I | INTRODUCTION |
Bulgaria, country in southeastern Europe. Bulgaria
lies on the eastern side of the Balkan Peninsula, a historical crossroads
between Europe and Asia. To the north of Bulgaria is Romania and to the east is
the Black Sea. Greece and Turkey lie to the south, and Serbia and the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) lie to the west. Sofia is Bulgaria’s
capital and largest city.
Bulgaria covers an area approximately the size
of the state of Virginia. It is a land of mountains, rivers, and rolling plains.
The Balkan Mountains, for which the Balkan Peninsula is named, extend east to
west across northern Bulgaria. Bulgarians call them the “Old Mountains”
(Stara Planina). The great Danube River, Europe’s second longest, forms
much of Bulgaria’s northern border.
Between Sofia in the west and the Black Sea is
a low-lying region called the Valley of the Roses. For more than three
centuries, farmers in the region have raised Kazanluk roses for their fragrant
oil, a prized ingredient in perfumes and a Bulgarian export specialty. To the
east, the dramatic Black Sea coast drops from rocky cliffs in the north to sandy
beaches in the south, where tourist resorts attract visitors from around the
world. Heavy snowfalls in the mountains create a paradise for winter
sports.
Bulgaria’s location as a crossroads has made
it the center of many struggles for power. An independent kingdom for many
centuries, Bulgaria was a major power for long periods during the Middle Ages.
At different times its rulers controlled much of the Balkan Peninsula, and its
Orthodox Christian religion and culture influenced many Slavic peoples of
southern and eastern Europe. Following almost 500 years of rule by the Ottoman
Empire, Bulgaria regained its independence in 1878.
After World War II (1939-1945), a government
backed by the Soviet Union, the occupying power, was established in Bulgaria.
During the period of communist rule, Bulgaria’s leaders enforced an
industrialization program in an effort to modernize the country’s largely
agrarian economy (see Communism). Bulgaria remained a communist-ruled
country until democratizing reforms began in 1989. In 1990 Bulgaria held its
first postwar multiparty elections and changed its name from the People’s
Republic of Bulgaria to the Republic of Bulgaria.
Bulgaria’s transition toward democracy and a
free market economy has not been easy. The fall of communism and the loss of the
Soviet market for Bulgarian goods led to a massive contraction of the economy.
The standard of living plunged amid rising inflation and unemployment, rampant
corruption, and the collapse of the social welfare system. Many Bulgarians
emigrated. The Bulgarian government remained committed to reforms undertaken in
the late 1990s, however, leading to greater political and economic stability. In
2000 the European Union (EU) opened membership negotiations with Bulgaria; the
nation is slated for membership in 2007. Bulgaria joined the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) in March 2004.
II | LAND AND RESOURCES |
The area of Bulgaria is 110,994 sq km (42,855
sq mi). The greatest distance from north to south is about 330 km (about 210 mi)
and from east to west it is about 500 km (about 310 mi).
A | Natural Regions |
More than half of Bulgaria is hilly or
mountainous, with an average elevation of about 480 m (about 1,600 ft). The
Balkan Mountains cross the country from the northwestern corner to the Black
Sea. More than 560 km (350 mi) long, the mountains vary in width from 19 to 48
km (12 to 30 mi) and rise to a maximum height of 2,376 m (7,795 ft) at Botev
Peak. Sheep graze in the rich mountain pastures.
North of the Balkan Mountains is a fertile
plateau cut by deep river valleys. The plateau extends to the Danube, which
forms most of the country’s northern boundary. The plateau is part of the
Danubian Plain, Bulgaria’s most fertile expanse of land and the nation’s chief
grain-growing region. In northeastern Bulgaria, the plateau extends into an
agricultural region known as Dobruja, which lies partly in Romania.
The central and southern sides of the
Balkan Mountains are fringed by a series of narrow plains, notably the fertile
Thracian Plain. In the southern part of the country are the broad and irregular
Rhodope Mountains (Bulgarian Rodopi), which contain many lakes and deep
river valleys and form the boundary with Greece. At the western end of these
mountains, in southwestern Bulgaria, are the rugged Rila Mountains, which rise
to a maximum elevation of 2,925 m (9,596 ft) at Musala, the highest peak in the
Balkan Peninsula. Several smaller ranges lie along the western boundaries.
B | Rivers and Lakes |
The principal river draining Bulgaria is
the Danube. Its primary tributaries in Bulgaria are the Iskŭr (about 370
km/about 230 mi long) and the Yantra (about 290 km/about 180 mi long). The
Maritsa (about 480 km/about 300 mi long), which flows east to Greece and Turkey
across the Thracian Plain, is the deepest river of the Aegean Sea basin. Other
important rivers are the Kamchiya (about 180 km/about 112 mi long), which
empties into the Black Sea, and in the southwest, the Struma and Mesta, which
flow south to the Aegean Sea.
C | Plant and Animal Life |
Some 33 percent of Bulgaria is forested, and
half this area supports tall trees suitable for timber production. About 70
percent of the forest consists of broadleaf deciduous trees; most of the rest
are conifers. Most wildlife is confined to the mountainous southwestern portion
of the country, which supports populations of bear, wolf, red deer, fox, and
wildcat.
