307 lines
24 KiB
Plaintext
307 lines
24 KiB
Plaintext
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BULGARIA
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GEOGRAPHY
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Total area: 110,910 km2; land area: 110,550 km2
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Comparative area: slightly larger than Tennessee
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Land boundaries: 1,881 km total; Greece 494 km, Romania 608 km,
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Turkey 240 km, Yugoslavia 539 km
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Coastline: 354 km
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Maritime claims:
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Contiguous zone: 24 nm;
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Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
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Territorial sea: 12 nm
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Disputes: Macedonia question with Greece and Yugoslavia
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Climate: temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers
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Terrain: mostly mountains with lowlands in north and south
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Natural resources: bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber,
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arable land
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Land use: arable land 34%; permanent crops 3%; meadows and pastures
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18%; forest and woodland 35%; other 10%; includes irrigated 11%
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Environment: subject to earthquakes, landslides; deforestation;
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air pollution
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Note: strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key
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land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia
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PEOPLE
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Population: 8,910,622 (July 1991), growth rate - 0.2% (1991)
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Birth rate: 13 births/1,000 population (1991)
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Death rate: 12 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
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Net migration rate: - 3 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
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Infant mortality rate: 13 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
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Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 76 years female (1991)
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Total fertility rate: 1.9 children born/woman (1991)
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Nationality: noun--Bulgarian(s); adjective--Bulgarian
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Ethnic divisions: Bulgarian 85.3%, Turk 8.5%, Gypsy 2.6%,
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Macedonian 2.5%, Armenian 0.3%, Russian 0.2%, other 0.6%
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Religion: Bulgarian Orthodox 85%; Muslim 13%; Jewish 0.8%;
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Roman Catholic 0.5%; Uniate Catholic 0.2%; Protestant,
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Gregorian-Armenian, and other 0.5%
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Language: Bulgarian; secondary languages closely correspond to
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ethnic breakdown
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Literacy: 93% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can
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read and write (1970 est.)
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Labor force: 4,300,000; industry 33%, agriculture 20%, other 47%
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(1987)
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Organized labor: Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of
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Bulgaria (KNSB); Edinstvo (Unity) People's Trade Union (splinter
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confederation from KNSB); Podkrepa (Support) Labor Confederation,
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legally registered in January 1990
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GOVERNMENT
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Long-form name: Republic of Bulgaria
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Type: emerging democracy, continuing significant Communist party
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influence
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Capital: Sofia
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Administrative divisions: 9 provinces (oblasti, singular--oblast);
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Burgas, Grad Sofiya, Khaskovo, Lovech, Mikhaylovgrad, Plovdiv, Razgrad,
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Sofiya, Varna
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Independence: 22 September 1908 (from Ottoman Empire)
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Constitution: 16 May 1971, effective 18 May 1971; a new
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constitution is likely to be adopted in 1991
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Legal system: based on civil law system, with Soviet law influence;
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judicial review of legislative acts in the State Council; has accepted
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compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
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National holiday: Liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire,
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3 March (1878)
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Executive branch: president, chairman of the Council of Ministers
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(premier), three deputy chairmen of the Council of Ministers,
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Council of Ministers
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Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Narodno
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Sobranie)
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Judicial branch: Supreme Court
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Leaders:
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Chief of State--President Zhelyu ZHELEV (since 1 August 1990);
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Head of Government--Chairman of the Council of Ministers
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(Premier) Dimitur POPOV (since 19 December 1990);
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Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Aleksandur TOMOV
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(since 19 December 1990);
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Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Viktor VULKOV (since
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19 December 1990);
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Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Dimitur LUDZHEV
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(since 19 December 1990);
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Political parties and leaders: government--Bulgarian
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Socialist Party (BSP), formerly Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP),
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Aleksandur LILOV, chairman;
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opposition--Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), Filip DIMITROV,
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chairman, consisting of Nikola Petkov Bulgarian Agrarian National
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Union, Milan DRENCHEV, secretary of Permanent Board;
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Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, Petur DERTLIEV;
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Green Party;
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Christian Democrats;
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Radical Democratic Party;
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Rights and Freedoms Movement (pro-Muslim party), Ahmed DOGAN;
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Bulgarian Agrarian National Union (BZNS), Viktor VULKOV
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Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18
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Elections:
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Chairman of the State Council--last held 1 August 1990
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(next to be held May 1991);
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results--Zhelyo ZHELEV was elected by the National Assembly;
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National Assembly--last held 10 and 17 June 1990 (next to be held
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in autumn 1991);
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results--BSP 48%, UDF 32%;
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seats--(400 total) BSP 211, UDF 144, Rights and Freedoms Movement
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23, Agrarian Party 16, Nationalist parties 3, independents and other 3
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Communists: Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), formerly
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Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP), 501,793 members
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Other political or pressure groups: Ecoglasnost; Podkrepa
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(Support) Labor Confederation; Fatherland Union; Bulgarian
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Democratic Youth (formerly Communist Youth Union); Confederation
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of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (KNSB);
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Committee for Defense of National Interests;
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Peasant Youth League; National Coalition of Extraparliamentary
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Political Forces;
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numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest groups with various
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agendas
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Member of: BIS, CCC, CSCE, ECE, FAO, G-9, IAEA, IBEC,
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ICAO, IIB, ILO, IMO, INMARSAT, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, PCA, UN, UNCTAD,
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UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
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Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Ognyan PISHEV;
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Chancery at 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202)
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387-7969;
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US--Ambassador H. Kenneth HILL; Embassy at 1 Alexander Stamboliski
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Boulevard, Sofia (mailing address is APO New York 09213-5740);
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telephone 359 (2) 88-48-01 through 05
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Flag: three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red;
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the national emblem formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe has
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been removed--it contained a rampant lion within a wreath of wheat ears
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below a red five-pointed star and above a ribbon bearing the dates 681
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(first Bulgarian state established) and 1944 (liberation from Nazi
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control)
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ECONOMY
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Overview: Growth in the lackluster Bulgarian economy fell to the
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2% annual level in the 1980s. By 1990 Sofia's foreign debt had
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skyrocketed to over $10 billion--giving a debt service ratio of more
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than 40% of hard currency earnings and leading the regime to declare
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a moratorium on its hard currency payments. The post-Zhivkov regime
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faces major problems of renovating an aging industrial plant;
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coping with worsening energy, food, and consumer goods shortages;
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keeping abreast of rapidly unfolding technological developments;
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investing in additional energy capacity (the portion of electric
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power from nuclear energy reached over one-third in 1990); and
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motivating workers, in part by giving them a share in the earnings of
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their enterprises. A major decree of January 1989 summarized and
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extended the government's economic restructuring efforts, which include
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a partial decentralization of controls over production decisions and
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foreign trade. In October 1990 the Lukanov government proposed an
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economic reform program based on a US Chamber of Commerce study. It was
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never instituted because of a political stalemate between the BSP and the
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UDF. The new Popov government launched a similar reform program in
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January 1991, but full implementation has been slowed by continuing
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political disputes.
