Information about Bulgaria

BULGARIA

Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the east, Greece and Turkey to the south, Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Romania to the north, mostly along the Danube.

POLITICS

The president of Bulgaria is directly elected for a 5-year term with the right to one re-election. The president serves as the head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. The president is the head of the Consultative Council for National Security and while unable to initiate legislation, the President can return a bill for further debate, though parliament can overturn the president's veto with a simple majority vote.
The Council of Ministers is chaired by the PM, and is the principal body of the Executive Branch. The Prime Minister is nominated by the largest parliamentary group and is given a mandate by the President to form a cabinet.
The Bulgarian unicameral parliament, the National Assembly or Narodno Sabranie, consists of 240 deputies.
The Bulgarian judicial system consists of regional, district and appeal courts, as well as a Supreme Court of Cassation. In addition, there is a Supreme Administrative Court and a system of military courts.

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS

Since 1999 Bulgaria consists of 28 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast), after having been subdivided into 9 provinces since 1987.

GEOGRAPHY

Bulgaria comprises portions of the classical regions of Thrace, Moesia, and Macedonia. The southwest of the country is mountainous with two alpine ranges - Rila and Pirin and further east are the lower but more extensive Rhodope Mountains. Hilly country and plains are found in the southeast, along the Black Sea coast in the east, and along Bulgaria's main river, the Danube in the north. Other major rivers include the Struma and the Maritsa river in the south.
The Bulgarian climate is temperate, with cold, damp winters and hot, dry summers, and Mediterranean along the Black Sea coast.
The largest cities in the country are Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Rousse, Stara Zagora, Pleven, Dobrich, Sliven.

ECONOMY

Bulgaria's economy contracted dramatically after 1989 with the loss of the market of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) member states, to which the Bulgarian economy had been closely tied. Since 1997 the country has been on the path to recovery, with GDP growing at a 4 – 5% rate, increasing FDI, macroeconomic stability and EU membership set for 2007.
Industry is of great importance for the economy. Although Bulgaria is not very rich in reserves of coal, oil, and gas, the country is a major producer of electricity and the most important exporter in the whole region due to the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant with a total capacity of 3,760 MW.

DEMOGRAPHICS

According to the 2001 census, Bulgaria's population is mainly ethnic Bulgarian (83.9%), with two sizable minorities, Turks (9.4%) and Roma (4.7%). Of the remaining 2.0%, 0.9% are distributed among some forty smaller minorities, the most numerous of which are the Russians, Armenians, Vlachs, Jews, Crimean Tatars and Karakachans. The people who have not declared their ethnicity are 1.1% of the total population.

LANGUAGE

Bulgarian is the mother-tongue of 84.8% of the population; it is a member of the Slavic languages. Bulgarian is the only official language, but other languages such as Turkish and Romany, are spoken corresponding closely to ethnic breakdown.

RELIGION

Most Bulgarians (82.6%) are, at least nominally, members of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the national Eastern Orthodox church. Other religious denominations include Islam (12.2%), various Protestant denominations (0.7%), Roman Catholicism (0.5%), with other denominations, atheists and undeclared numbering ca. 4.1%.

CULTURE

Bulgaria is also the birthplace of the Cyrillic alphabet, the second most widely used alphabet in the world.
Bulgaria is well-known for its rich folklore, distinctive traditional music, rituals and tales, but the country's contribution to humanity also continued in the 19th and 20th century, when individuals such as John Atanasoff - born in USA with Bulgarian origin, regarded as the father of the digital computer, a number of noted opera singers (Nicolai Ghiaurov, Boris Christoff, Raina Kabaivanska, Ghena Dimitrova) and successful artists (Christo Javacheff, Pascin, Vladimir Dimitrov) popularized the culture of Bulgaria abroad.
The country has nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Of these, two are Thracian tombs (one in Sveshtari and one in Kazanlak, three are monuments of medieval Bulgarian culture (the Boyana Church, the Rila Monastery and the Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo), while the Pirin National Park and the Srebarna Nature Reserve represent the country's natural beauty, and the ancient city of Nesebar is a unique combination of European cultural interaction, as well as, historically, one of the most important centres of naval trade in the Black Sea. In addition, the Varna Necropolis, a 3200-3000 BC burial site, contains what are believed to be the oldest examples of worked gold in the world.

TOURISM

In winter, Borovets, Bansko and Pamporovo are ski resorts. There are summer resorts on the Black Sea at Sozopol, Nessebur, Golden Sands, Sunny Beach, Sveti Vlas, Albena, St. St. Constantine & Helena and many others. Spa resorts such as Bankya, Hisarya, Sandanski, Velingrad, Varshets and many others are popular all over the year. Bulgaria is becoming an attractive destination because of the quality of the resorts and prices below those found in Western Europe.

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