D | Natural Resources |
The rivers of Bulgaria, which originate
mostly in the Balkan Mountains and flow either north to the Danube or south to
the Maritsa, are used for waterpower and for irrigating crops. The nation’s
waterpower resources are plentiful but significantly underutilized.
Bulgaria’s soils are moderately fertile and
support a great variety of agriculture. On the Danubian Plain, black earth and
gray forest soils predominate. The Thracian Plain has mainly brown soils,
together with some black earth. Deforestation and inadequate soil-conservation
practices have caused erosion in some fertile areas.
Bulgaria has a wealth of metallic and
nonmetallic minerals. Among the most important are iron ore and coal. Other
mineral reserves are small, but some deposits, particularly lead, zinc, copper,
manganese and petroleum, are valuable.
E | Climate |
Most of Bulgaria has a continental climate,
with cold winters and hot summers. The climate in general is more severe than in
other European areas of the same latitudes, and the average annual temperature
range is greater than that of neighboring countries. Severe droughts, frosts,
winds, and hail storms frequently damage crops. A Mediterranean climate, with
dry summers and mild, humid winters, prevails in the valley of the southwestern
Rhodope Mountains; the northern limit of the climatic zone is the Balkan
Mountains.
The average January temperature in Sofia
ranges from -4° to 2°C (25° to 35°F) and the July temperature ranges from 16° to
27°C (60° to 81°F). In Varna, along the Black Sea, the average January
temperature ranges from -1° to 6°C (30° to 42°F) and the July temperature ranges
from 19° to 30°C (65° to 85°F). The average rainfall in Bulgaria is about 630 mm
(about 25 in) per year, ranging from a low of about 190 mm (about 7 in) in the
northeast, to a high of about 190 cm (about 75 in) in the Rila Mountains. The
wettest period is early summer in most of the country and autumn or winter in
the southern valleys.
F | Environmental Issues |
Bulgaria’s industrial economy has
seriously damaged the nation’s environmental health. Virtually all of the middle
and lower reaches of the major rivers are polluted by industrial centers that
discharge detergents, heavy metals, nitrates, oils, and raw sewage. Water
treatment facilities for industrial and municipal wastes are inadequate or
nonexistent. Two of the largest industrial cities, Varna and Burgas, are located
on the Black Sea coast. Water pollution generated by these cities has threatened
the area’s valuable tourism industry. Uncontrolled mining operations and
environmentally insensitive practices also contribute to soil erosion and
contamination. Air pollution, from automobiles and industrial emissions, is
severe, leading to acid rain and the defoliation of a significant portion of
Bulgaria’s forests.
III | THE PEOPLE OF BULGARIA |
The population of Bulgaria (2008 estimate)
is 7,262,675. The 1985 census population was 8,948,649; the subsequent decrease
was largely caused by emigration after the collapse of the former communist
regime. Bulgaria has a population density of 66 persons per sq km (170 per sq
mi). Due to the communist government’s forced industrialization program,
Bulgaria’s population became increasingly urbanized after 1945. Even so, today
71 percent of the people live in urban areas, a relatively modest figure
compared to most European countries.
The Bulgarians are the descendants of the
early Slavic inhabitants of the Balkans and of a people of Asian Turkic origin
who founded states between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains in the early
Middle Ages. Today about 85 percent of the population is classified as ethnic
Bulgarian and about 9 percent are Turkish. Small groups of Armenians, Roma
(Gypsies), Greeks, and Macedonian Slavs also live in the country.
A | Principal Cities |
Sofia (Bulgarian Sofiya), in
western Bulgaria, is the national capital of Bulgaria and by far the largest
city. An ancient city world-famous for its historic architecture, Sofia is the
country’s chief political, cultural, and commercial center. With a population of
1,076,000 (2003 estimate), about one-eighth of all Bulgarians call the city
their home.
Plovdiv, with a population of 340,638
(2001), is Bulgaria’s second largest city. Plovdiv lies at the center of an
agricultural region in southern Bulgaria and is a center for the food-processing
industry. Varna, the third largest city with a population of 314,539 (2001), is
the largest Bulgarian city on the Black Sea and the nation’s principal seaport.
Other major cities include Ruse, Bulgaria’s chief river port on the Danube, and
Burgas, a port on the Black Sea.
B | Language and Religion |
The country’s official language is
Bulgarian, spoken by about 90 percent of the population. Bulgarian is a southern
Slavic language (see Slavic Languages) that is related to Slovenian,
Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, and Russian. Bulgarian is written in the Cyrillic
alphabet, which was first used for literary purposes in medieval Bulgaria.
Turkish is the largest minority language (see Turkish Language). Prior to
1989 Bulgarians were required to study Russian. Today, Bulgarian students
frequently study English as a second language.
By tradition, most of Bulgaria’s people
belong to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, established in the 9th century AD
(see Orthodox Church). Under communist rule after World War II, the
government tightly restricted religious activities but supported the church as a
national institution under its control. The collapse of the communist regime in
1990 led to a revival of Orthodox religious activities. Today, an estimated 72
percent of the population adheres to the teachings of the Orthodox Church.
