]! ^! 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. 
]" ^" Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey ^# 43 00 N, 25 00 E ^$ Europe ^% `! 110,910 sq km `" 110,550 sq km `# 360 sq km ^& slightly larger than Tennessee ^' `! 1,808 km `Y Greece 494 km, Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia 318 km, Turkey 240 km ^( 354 km ^) `$ 12 nm `M 24 nm `N 200 nm ^* temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers ^+ mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast ^, `% Black Sea 0 m `& Musala 2,925 m ^- bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land ^. `' 29.94% `( 1.9% `) 68.16% (2005) ^/ 5,880 sq km (2003) ^0 earthquakes, landslides ^1 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 _P `P 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 `Q none of the selected agreements ^2 strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia 
]# ^3 7,322,858 (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 13.9% (male 521,117/female 496,022) `, 68.7% (male 2,472,424/female 2,556,102) `- 17.4% (male 523,660/female 753,533) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 40.9 years `. 38.8 years `/ 43.1 years (2007 est.) ^6 -0.837% (2007 est.) ^7 9.62 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 14.28 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 -3.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.06 male(s)/female `1 1.051 male(s)/female `, 0.967 male(s)/female `- 0.695 male(s)/female `2 0.924 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 19.16 deaths/1,000 live births `. 22.75 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 15.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 72.57 years `. 68.95 years `/ 76.4 years (2007 est.) ^= 1.39 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> less than 0.1% (2001 est.) ^? 346 (2001 est.) ^@ 100 (2001 est.) ^A `3 Bulgarian(s) `4 Bulgarian ^B Bulgarian 83.9%, Turk 9.4%, Roma 4.7%, other 2% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) (2001 census) ^C Bulgarian Orthodox 82.6%, Muslim 12.2%, other Christian 1.2%, other 4% (2001 census) ^D Bulgarian 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census) ^E `5 age 15 and over can read and write `2 98.6% `. 99.1% `/ 98.2% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `6 Republic of Bulgaria `7 Bulgaria `Z Republika Balgariya `[ Balgariya ^H parliamentary democracy ^I `8 Sofia `9 42 41 N, 23 19 E `: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) `p +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October ^J 28 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast); Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Dobrich, Gabrovo, Khaskovo, Kurdzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Ruse, Shumen, Silistra, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofiya, Sofiya-Grad, Stara Zagora, Turgovishte, Varna, Veliko Turnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Yambol ^K 3 March 1878 (as an autonomous principality within the Ottoman Empire); 22 September 1908 (complete independence from the Ottoman Empire) ^L Liberation Day, 3 March (1878) ^M adopted 12 July 1991 ^N civil law and criminal law based on Roman law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `; President Georgi PURVANOV (since 22 January 2002); Vice President Angel MARIN (since 22 January 2002) `< Prime Minister Sergei STANISHEV (since 16 August 2005); Deputy Prime Ministers Ivaylo KALFIN, Daniel VULCHEV, and Emel ETEM (since 16 August 2005) `= Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister and elected by the National Assembly `> president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 22 and 29 October 2006 (next to be held in 2011); chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) nominated by the president and elected by the National Assembly; deputy prime ministers nominated by the prime minister and elected by the National Assembly `? Georgi PURVANOV reelected president; percent of vote - Georgi PURVANOV 77.3%, Volen SIDEROV 22.7%; Sergei STANISHEV elected prime minister, result of legislative vote - 168 to 67 ^Q unicameral National Assembly or Narodno Sobranie (240 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) `> last held 25 June 2005 (next to be held in June 2009) `? percent of vote by party - CfB 31.1%, NMS2 19.9%, MRF 12.7%, ATAKA 8.2%, UDF 7.7%, DSB 6.5%, BPU 5.2%, other 8.7%; seats by party - CfB 83, NMS2 53, MRF 33, UDF 20, ATAKA 17, DSB 17, BPU 13, independents 4 ^R Supreme Administrative Court; Supreme Court of Cassation; Constitutional Court (12 justices appointed or elected for nine-year terms); Supreme Judicial Council (consists of the chairmen of the two Supreme Courts, the Chief Prosecutor, and 22 other members; responsible for appointing the justices, prosecutors, and investigating magistrates in the justice system; members of the Supreme Judicial Council elected for five-year terms, 11 elected by the National Assembly and 11 by bodies of the judiciary) ^S ATAKA (Attack Coalition) (coalition of parties headed by the Attack National Union); Attack National Union [Volen SIDEROV]; Bulgarian Agrarian National Union-People's Union or BANU [Anastasia MOZER]; Bulgarian People's Union or BPU (coalition of UFD, IMRO, and BANU); Bulgarian Socialist Party or BSP [Sergei STANISHEV]; Coalition for Bulgaria or CfB (coalition of parties dominated by BSP) [Sergei STANISHEV]; Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria or DSB [Ivan KOSTOV]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization or IMRO [Krasimir KARAKACHANOV]; Movement for Rights and Freedoms or MRF [Ahmed DOGAN]; National Movement for Simeon II or NMS2 [Simeon SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA]; New Time [Emil KOSHLUKOV]; Union of Democratic Forces or UDF [Petar STOYANOV]; Union of Free Democrats or UFD [Stefan SOFIYANSKI]; United Democratic Forces or UtDF (a coalition of center-right parties dominated by UDF) ^T Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria or CITUB; Podkrepa Labor Confederation; numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest groups with various agendas ^U ACCT, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EU (new member), FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OIF, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate affiliate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC ^V `R Ambassador Elena B. POPTODOROVA `S 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 `T [1] (202) 387-0174 `U [1] (202) 234-7973 `V Chicago, Los Angeles, New York ^W `R Ambassador John Ross BEYRLE `_ 16 Kozyak Street, Sofia 1407 `` American Embassy Sofia, US Department of State, 5740 Sofia Place, Washington, DC 20521-5740 `T [359] (2) 937-5100 `U [359] (2) 937-5320 ^X three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red; note - the national emblem, formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe, has been removed 
]% ^Y 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. ^Z $77.13 billion (2006 est.) ^[ $27.85 billion (2006 est.) ^\ 6.5% (2006 est.) ^] $10,400 (2006 est.) ^^ `@ 13.6% `A 32.1% `B 54.3% (2006 est.) ^_ 3.51 million (30 September 2006 est.) ^` `@ 8.5% `A 33.6% `B 57.9% (2nd qtr. 2006 est.) ^a 9.6% (2006 est.) _! 14.1% (2003 est.) _" `C 2.9% `D 25.4% (2005) _d 31.6 (2005) _# 6.5% (2006 est.) _V 23.8% of GDP (3rd qtr. 2006 est.) _$ `E $13.28 billion `F $12.16 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.) _% 25.6% of GDP (2006 est.) _& vegetables, fruits, tobacco, wine, wheat, barley, sunflowers, sugar beets; livestock _' electricity, gas, water; food, beverages, tobacco; machinery and equipment, base metals, chemical products, coke, refined petroleum, nuclear fuel _( 11.3% (Third Quarter, 2006 est.) _) 45.7 billion kWh (2006) _* 37.4 billion kWh (2006) _+ 7.8 billion kWh (2006) _, 0 kWh (2006) _- 3,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) _. 131,400 bbl/day (2005 est.) _/ 51,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) _0 128,400 bbl/day (2005 est.) _W 15 million bbl (1 January 2006) _1 407,000 cu m (2005 est.) _2 3.472 billion cu m (2005 est.) _X 0 cu m (2005 est.) _Y 3.065 billion cu m (2005 est.) _Z 5.947 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.) _Q $-5.1 billion (2006 est.) _3 $15.5 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) _4 clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels _5 Italy 12%, Turkey 10.5%, Germany 9.8%, Greece 9.5%, Belgium 5.9%, France 4.6% (2005) _6 $23.8 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) _7 machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; fuels, minerals, and raw materials _8 Russia 15.6%, Germany 13.6%, Italy 9%, Turkey 6.1%, Greece 5%, France 4.7% (2005) _[ $11.43 billion (February 2007 est.) _9 $24.3 billion (30 November 2006 est.) _: $742 million (2005-06 est.) _; lev (BGL) _< leva per US dollar - 1.5576 (2006), 1.5741 (2005), 1.5751 (2004), 1.7327 (2003), 2.077 (2002) _= calendar year 
]& _> 2.483 million (2005) _? 6.245 million (2005) _@ `G extensive but antiquated `H more than two-thirds of the lines are residential; telephone service is available in most villages; a fairly modern digital cable trunk line now connects switching centers in most of the regions, the others are connected by digital microwave radio relay `I country code - 359; direct dialing to 58 countries; satellite earth stations - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region); 2 Intelsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions) _A AM 31, FM 63, shortwave 2 (2001) _B 39 (plus 1,242 repeaters) (2001) _C .bg _D 184,975 (2006) _E 2.2 million (2005) 
]' _F 217 (2006) _G `! 132 `a 1 `J 19 `b 15 `c 1 `W 96 (2006) _R `! 85 `b 2 `c 11 `W 72 (2006) _] 4 (2006) _^ gas 2,505 km; oil 339 km; refined products 156 km (2006) _e `! 4,294 km `m 4,049 km 1.435-m gauge (2,710 km electrified) `n 245 km 0.760-m gauge (2005) _H `! 44,033 km `K 43,593 km (includes 333 km of expressways) `L 440 km (2004) _b 470 km (2006) _S `! 75 ships (1000 GRT or over) 872,653 GRT/1,294,877 DWT by type: bulk carrier 40, cargo 17, chemical tanker 4, container 6, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 4 `X 2 (Germany 1, Russia 1) `d 41 (Cambodia 1, Comoros 1, Malta 13, Panama 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 17, Slovakia 7, unknown 1) (2006) _I Burgas, Varna 
]( _J Bulgarian Armed Forces: Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Bulgarian Air Forces (Bulgarski Voennovazdyshni Sily, BVVS) (2006) _T 18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 9 months; as of May 2006, 67% of the Bulgarian Army comprised of professional soldiers; conscription into the Army to end as of 1 January 2008; Air and Air Defense Forces and Naval Forces will become fully professional by end of 2006 (2006) _K males age 18-49: 1,661,211 females age 18-49: 1,660,982 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 1,302,037 females age 18-49: 1,365,126 (2005 est.) _L males age 18-49: 51,023 females age 18-49: 48,651 (2005 est.) _U 2.6% (2005 est.) 
]) _N none _O major European transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and, to a lesser degree, South American cocaine for the European market; limited producer of precursor chemicals; some money laundering of drug-related proceeds through financial institutions 