| Population: | 7'845'841 |
| Territory: | 110'912 sq.km |
| Location: | South-East Europe |
| Borders: |
Romania to the North - 608 km following Dunabe river Black sea to the East - 354 km Turkey to South-East - 240 km Greece to South - 494 km Macedonia to Sout-West - 148 km Serbia to the West - 318 km |
| Geographic coordinates: | 43 00 N, 25 00 E |
| Area: | total: 110,910 sq km // land: 110,550 sq km / water: 360 sq km |
| Climate: | temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers |
| Terrain: | mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast |
| Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Black Sea 0 m // highest point: Musala 2,925 m |
| Land use: | arable land: 40.02% // permanent crops: 1.92% // other: 58.06% (2001) |
| Population: | 7'845'841 |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 72.03 years // male: 68.41 years // female: 75.87 years (2005 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 1.38 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
| Nationality: | noun: Bulgarian(s) // adjective: Bulgarian |
| Ethnic groups: | Bulgarian 83.9%, Turk 9.4%, Roma 4.7%, other 2% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) (2001 census) |
| Religions: | Bulgarian Orthodox 82.6%, Muslim 12.2%, other Christian 1.2%, other 4% (2001 census) |
| Languages: | Bulgarian 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census) |
| Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write | total population: 98.6% // male: 99.1% // female: 98.2% (2003 est.) |
| Country name: | conventional long form: Republic of Bulgaria, conventional short form: Bulgaria |
| Government type: | parliamentary democracy |
| Capital: | Sofia |
| Administrative divisions: | 28 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast); Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Dobrich, Gabrovo, Khaskovo, Kurdzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Ruse, Shumen, Silistra, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofia, Sofia-Grad, Stara Zagora, Turgovishte, Varna, Veliko Turnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Yambol |
| Independence: | 3 March 1878 [ Third Bulgarian State ] |
| National holiday: | Liberation Day, 3 March (1878) |
| Constitution: | Last one adopted on 12 July 1991 |
| Legal system: | civil law and criminal law based on Roman law |
| Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: | chief of state: President and Vice President, head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister and elected by the National Assembly elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms; 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 |
| Judicial branch: | 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) |
| Flag description: | three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red; |
| Flag: |  |
| Crest: |  |
| GDP: | purchasing power parity - $61.63 billion (2004 est.) real growth rate: 5.3% (2004 est.) per capita: purchasing power parity - $8,200 (2004 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 11.5% industry: 30.1% services: 58.4% (2004 est.) |
| Investment (gross fixed): | 18.6% of GDP (2004 est.) |
| Population below poverty line: | 13.4% (2002 est.) |
| Household income: | consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 4.5% highest 10%: 22.8% (1997) |
| Distribution of family income Gini index: | 26.4 (2001) |
| Inflation rate: (consumer prices) | 6.1% (2004 est.) |
| Labor force: | 3'398'000 (2004 est.) by occupation: agriculture 11%, industry 32.7%, services 56.3% (3rd quarter 2004 est.) |
| Unemployment rate: | 12.7% (2004 est.) |
| Budget: | revenues: $9.67 billion expenditures: $9.619 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
| Public debt: | 41.9% of GDP (2004 est.) |
| Agriculture: | vegetables, fruits, tobacco, livestock, wine, wheat, barley, sunflowers, sugar beets |
| Industries: | electricity, gas and water; food, beverages and tobacco; machinery and equipment, base metals, chemical products, coke, refined petroleum, nuclear fuel |
| Industrial production growth rate: | 5.2% (2004 est.) |
| Electricity - production: | 43.07 billion kWh (2002) |
| Electricity - production by source: | fossil fuel: 47.8% |
| hydro: | 8.1% |
| nuclear: | 44.1% |
| Electricity - consumption: | 32.71 billion kWh (2002) |
| Electricity - exports: | 8.3 billion kWh (2002) |
| Electricity - imports: | 960 million kWh (2002) |
| Oil - production: | 603 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil - consumption: | 94,000 bbl/day (2001 est. |
| Exports: | $9.134 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
| Imports: | $12.23 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: | $7.526 billion (2004 est.) |
| Debt - external: | $16.1 billion (November 2004 est.) |
| Currency: | lev |
| Currency code: | BGN |
| Fiscal year: | calendar year |