Another 13 percent of Bulgarians, mainly
people of Turkish ancestry, identify themselves as followers of Islam. From 1984
to 1989, the communist government attempted to force Muslims to assimilate to
Bulgarian culture, in part by pressuring them to take Slavonic names. During
this period of persecution, hundreds of thousands of Turkish Muslims fled to
Turkey. Since the early 1990s, Muslims in Bulgaria have enjoyed greater
religious freedom. Bulgaria is also home to small numbers of Jews (see
Judaism), Roman Catholics, Uniate Catholics (see Eastern Rite
Churches), and Protestants.
C | Education |
Education is free and compulsory for
children from the ages of 7 through 14; 100 percent of primary school-aged
children are enrolled in school. Students attend primary school for four years,
basic (or middle) school for three years, and secondary school for three to five
years depending on the course of study. Bulgaria’s literacy rate is 99
percent.
Bulgarian students who perform well may
continue their educations at state universities after passing qualifying exams.
About 30 percent of students continue their education past the secondary level.
There are more than 20 institutions of higher learning in Bulgaria, offering
degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels. They include Sofia University
(founded as a secondary school in 1888 and chartered as a university in 1909)
and universities in Burgas, Plovdiv, Svishtov, Tarnovo, and Varna.
D | Food and Recreation |
Bulgaria’s cuisine reflects its location
as a geographic crossroads, combining elements from Slavic, Greek, and Turkish
cooking traditions. The main ingredients in Bulgarian food are lamb, potatoes,
tomatoes, onions, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, a white cheese similar to Greek
feta, and yogurt. A famous Bulgarian yogurt called kiselo mlyako is
believed to promote good health and longevity.
Bulgarians typically eat a small
breakfast. For many, the main meal of the day is a lunch consisting of salad,
soup or stew, and a meat dish. Common foods served for lunch include shopska
salata (cucumber salad); tarator (yogurt and cucumber soup) or
gyuvech (a stew of eggplant, beans, and meat baked in a pot); and
agneski drebulijki (shish kebab), moussaka (a dish made with
minced meat, potatoes, onions, and yogurt), or sarmi (grape or cabbage
leaves stuffed with pork and rice). Baklava (a thin, flaky pastry with a
syrup-and-nut filling) is a popular dessert. Bulgarians enjoy high-quality
domestically produced wines, especially full-bodied red wines, and spirits such
as cognac and vodka.
As in many other European countries,
soccer is the most popular sport in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian soccer team is
frequently a source of national pride and on numerous occasions has reached the
finals of the World Cup—the premier international soccer tournament, held every
four years. Bulgarian families often spend their vacations skiing or hiking at
mountain resorts, or swimming and sunbathing on Bulgaria’s Black Sea
beaches.
E | Social Problems |
Under communist rule, Bulgarians became
accustomed to free health services and a wide range of other social welfare
benefits. Bulgaria’s post-communist governments have lacked the financial
resources to maintain these services at the same level. Furthermore, the
transition to a market economy led to a significant increase in unemployment,
which remains chronically high. Corruption and discrimination against the Roma
minority remain important problems to be resolved. Residents of Bulgaria’s large
cities are burdened by housing shortages and high rents.
IV | CULTURE |
The rich spiritual life of medieval Bulgaria
(especially in the 10th and 11th centuries), was the center of Slavic culture.
Over the centuries, Bulgarian culture has been influenced successively by
Byzantine, Islamic, and Greek traditions. In recent times, Russian and Western
influences have been added, forming the modern Bulgarian culture that flourished
in the 1920s and 1930s.
Cultural policies under communist rule,
including strict censorship, enforced an official culture based on communist
ideology. Socialist realism, a form of realistic art that glorified communist
morality and values, was promoted as the most advanced artistic expression. The
government suppressed freedom of speech, and public art and literature expressed
loyalty to communist ideals. However, intellectual and moral dissent never
entirely disappeared from literary and artistic life. Totalitarian controls over
art and literature dissipated with the collapse of communism in 1990. Since that
time, authentic forms of artistic expression have reemerged alongside the rapid
spread of mass commercial entertainment.
A | Literature |
The earliest Bulgarian literature was
written in medieval times in the vernacular of the Bulgarian people, called Old
Bulgarian or Old Church Slavonic. It was a major literary language of Europe and
was later introduced into Russia and Serbia. Most of these writings, produced
between the 9th and 14th centuries, consisted of historical chronicles and
translations of religious works.
Modern Bulgarian literature dates from
the 18th century, and its development is closely connected with the growth of
Bulgarian nationalism during the 19th century. Among the best-known Bulgarian
writers are the poet Christo Botev, a hero of the struggle for independence from
the Ottoman Turks (see Ottoman Empire), and the poet, novelist, and
playwright Ivan Vazov, whose works describing the oppression of Ottoman rule
earned him a wide following. Other important writers of the 19th and early 20th
centuries are Stoyan Mikhaylovski and Yordan Yovkov. Modern writers include
Viktor Paskov, Blaga Dimitrova, Jordan Radichkov, and Bulgarian-born writer
Elias Canetti, who won the 1981 Nobel Prize for literature. See Bulgarian
Literature. Dimitrova served as vice president of Bulgaria from 1992 to
1994.
B | Art and Architecture |
The 13th-century frescoes of the Boyana
Church near Sofia are outstanding examples of the painting of that period.
Bulgarian handicrafts include rich folk embroideries and ornaments. Some of the
best sculpture, wood carvings, etchings, and paintings are based on traditional
culture and native subjects. Outstanding 20th-century Bulgarian artists include
the painter Vladimir Dimitrov and Christo, a Bulgarian-born avant-garde artist
noted for his technique of wrapping buildings, monuments, and landscape
features, who now lives in the United States.
The most celebrated architectural
monuments of Bulgaria are medieval churches and monasteries. The oldest is the
4th-century Church of Saint George in Sofia. South of Sofia in the Rila
Mountains is the Rila Monastery, founded in the 9th century. An important
monument of the 11th century is Bachkovo Monastery, south of Plovdiv. A major
modern structure is the large, ornate Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, built in Sofia
in the early 20th century.
C | Music |
Bulgaria is a country in which music has a
long, rich history. Traditional Bulgarian music includes folk songs and choral
chants in the Greek mode for church services. Bulgarian folk music is unusual,
displaying complex harmonies and rhythms. The chief folk musical instruments are
the gaida (bagpipe) and the kaval (wooden shepherd’s flute).
Characteristic folk dances are variations of the hora, a round chain
dance, and the ruchenitsa, a lively dance of two couples. Some modern
Bulgarian orchestral and operatic compositions have gained international
recognition. Among the country’s leading 20th-century composers are Petko
Stainov and Pancho Vladigerov.
D | Libraries and Museums |
Large libraries in Sofia include the
Central Library of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (founded in 1869), the
library of the University of Sofia (1888), and the Saint Cyril and Saint
Methodius National Library (1878). The Ivan Vazov National Library (1879) is
located in Plovdiv. In addition, the people of Bulgaria are served by many
smaller library clubs (chitalisshta), a unique Bulgarian form of cultural
center that has its origins in the national revival period of the 19th century.
Bulgaria has more than 200 museums. In
Sofia are botanical and zoological museums and gardens; the National
Archaeological Museum (1892), with a collection of old coins and artifacts from
many ancient burial mounds; and the National Ethnographical Museum (1906). Other
museums in the country are devoted to history, science, and the struggles for
national revival.
V | ECONOMY |
Until 1947 Bulgaria was predominantly
agricultural and rural, with virtually no heavy industry. In communist Bulgaria
following World War II (1939-1945), all industrial enterprises were nationalized
and operated under a series of five-year economic plans, with financial aid from
the Soviet Union. Heavy industry was the government’s highest priority, and many
Bulgarians moved from the countryside to cities to work in newly built
factories. Bulgarian agriculture was organized into large collective farms
(Collectivism), although many farmers were allowed to raise their own livestock
and till small plots.
Bulgaria’s transition from a socialist to a
market economy, which began in 1990, proved challenging. In 1991 the government
introduced banking reforms, austerity measures, and a program to privatize
state-owned assets. But the loss of the Soviet market for Bulgarian-produced
goods triggered a pronounced economic contraction, causing widespread food and
fuel shortages, high unemployment, and a severe drop in the standard of living.
These developments led to popular dissatisfaction with the economic reforms.
Consequently, the government failed to press for further reforms that would lead
to mass privatization. Although limited privatization had begun, the major
industrial sectors remained under state control.
In 1994 Bulgarian voters—yearning for the
economic stability of the communist era—elected the former communists into
power, a development that further hindered reform. Rather than transferring
inefficient state-owned enterprises to private ownership, the government
sustained them or had state-controlled banks extend loans that were never
repaid. The absence of structural reform yielded dangerous consequences by 1996,
as the value of the national currency, the lev, plummeted, pushing the
fragile banking system toward collapse. In late 1996 Bulgaria entered a deep
economic crisis, with skyrocketing inflation and a rash of bankruptcies in the
banking sector.
In 1997 a newly elected reform-minded
government undertook measures to stabilize the economy and to fight the
deep-seated corruption prevalent in many of the country’s large enterprises.
Since that time, Bulgaria has pressed ahead with pro-market reforms, including
the acceleration of privatization. Bulgaria’s commitment to reforms led the
European Union (EU) to open membership talks with the country in 2000, and
Bulgaria expected to officially join the EU in 2007. Despite these developments,
unemployment remains chronically high, and the nation’s per-capita income ranks
among the lowest in Europe.
Today, as in most developed countries,
service industries, such as finance, transportation, and tourism, account for
the bulk of Bulgaria’s gross domestic product (GDP). However, Bulgaria remains
highly dependent on manufacturing and agriculture, which together occupy about
half the total workforce. Important manufacturing activities include chemical,
metallurgical, machine-construction, and food processing industries. Bulgaria
produces and exports many agricultural products, including vegetables, tobacco,
and rose oil. Bulgaria’s wines are world-famous. In 2006, Bulgaria’s GDP was
$31.5 billion.
A | Agriculture |
Emphasis on agriculture, once the largest
sector of Bulgaria’s economy, declined significantly after World War II
(1939-1945). However, Bulgaria remains a surplus food producer, and farming
still occupies a major role in Bulgaria’s economic life. In 2006 agriculture
contributed 8.5 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and
employed about one-quarter of the nation’s total workforce.
Climate and soil conditions support
raising livestock and the growing of cereals (especially wheat), sunflower
seeds, and tomatoes, grapes, and other fruits. Tobacco is one of the most
valuable crops, contributing approximately 20 percent to the total value of
agricultural goods. The most important livestock raised include fowl, sheep, and
hogs.
Collectivization of agriculture began
under communist rule in the early 1950s, and by the late 1980s most farmland was
part of the country’s collective farm system. In 1990 private farming was
legalized, and from 1992 to 1999 more than 96 percent of collectivized farmland
had been returned to its former owners and their heirs.
B | Mining |
Coal furnishes the bulk of Bulgaria’s
mineral production. Coal-powered energy plants produce more than 40 percent of
electricity produced in Bulgaria. Annual coal production (27.2 million metric
tons in 2003) has expanded to meet domestic demand. Petroleum was discovered in
1951 on the Black Sea coast; Bulgaria produced 365,300 barrels of crude oil in
2004. Production of iron ore was 120,000 metric tons. Copper, gold, zinc, lead,
and natural gas are also commercially exploited.
C | Manufacturing |
As a result of privatization reforms begun
in the 1990s, many formerly state-owned industrial enterprises are now privately
owned. The metalworking and chemical industries, as well as the food-processing,
tobacco-processing, and machinery-manufacturing enterprises, are among the
newer, more productive sectors. During the 1990s, Bulgaria gained an
international reputation for producing high-quality, affordable wines,
especially red wines such as gamza, mavrud, melnik, and
pamid. Smelting and metalworking industries are largely dependent on
imports of raw materials. The ores mined domestically, however, are refined and
fabricated into manufactured goods in Bulgaria. Machine building and engineering
are being expanded, especially for light electrical equipment.
Textiles are the oldest manufactured
products of Bulgaria and, except for cotton goods, largely use domestic raw
materials. The manufacture of building materials, including cement, brick, and
glass, is well developed, as is the production of leather goods and footwear.
Perhaps the most famous—and among the oldest—products of Bulgaria is attar of
roses (fragrant rose oil), which is used as a perfume base (see
Perfumery).
D | Energy |
Bulgaria derives about half of its energy
from nuclear power plants, with most of the rest coming from thermal plants
burning low-grade coal and waterpower facilities. Bulgaria’s Kozloduy nuclear
power plant produces enough energy to permit the country to earn millions of
dollars from electricity exports. However, under pressure from the European
Union (EU), which expressed concerns about the safety of four of the six
reactors at the plant, Bulgaria closed two of the oldest reactors in late 2002,
and it agreed to close two additional reactors by the end of 2006. Meanwhile, to
meet future energy needs, Bulgaria announced plans to open two new reactors at
Belene in the Danube River valley and a new coal-fired plant at Maritsa
East thermal power complex in central Bulgaria. Bulgaria produced 38.1
billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2003.
E | Currency and Banking |
The unit of currency in Bulgaria is the
lev (2 leva equal U.S.$1; 2006 average). The National Bank of Bulgaria is
the bank of issue.
F | Transportation |
Bulgaria is largely dependent for transport
on railroads, with 4,163 km (2,587 mi) of track in use. The country is also
served by about 44,033 km (about 27,361 mi) of roads. A major event in the
development of transportation in Bulgaria was the opening of the Ruse-Giurgiu
rail-and-road bridge over the Danube River in 1954; it is the chief bridge of
its type connecting Bulgaria and Romania. Extensive bus services operate in
areas not served by railroads.
The Danube River is a major artery of
commerce. Of the dozen Danube ports, Ruse, Svishtov, Lom, and Vidin have the
greatest importance. Much of the Bulgarian freight and passenger traffic with
the countries of the former Soviet bloc uses the Danube and the Black Sea.
Balkan Bulgarian Airlines served as the
national airline from 1946 to 2002. At its height, it was one of Europe’s
largest air carriers. It was replaced by Bulgaria Air, which serves the major
cities of the country as well as many international destinations. Smaller
airlines also operate in Bulgaria.
VI | GOVERNMENT |
From 1946 to 1990, Bulgaria had a communist
form of government with only one legal political party, the Bulgarian Communist
Party (BCP). Early in 1990, however, the Bulgarian constitution was amended to
allow a multiparty system, and in July 1991 a new constitution was approved,
establishing Bulgaria as a parliamentary democracy. All Bulgarian citizens age
18 and older may vote in local and national elections.
A | Executive |
The president serves as the head of state
and is directly elected by the voters to no more than two five-year terms. The
president is commander in chief of the armed forces and represents Bulgaria
abroad. The president may also send legislation back to the legislature for
further debate, although the legislature may pass the returned legislation into
law with a simple majority vote.
The head of government is the prime
minister, who is nominated by the president from the largest parliamentary party
or coalition of parties and is approved by parliament. The prime minister
presides over the Council of Ministers (or cabinet), the highest executive and
administrative body of the Bulgarian government.
B | Legislature |
Bulgaria’s legislature, the National
Assembly (Narodno Sabranie), is a unicameral (one-chamber) parliament
composed of 240 members. Members are directly elected to four-year terms. The
assembly is responsible for passing laws, approving the national budget,
declaring war, and ratifying international treaties. The assembly may, through a
vote of no-confidence, dismiss the prime minister and other ministers of
government.
C | Judiciary |
Bulgaria’s constitution of 1991 provides
for an independent judiciary and for the establishment of a Constitutional
Court, which interprets the constitution and rules on the constitutionality of
laws and treaties. The Supreme Court sits in Sofia and oversees the application
of laws by lower courts. Other tribunals in Bulgaria include provincial courts,
regional courts, and military courts.
D | Local Government |
For purposes of local administration,
Bulgaria is divided into 28 regions, each headed by a regional governor who is
appointed by the Council of Ministers. The governor is assisted by an appointed
deputy governor and regional administration. The duties of the governor and the
regional administration are to implement the policies of the national government
on the local level, safeguard the national interests, enforce the law and
maintain public order, and exercise administrative control.
For purposes of local self-government,
Bulgaria is divided into more than 250 municipalities. Each municipality is
governed by a mayor and a municipal council. The municipal council is elected
directly by the populace for a term of four years. The mayor is elected by the
municipal council for a term of four years. The municipal councils adopt their
own budgets and development plans and deal with matters such as environmental
preservation, public health, education, and cultural activities.
E | Political Parties |
With the end of communist rule in 1990,
Bulgaria became a multiparty state. Under the 1991 constitution, political
parties or coalitions must gain at least 4 percent of the vote to enter the
National Assembly.
During the 1990s, three principal
political parties dominated Bulgarian politics: the Bulgarian Socialist Party
(BSP), composed of former Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) members; the Union of
Democratic Forces (UDF), a center-right coalition of anti-Communist parties; and
the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, an ethnic Turkish party. In 2001 a new
organization led by Bulgaria’s former king, Simeon II, the National Movement for
Simeon II, emerged as an important party. More than 60 other parties function in
Bulgaria.
F | Social Services |
Matters of healthcare in Bulgaria are
under the overall control of the ministry of public health. Health services are
free in government-run hospitals, although patients must pay for some kinds of
medications. Private medical services were authorized in 1989. However, social
security, which provides pensions to seniors, has faced severe budgetary
restraints as a result of economic difficulties.
G | Defense |
Military service is compulsory for nine
months for all males beginning at age 19. Men enrolled in institutions of higher
education may defer fulfillment of their military obligation until they complete
their education. The army had about 25,000 personnel in 2004. Air force
personnel numbered about 13,100. Military equipment in the late 1990s included
1,475 tanks and 217 combat aircraft. The navy had a force of about 4,370 and
maintained three major bases on the Black Sea.
The Bulgarian military has undergone an
aggressive restructuring effort to bring its equipment and forces up to the
standards of other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a
defensive alliance it joined in March 2004. In recent years, Bulgaria has played
an important role in helping to resolve interethnic conflicts in the Balkan
Peninsula, deploying small numbers of troops in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the
Serbian province of Kosovo. It sent a contingent of troops to Afghanistan as
part of the war against international terrorism after the September 11 attacks
on the United States in 2001. Bulgaria also sent forces to Iraq following the
U.S.-led invasion of that country in 2003 (U.S.-Iraq War).
H | International Organizations |
Bulgaria is a member of the United Nations
(UN), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), NATO’s Partnership for Peace
program, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation Group, the Council of Europe, and several other
major international associations. Bulgaria is an associate member of the
European Union (EU). In 2000 the EU opened membership negotiations with
Bulgaria, and the country is expected to become a full member of the
organization in 2007.
VII | HISTORY |
The region that is now Bulgaria was at one
time included in the Roman Empire as part of the provinces of Thrace and Moesia.
Slavic and Turkic tribes settled in the area between about the 4th and 6th
centuries ad. One branch of people
known as Bulgars, who had established a large state near the Volga River on the
east side of the Black Sea, invaded the Balkan Peninsula in the 7th century.
They set up a state between the Danube River and the Balkan Mountains, an area
that was then claimed by the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine armies failed
repeatedly to dislodge the invaders during the 8th and early 9th centuries. By
the end of the 9th century the Bulgarians had annexed considerable additional
territory and laid the foundations for a strong state under Khan Krum, who
reigned from 803 to 814. The Krum armies inflicted a devastating defeat on an
invading Byzantine force in 811 and, assuming the offensive, nearly succeeded in
813 in taking Constantinople (present-day İstanbul, Turkey), the capital of the
Byzantine Empire.
Bulgarian-Byzantine relations were
thereafter relatively peaceful and continued to be so during the first half of
the 9th century. The immediate successors of Krum enlarged their dominions,
mainly in the region of Serbia and Macedonia. In 860, however, during the reign
of Boris I, Bulgaria suffered a severe military setback at the hands of the
Serbs. Four years later Boris, responding to pressure from the Byzantine emperor
Michael III, made Christianity the official religion. Boris accepted the primacy
of the papacy in 866, but in 870, following the refusal of Pope Adrian II to
make Bulgaria an archbishopric, he shifted his allegiance to the Eastern
Orthodox Church (see Orthodox Church).
A | The First Bulgarian Empire |
In the late 9th and early 10th centuries,
Bulgaria became the strongest nation of Eastern Europe during the reign of
Boris’s son Simeon. A brilliant administrator and military leader, Simeon
introduced Byzantine (Greek) culture into his realm, encouraged education,
obtained new territories, defeated the Magyars (Hungarians), and conducted a
series of successful wars against the Byzantine Empire. In 925 Simeon proclaimed
himself tsar (emperor) of the Greeks and Bulgars. He conquered Serbia in
926 and became the most powerful monarch in contemporary Eastern Europe.
Simeon’s reign was marked by great cultural advances led by the followers of the
brothers Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius. During this period Old Church
Slavonic, the first written Slavic language (see Slavic Languages), and
the Cyrillic alphabet were adopted.
Weakened by domestic strife and
successive Magyar raids, Bulgarian power declined steadily during the following
half-century. In 969 invading forces from Russia seized the capital and captured
the royal family. The Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimisces, alarmed over the
Russian advance into southeastern Europe, intervened in 970 in the
Russo-Bulgarian conflict. The Russians were compelled to withdraw from Bulgaria
in 972, and the eastern part of the country was annexed to the Byzantine Empire.
Samuel, the son of a Bulgarian provincial governor, became ruler of western
Bulgaria in 976. Samuel’s armies were annihilated in 1014 by the Byzantine
Emperor Basil II, who incorporated the short-lived state into his empire in
1018.
B | The Second Empire and Ottoman Rule |
Led by the noble brothers Asen and Peter,
the Bulgarians revolted against Byzantine rule in 1185 and established a second
empire. It consisted initially of the region between the Balkan Mountains and
the Danube; by the early 13th century it included extensive neighboring
territories, notably sections of Serbia and all of western Macedonia. Ivan Asen
II, the fifth ruler of the Asen dynasty, added western Thrace, the remainder of
Macedonia, and part of Albania to the empire in 1230.
Feudal strife and involvement in foreign
wars caused gradual disintegration of the empire after the death of Ivan Asen
II. The Bulgarian armies were decisively defeated by the Serbs in 1330, and for
the next quarter century the second empire was little more than a dependency of
Serbia. Shortly after 1360, armies of the Ottoman Empire began to ravage the
Maritsa Valley and by 1396 they controlled all of Bulgaria. During the next five
centuries the political and cultural existence of Bulgaria was almost
obliterated. After a century of terrorism and persecution, Ottoman
administration improved, and the economic condition of the remaining Bulgarians
rose to a level higher than it had been under the kingdom, although unsuccessful
revolts against Ottoman rule occurred from time to time.
With the revival of a Bulgarian
literature glorifying the history of the country, in the latter half of the 18th
century and the early part of the 19th century, Bulgarian nationalism became a
powerful movement. In 1876 the Bulgarians revolted against the Ottomans, but
were quelled; in reprisal, the Ottomans massacred an estimated 30,000 Bulgarian
men, women, and children. In 1877, prompted by the desire to expand toward the
Mediterranean Sea and by Pan-Slavic sentiment, Russia declared war on the
Ottoman Empire and defeated it in 1878. As a result of the war, a part of
Bulgaria became an autonomous principality; another part, Eastern Rumelia
(see Rumelia), was made an autonomous Ottoman province.
C | Modern Bulgaria |
Elected by a Bulgarian assembly in 1879,
the first prince of the new Bulgaria was a German, Alexander of Battenberg, also
a prince and a nephew of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. Eastern Rumelia
revolted against the Ottoman Empire in 1885 and was united with Bulgaria.
Russia, whose relationship with Prince Alexander had deteriorated, refused to
recognize the union. The Russian emperor demanded the abdication of the prince
and withdrew all officers who had been detailed to train the Bulgarian army.
Serbia then declared war on Bulgaria but was quickly defeated. In 1886 a group
of Russian and Bulgarian conspirators abducted Prince Alexander and established
a Russian-dominated government. Within a few days the government was overthrown
by the Bulgarian statesman Stepan Stambolov, but the Russians compelled Prince
Alexander to abdicate. The new ruler, chosen in 1887, was Prince Ferdinand of
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Taking advantage of a revolution in the Ottoman Empire, in
1908 Ferdinand declared Bulgaria independent and assumed the title of King, or
Tsar, Ferdinand I; he reigned from 1908 to 1918.
C1 | The Balkan Wars and World War I |
In the First Balkan War (1912-1913),
Bulgaria, allied with Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece, defeated the Ottoman
Empire. Division of the reconquered Balkan territories, however, resulted in the
Second Balkan War in 1913, which Bulgaria lost to Serbia, Montenegro, Greece,
the Ottoman Empire, and Romania; as a consequence, Bulgaria lost considerable
territory. Bulgaria entered World War I in 1915 on the side of the Central
Powers, but was forced to agree on an armistice with the Allies (see
Allied Powers) in September 1918. King Ferdinand abdicated in October and
was succeeded by his son, Boris III. By the Treaty of Neuilly on November 27,
1919, Bulgaria lost most of what it had gained in the Balkan Wars and all of its
conquests from World War I. It was also required to abandon conscription, reduce
armaments, and pay large reparations.
C2 | The Interwar Period and World War II |
The Agrarian Party government under
Aleksandr Stambolisky, who became premier in 1919, attempted to improve the
condition of the large peasant class and maintain friendly relations with the
other Balkan countries. Stambolisky’s dictatorial regime, unpopular with the
army and the urban middle class, was overthrown by a coup d’état in 1923; he was
captured and killed while seeking to escape. Internal dissension continued under
the new government, which represented all political parties except the
Agrarians, Communists, and Liberals. Bulgaria and Greece again came into
conflict in 1925, and the Greek army invaded Bulgaria. The Council of the League
of Nations brought the conflict to an end and penalized Greece.
