Bulgaria in facts and figures

Republic of Bulgaria

Republic of Bulgaria is a country in southeastern Europe, in the southern part of the Balkan Peninsular and it takes 23% of its territory. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and Republic of Macedonia to the west, by Greece to the south and Turkey to the southeast. To the east throughout the whole coastline, the country is on the waters of the Black Sea. The total length of the state border is 2245 km, of which 1181 km are land 686 km – river (mainly Danube river) and 378 km – sea. Besides the mainland, Bulgaria also has 62 islands in the Danube river, of which the most significant are Belene, Kozlodui, Vardim, Batin, Golyama burzina, Lilac and others and 7 small islands in the Black Sea (St. Ivan, St. Kirik, St. Anastasia and others) with a total area of ​​100 square kilometers. With its 111 000 km2 area and 7.364 million people, Bulgaria ranks respectively the102nd and 96th place in area and population in the world. By area Bulgaria is 11th in the EU and 15th in whole Europe.

CLIMATE

In Bulgaria prevails the mild climate with cold winters and hot summers. The barrier effect of the Balkan Mountains has a strong influence on the climate in the country – the northern part of Bulgaria has lower temperatures and has more rain than the southern part.

WATERS:

Rivers

The longest river on the territory of Bulgaria is Danube river – 470 km (in its Bulgarian part). It, however, only crosses our territory, and is a natural border with our northern neighbor – Romania.
Iskar is the longest Bulgarian river – 368 km. It springs from the Rila Mountain and flows into the Danube river.

Other major tributaries of the Danube river are Lom, Ogosta, Vit, Osam. From all the rivers that flow directly into the Black Sea, the biggest the Kamchia – 245 km. Other famous rivers, flowing into the Black Sea are Ropotamo and Veleka (southern Black sea coast). The rivers that flow into the Aegean part are those, located in the Upper Thracian Valley and the Rila -Rhodope massive. The biggest is the Maritsa River – 321 kilometers. Struma springs from Vitosha mountain, is 290 km long and has a well developed river terrace. The river Mesta starts from the Rila Mountain. Both rivers are important for the economy of the country.

Lakes

Bulgaria has over 400 lakes with a total area of ​​95 sq.km. Depending on the type, they are divided into: tectonic, karst lakes, landslides, high mountain lakes, riverside and seaside lakes.

Seaside lakes

They are generally two types – firth lakes (Varna lake – 19 m depth), Bourgas lake (with area of 27,6 sq.km) and Atanasovsko lake. Lagoon type lakes – Pomorie lake.

High mountain lakes

They have occurred, based on the action of glaciers in the high parts of the Rila mountain and Pirin. In Rila mountain there are 140 lakes, in Pirin – 119. The biggest lake in Rila mountain is the Smradlivoto with an area of ​​212dka, and the deepest is Okoto (the Eye) -38m. In Pirin mountain the first place is taken by the Popovoto lake.

Mineral

Bulgaria is among the countries with the largest resource of mineral water. The mineral water may be divided into two types, according to the substances in it, and according the temperature. According to the temperature there are the following types: cold – up to 37 degrees, warm – from 37 to 60 degrees and hot – over 60 degrees. There is mineral underground water in Hisar, Haskovo, village Banya, Stara Zagora and others.

POPULATION

According to the last official 2011 national census, the population of Bulgaria is 7,364,570 people. The state formatting ethnicity – the Bulgarians is 84,8% from all of the population. Two of the minority groups are quite bigger than the rest of the minority groups – the Turks – 8.8% and the Roma minority – 4.9%; the rest 1.5% includes other minority groups – Russians, Armenians, Chinese, Vlachs, Karakachans, Ukrainians, Greeks, Jews, Romanians. All ethnic groups speak Bulgarian, either as a first or as a second language. The Bulgarian language is official and native for 85.2 per cent of the population and the rest of the population speaks Bulgarian as a second language. Turkish language is a native language for 9.1% and the Roman minority group language is native for 4.2%.

72.5% of the population of Bulgaria lives in the cities and 27.5% live in the villages. Almost 18% live in the capital and the biggest city – Sofia. The cities with population of more than 100 000 citizens are Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Bourgas, Ruse, Stara Zagora and Pleven and Plovdiv and Varna are with more than 300 000 citizens and Sofia is with population of over 1 million people.

LANGUAGE

The Bulgarian is an Indo-European language from the group of the South Slavic languages. It is the official language of the Republic of Bulgaria and is one of the 23 official languages ​​of the European Union. The Bulgarian language is the earliest written recorded Slavic language. The Cyrillic originated in Bulgaria and it is an alphabet most probably created by St. Kliment Ohridski and called on his teacher and creator of the Glagolitic alphabet St. Cyril – the Philosopher. The Bulgarian alphabet is the one, with which the written submission of the literary Bulgarian language is done. It is the basis of the Cyrillic alphabet and contains 30 letters.

