 82.6%, Muslim 12.2%, other Christian 1.2%, other 4% (2001 census)
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Languages:
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Bulgarian 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)
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Literacy:
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definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.2%
male: 98.7%
female: 97.7% (2001 census)
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This page was last updated on 24 January, 2008
- The Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook - |
