Republic of Bulgaria

Republic of Bulgaria - Factbox

national name Republika Bulgaria
area 110,912 sq km/42,812 sq mi
capital Sofia
major towns/cities Plovdiv, Ruse
major ports Black Sea ports Burgas and Varna
physical features lowland plains in N and SEseparated by mountains (Balkan and Rhodope) that cover three-quarters of the country; Danube river in N
head of state Petar Stoyanov from 1996
head of government Zhan Videnov from 1995
political system emergent democratic republic
administrative divisions nine regions
political parties Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), right of centre; Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), left-wing, ex-communist; Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), Turkish-oriented, centrist; Civic Alliances for the Republic (CAR), left of centre
armed forces 101,900 (1995)
conscription compulsory for 12 months
defence spend (% GDP) 3.3 (1995)
education spend (% GNP) 5.9 (1992)
health spend (% GDP) 1.5 (1990)
death penalty retained and used for ordinary crimes
population 10,319,000 (1995 est)
population growth rate 2.8% (1990–95); 2.5 (2000–05)
age distribution (% of total population) <15 18.3%, 15–65 67.1%, >65 14.5% (1995)
ethnic distribution Southern Slavic Bulgarians constitute around 90% of the population; 9% are ethnic Turks, who during the later 1980s were subjected to government pressure to adopt Slavic names and to resettle elsewhere
population density (per sq km) 80 (1994)
urban population (% of total) 71 (1995)
unemployment 13.8% (1994)
labour force 22.1% agriculture, 36.6 industry, 41.3% services (1993)
child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 19 (1993)
life expectancy 70 (men), 76 (women)
education (compulsory years) 8
literacy rate 93%
languages Bulgarian, Turkish
religions Eastern Orthodox Christian, Muslim, Roman Catholic, Protestant
TV sets (per 1,000 people) 257 (1992)
currency lev
GDP (US $) 10.1 billion (1994)
real GDP per capita (PPP) (US $) 4,320 (1993)
growth rate 1.4% (1994)
average annual inflation 96% (1994)
foreign debt (US $) 10.5 billion
trading partners EU countries (principally Germany, Greece, Italy), former USSR (principally Russia), Macedonia, USA
resources coal, iron ore, manganese, lead, zinc, petroleum
industries food products, petroleum and coal products, metals, mining, paper, beverages and tobacco, electrical machinery, textiles
exports base metals, chemical and rubber products, processed food, beverages, tobacco, textiles, footwear. Principal market: EU 38.9% (1995)
imports mineral products and fuels, chemical and rubber products, textiles, footwear, machinery and transport equipment, medicines. Principal source: EU 45.2% (1995)
arable land 55% (1993)
agricultural products wheat, maize, barley, sunflower seeds, grapes, potatoes, tobacco, roses; viticulture (world's fourth largest exporter of wine 1989); forest resources

Chronology

c. 3500 BC onwards Settlement of semi-nomadic pastoralists from Central Asian steppes, who formed the Thracian community.
mid-5th century BC Thracian state formed, which was to extend over Bulgaria, N Greece, and N Turkey.
4th century BC Phillip II and Alexander the Great of Macedonia, to the SW, waged largely unsuccessful campaigns against the Thracian Empire.
AD 50 Thracians subdued and incorporated within Roman Empire as the province of Moesia Inferior.
3rd–6th centuries Successively invaded from the N and devastated by the Goths, Huns, Bulgars, and Avars.
681 The Bulgars, an originally Turkic group that had merged with earlier Slav settlers, revolted against the Avars and established, S of the Danube River, the first Bulgarian kingdom, with its capital at Pliska, in the Balkans.
864 Orthodox Christianity adopted by Boris I.
1018 Subjugated by the Byzantines, whose empire had its capital at Constantinople; led to Bulgarian Church breaking with Rome in 1054.
1185 Second independent Bulgarian Kingdom formed.
mid-13th century Bulgarian state destroyed by Mongol incursions.
1396 Bulgaria became the first European state to be absorbed into the Turkish Ottoman Empire; the imposition of a harsh feudal system and the sacking of monasteries followed.
1859 Bulgarian Catholic Church re-established links with Rome.
1876 Bulgarian nationalist revolt against Ottoman rule crushed brutally by Ottomans, with 15,000 massacred at Plovdiv ('Bulgarian Atrocities').
1878 At the Congress of Berlin, concluding a Russo-Turkish war in which Bulgarian volunteers had fought alongside the Russians, the area S of the Balkans, Eastern Rumelia, remained an Ottoman province, but the area to the N became the autonomous Principality of Bulgaria, with a liberal constitution and Alexander Battenberg as prince.
1885 Eastern Rumelia annexed by the Principality; Serbia defeated in war.
1908 Full independence proclaimed from Turkish rule, with Ferdinand I as tsar.
1913 Following defeat in the Second Balkan War, King Ferdinand I abdicated and was replaced by his son Boris III.
1919 Bulgarian Agrarian Union government, led by Alexander Stamboliiski, came to power and redistributed land to poor peasants.
1923 Agrarian government overthrown in right-wing coup and Stamboliiski murdered.
1934 Semi-fascist dictatorship established by King Boris III, who sided with Germany during World War II, but died mysteriously in 1943 following a visit to Adolf Hitler.
1944 Soviet invasion of German-occupied Bulgaria.
1946 Monarchy abolished and communist-dominated people's republic proclaimed following plebiscite.
1947 Gained South Dobruja in the NE, along the Black Sea, from Romania; Soviet-style constitution established a one-party state; industries and financial institutions nationalized and co-operative farming introduced.
1949 Death of Georgi Dimitrov, the communist government leader; replaced by Vulko Chervenkov.
1954 Election of Todor Zhivkov as Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) general secretary; Bulgaria became a loyal and cautious satellite of the Soviet Union.
1968 Participated in the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia.
1971 Zhivkov became president, under new constitution.
1985–89 Haphazard administrative and economic reforms, known as preustroistvo ('restructuring'), introduced under stimulus of reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
1989 Programme of enforced 'Bulgarianization' resulted in mass exodus of ethnic Turks to Turkey. Zhivkov ousted by foreign minister Petar Mladenov. Opposition parties tolerated.
1990 BCP reformed under new name Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). Zhelyu Zhelev of the centre-right Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) indirectly elected president. Following mass demonstrations and general strike, BSP government replaced by coalition.
1991 New liberal-democratic constitution adopted. UDF beat BSP in general election by narrow margin; formation of first noncommunist, UDF-minority government.
1992 Zhelev became Bulgaria's first directly elected president. Following industrial unrest, Lyuben Berov became head of a non-party government. Zhivkov sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for corruption whilst in government.
1993 Voucher-based 'mass privatization' programme launched.
1994 Berov resigned; general election won by BSP.
1995 Zhan Videnov (BSP) became prime minister.
1996 Radical economic and industrial reforms imposed. Petar Stoyanov replaced Zhelev as president.

Material © Copyright Helicon Publishing Limited 1998

See Also:

General Information about Bulgaria

State Coat of Arms, Flag, Map and National Anthem of the Republic of Bulgaria

Pictures from Bulgaria