About Bulgaria
Introduction To Bulgaria
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 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. Today, reforms and democratization keep Bulgaria on a path toward eventual integration into the EU. The country joined NATO in 2004.
Geography Of Bulgaria
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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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europe
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Area
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total: 110,910 sq km
water: 360 sq km
land: 110,550 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, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia and Montenegro 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: 40.02%
permanent crops: 1.92%
other: 58.06% (2001)
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Irrigated land
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8,000 sq km (1998 est.)
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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-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, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulfur 94
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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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Bulgarian Information from the
Translation Site