RELIGION

According to the Constitution, Bulgaria has no official religion.  Instead of that, the Orthodox Christianity is defined as a “traditional religion” for the country and the people who identify themselves as Orthodox Christians are 59% of the population. The largest minority religion is Islam, which is 7.8% of the population (mostly of the Turkish minority, but also by Bulgarian Muslims and one-fifth of the Roma minority group, as 7.4% are Sunni, 0.4% were Shiites and others). The following religion is the Protestant 0.9%, Roman Catholic 0.7%, followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church 0.02%, 0.13% follow other religions, and the remaining 31%, indicate that they have no religion.

POLITICS

According to the Constitution of 1991 Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic, with a clear separation of the powers. Bulgarian parliament – the National Assembly is a unicameral Parliament and consists of 240 members elected for 4 years. The powers, work and role of the Parliament are described in Chapter Three of the Constitution (Art. 62 – Art. 91). They include the adoption of laws, control over the executive branch of the political system, approval of the budget, scheduling of the elections for president, selection and dismissal of the Prime Minister and other ministers, declaration of war, deployment of troops outside of Bulgaria, and ratification of international treaties and agreements. Since 2006, the National Assembly shall elect the Ombudsman, who protects the rights and the freedom of the citizens.

The President of the Republic is elected directly for 5-year term with the right to one re-election. He is the head of state, supreme commander of the armed forces and chairman of the Advisory Council on the National Security. While the President does not have legislative power or initiative, he can return a project of a law for revision, although Parliament can reject the veto with a simple majority vote. The President has also a Vice-president, who is elected with him by a direct vote.

National Symbols

The national symbols of the Bulgarian state are the flag, the anthem, the coat of arms and the Guard of the Republic.

The national flagof Bulgaria has a rectangular shape and consists of three colors: white, green and red, placed horizontally from top to bottom, as the colored fields are identical in shape and size.
“Mila Rodino” became the national anthem of Bulgaria in 1964. The basis of the music and lyrics is the song “Stara Planina”.

The coat of Arms of Bulgaria is a rampant gold crowned lion on dark red field facing on the right heraldic side and is put on a shield. On both sides there are lions – which are holding a shield and above it – a royal crown. Under the shield there is a pedestal of oak branches with golden fruit and motto strip with the three lines of the flag edge, which has written the national motto “Unity makes strength”.

OFFICIAL HOLIDAYS

Administrative Division

From 1999 – until now the Republic of Bulgaria is administratively divided into 28 districts All of them are named after their regional center, as the capital itself forms a separate province. Each area is managed by a regional governor (supported by regional administration), who is appointed by the Council of Ministers.

ECONOMY

Bulgaria is an industrial-agrarian country with an open market economy, medium developed private sector and a number of strategic state enterprises. The largest share in the economy has the industry and the agriculture, although the services sector has sustainable increases in its share in the GDP. Bulgaria produces significant amounts of iron, copper, gold, bismuth, coal, electronics, refined petroleum fuels, parts for vehicles, weapons and construction materials.

CURRENCY

The Lev (abbreviation: lv.) is the currency of Bulgaria, issued by the Bulgarian National Bank. It is divided into 100 cents. Bulgarian lev is pegged to the Euro at a ratio of 1.95583 lev for 1 euro. In circulation there are banknotes with nominal value of 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 levs.
Exchange of currency may be done in banks or change bureaus. The banks work from Monday to Friday from 08:30 to 17:00. It is advisable to carry your identity document.

CUSTOMS RESTRICTIONS

Cash, amounting up to € 10,000 is not subject to a written declaration to the customs authorities at import and passengers can pass through the “Green Corridor”, which means that the person has nothing to declare.

When the imported cash is € 10,000 or more, the person declares in a specific Declaration of the cash form the total value of the imported cash in euro, the origin and the purpose, the transport route and the transport and has to pass through the “Red Corridor”.

The imports and exports regimes of gems and precious metalsfrom local and foreign physical persons are governed by the Minister of Finance and are free in the following measures:

–       Unwrought gold and platinum and the same in semi – manufactured type – up to 37 grams

–       Jewelry and accessories made of gold and platinum – up to 60 grams

–       Silver, unwrought and in semi – manufactured  type, and jewelry – up to 300 g

Each passenger over 17 years old may import:

a)    tobacco products: 200 cigarettes, or 100 thin cigars (cigars with a maximum weight of three grams each), or 50 cigars or 250 g pipe tobacco or for other type of smoking;

b)    alcohol and alcoholic beverages: Distilled and spirits drinks with alcoholic content above 22% of undenatured ethyl alcohol with an alcoholic strength by volume of 80% and more – 1 liter, or distilled beverages and spirits and aperitifs with a wine or alcohol base, tafia, sake or similar beverages with an alcoholic content not higher than 22%, sparkling wines, liqueur wines – 2 liters or non-sparkling wines – 2 liters;

c) perfumes: 50 grams and toilet waters – 0.25 liters;

d) medicines: in quantities that meet the needs of the passenger;

AIR TRANSPORT

In Bulgaria there are four international airports: Sofia (SOF), Bourgas (BOJ), Varna (VAR) and Plovdiv (PDV)
Sofia – www.sofia-airport.bg

Varna – www.varna-airport.bg

Burgas – www.bourgas-airport.com

Plovdiv – www.plovdivairport.com

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS

Single European emergency number     112
Ambulance                                              112
Police                                                      112
Fire brigade                                             112
Roadside Assistance                               112