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GNP: $47.3 billion, per capita $5,300; real growth rate - 6.0%
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(1990)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 100% (1990 est.)
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Unemployment rate: 2% (1990 est.)
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Budget: revenues $26 billion; expenditures $28 billion,
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including capital expenditures of $NA billion (1988)
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Exports: $16.0 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
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commodities--machinery and equipment 60.5%; agricultural products
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14.7%; manufactured consumer goods 10.6%; fuels, minerals, raw materials,
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and metals 8.5%; other 5.7%;
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partners--Communist countries 82.5% (USSR 61%, GDR 5.5%,
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Czechoslovakia 4.9%); developed countries 6.8% (FRG 1.2%, Greece 1.0%);
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less developed countries 10.7% (Libya 3.5%, Iraq 2.9%)
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Imports: $15.0 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
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commodities--fuels, minerals, and raw materials 45.2%; machinery
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and equipment 39.8%; manufactured consumer goods 4.6%; agricultural
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products 3.8%; other 6.6%;
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partners--Communist countries 80.5% (USSR 57.5%, GDR 5.7%),
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developed countries 15.1% (FRG 4.8%, Austria 1.6%); less developed
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countries 4.4% (Libya 1.0%, Brazil 0.9%)
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External debt: $10 billion (1990)
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Industrial production: growth rate - 10.7% (1990); accounts for
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about 50% of GDP
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Electricity: 11,500,000 kW capacity; 45,000 million kWh produced,
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5,040 kWh per capita (1990)
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Industries: machine and metal building,food processing, chemicals,
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textiles, building materials, ferrous and nonferrous metals
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Agriculture: accounts for 15% of GNP; climate and soil conditions
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support livestock raising and the growing of various grain crops,
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oilseeds, vegetables, fruits and tobacco; more than one-third of the
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arable land devoted to grain; world's fourth-largest tobacco exporter;
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surplus food producer
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Economic aid: donor--$1.6 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist
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less developed countries (1956-89)
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Currency: lev (plural--leva); 1 lev (Lv) = 100 stotinki
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Exchange rates: leva (Lv) per US$1--16.13 (March 1991),
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0.7446 (November 1990), 0.84 (1989), 0.82 (1988), 0.90 (1987), 0.95
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(1986), 1.03 (1985); note--floating exchange rate since February 1990
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Fiscal year: calendar year
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COMMUNICATIONS
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Railroads: 4,300 km total, all government owned (1987); 4,055 km
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1.435-meter standard gauge, 245 km narrow gauge; 917 km double track;
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2,510 km electrified
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Highways: 36,908 km total; 33,535 km hard surface (including 242 km
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superhighways); 3,373 km earth roads (1987)
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Inland waterways: 470 km (1987)
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Pipelines: crude, 193 km; refined product, 418 km; natural gas,
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1,400 km (1986)
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Ports: Burgas, Varna, Varna West; river ports are Ruse, Vidin, and
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Lom on the Danube
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Merchant marine: 112 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 1,227,817
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GRT/1,860,294 DWT; includes 2 short-sea passenger, 33 cargo, 2 container,
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1 passenger-cargo training, 6 roll-on/roll-off, 18 petroleum, oils, and
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lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 chemical carrier, 2 railcar carrier, 47 bulk;
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Bulgaria owns 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 51,035 DWT operating
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under Liberian registry
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Civil air: 86 major transport aircraft
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Airports: 380 total, 380 usable; about 120 with permanent-surface
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runways; 20 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 20 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
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Telecommunications: 2.5 million telephones; direct dialing to 36
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countries; phone density is 25 phones per 100 persons; 67% of Sofia
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households now have a phone (November 1988); stations--21 AM, 16 FM,
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and 19 TV, with 1 Soviet TV relay in Sofia; 2.1 million TV sets (1990);
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92% of country receives No. 1 television program (May 1990)
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DEFENSE FORCES
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Branches: Bulgarian People's Army, Bulgarian Navy, Air and Air
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Defense Forces, Frontier Troops, Civil Defense
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Manpower availability: males 15-49, 2,183,539; 1,826,992 fit for
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military service; 67,836 reach military age (19) annually
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Defense expenditures: 1.615 billion leva, NA% of GDP (1990);
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note--conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the
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current exchange rate would produce misleading results
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