Информация за България
General information
The Republic of Bulgaria is a country in the southeast of Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the east,
Greece and Turkey to the south, Serbia and Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Romania
to the north along the river Danube. Total area of Bulgaria is estimated to be about 111 000 sq.km.
The capitol is Sofia, the largest city in the country with population of over one million people.
Official language is Bulgarian.
Politics of Bulgaria
Bulgaria's system of government is parliamentary democracy. There is a unicameral parliament, the National
Assembly or Narodno Sabranie, which consists of 240 deputies who are elected for 4-year-term stretches by
popular vote. The president of Bulgaria (Georgi Purvanov since 22 January 2002) is directly elected for a
5-year term with the right to one re-election. The Council of Ministers is chaired by the Prime Minister
(Sergey Stanishev since 17 August 2005), and is the principal body of the Executive Branch and presently
consists of 20 ministers. The Prime Minister is nominated by the largest parliamentary group and is given
a mandate by the President to form a cabinet.
Economy of Bulgaria
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. The
standard of living fell by about 40%, but it regained pre-1990 levels in June 2004. In addition, UN sanctions
against Yugoslavia and Iraq took a heavy toll on the Bulgarian economy. The first signs of recovery emerged
in 1994 when the GDP grew and inflation fell. During 1996, however, the economy collapsed due to lack of
international economic support and an unstable banking system. 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.
The former government, elected in 2001, pledged to maintain the fundamental economic policy objectives
adopted by its predecessor in 1997, i.e., retaining the Currency Board, practicing sound financial policies,
accelerating privatisation, and pursuing structural reforms. Economic forecasts for 2005 and 2006 predict
continued growth in the Bulgarian economy. The annual year-on-year GDP growth for 2005 and 2006 is expected
to total 5.3% and 6.0%, respectively. Industrial output for 2005 is forecast to rise by 11.9% year-on-year,
and for 2006—by 15.2% year-on-year. Unemployment for 2005 was 11.5% and for 2006 is predicted at under 10%.
Bulgaria joined NATO on 29 March 2004. On April 25, 2005 Bulgaria signed the Treaty of Accession with the
European Union and is set to join the bloc in 2007.
Other information
Population - 7,761,000
Currency - Lev (approx. 0.5 Euro)
Internet TLD - .bg
International calling code - +359
Provinces - 28