In 1934 King Boris III staged a coup
of his own and established a royal dictatorship. In September 1940 Germany
compelled Romania to cede southern Dobruja to Bulgaria. In March 1941, under
German pressure, Bulgaria joined the Axis powers, agreeing to immediate
occupation by German forces. Bulgaria declared war on Greece and Yugoslavia in
April, shortly afterward occupying all of Yugoslav Macedonia, Grecian Thrace,
eastern Greek Macedonia, and the Greek districts of Florina and Kastoría.
Bulgaria signed the Anti-Comintern Pact in November and the following month
declared war on the United States and the United Kingdom. Although allied with
Nazi Germany (see National Socialism), King Boris and his government
resisted German demands for the persecution of Bulgarian Jews, most of whom
survived the Holocaust, the mass killing of European Jews by the Nazis.
When the tide of war turned against the
Germans in 1943, German dictator Adolf Hitler attempted to force Bulgaria to
declare war on the Soviet Union. In August 1943, after returning from a meeting
with Hitler, King Boris died under mysterious circumstances and was succeeded by
his six-year-old son, Simeon II, and a pro-German government under Dobri
Bozhilov. An anti-German resistance movement organized by the Communists and the
Agrarians opposed the Bozhilov regime, which fell in May 1944. The succeeding
government severed its ties with Germany, but it was too late. The Soviet Union
formally declared war on Bulgaria on September 5. No fighting occurred, and the
Bulgarian government subsequently asked the Soviet Union for an armistice, or
truce. Bulgaria, moreover, declared war on Germany on September 7. The armistice
was agreed to by the Soviet Union on September 9, and under the protection of
Soviet forces a government subservient to the Soviets was immediately
established.
The armistice, signed by the Soviet
Union, the United States, and Britain in October 1944, provided for the control
of Bulgaria, until the signing of final peace treaties, by the Allied Control
Commission under the chairmanship of the Soviet representative, who was also the
commander of the Soviet occupation forces. The armistice provided also that the
Bulgarians evacuate Yugoslav Macedonia and territories they had taken from
Greece.
Soviet pressure in the Bulgarian
election engaged the attention of Britain and the United States in the fall of
1945. National elections originally scheduled for August were postponed because
of U.S. protests concerning the nature of Soviet political maneuvers within
Bulgaria. The opposition parties boycotted the elections held on November 18,
and a single list of candidates of the communist-dominated Fatherland Front won
85 percent of the vote.
C3 | The Communist Regime |
By a plebiscite in September 1946, the
Bulgarians ousted King Simeon and ended the monarchy; a week later Bulgaria was
proclaimed a people’s republic. The constitution drawn up by the Fatherland
Front, which won an overwhelming victory in the elections to the National
Assembly, held in October, provided for freedom of the press, assembly, and
speech. The National Assembly, which gained full control of state affairs, then
elected the premier and also the president. The first president was Vasil
Kolarov, a Communist Party leader. Georgi Dimitrov, a former key figure in the
Communist International, was elected premier in November 1946.
In February 1947 the peace treaty
formally ending Bulgarian participation in World War II was signed in Paris. It
provided for reparations to be paid to Greece in the amount of $45 million and
to Yugoslavia in the amount of $25 million; severe limitation of military
strength, with partial demilitarization along the Greek frontier; and the
retention of southern Dobruja. (The borders with Greece were returned to their
status as of 1941.) In December 1947 the National Assembly adopted a new
constitution modeled on that of the Soviet Union; this document replaced the
presidency with the presidium, an executive committee. That September, Nikola
Dimitrov Petkov, leader of the opposition to the Fatherland Front, had been
executed after being convicted of conspiring to overthrow the government.
Under pressure from the Soviets,
Bulgaria renounced its treaty of friendship with Yugoslavia after the
Soviet-Yugoslavian rift in 1948; relations with the country and its successor
states have since continued to fluctuate, as have those with neighboring Greece
and Turkey. Diplomatic ties with the United States, broken in 1950 but restored
in 1959, were frequently marred by Bulgarian accusations of U.S. espionage
activities. The U.S. ministry was raised to the status of an embassy in
1966.
During most of the communist period,
under the leadership of Todor Zhivkov—secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party
(BCP) from 1954, the country’s premier from 1964 to 1971, and head of state from
1971 to late 1989—Bulgaria was one of the most restrictive societies among the
former Soviet satellites. As a member of the Council for Mutual Economic
Assistance (COMECON) and the Warsaw Pact, Bulgaria long remained among the
Soviet Union’s most dependable allies. During the 1970s the country received
substantial financial aid from the Soviet Union, which was used for
industrialization.
During the mid-1980s the Zhivkov
government launched a campaign to assimilate members of Bulgaria’s Turkish
minority by forcing them to take Slavic names, prohibiting them from speaking
Turkish in public, and subjecting them to other forms of harassment; during 1989
alone, more than 300,000 Bulgarian Turks crossed the border into Turkey to
escape persecution.
D | The End of Communist Rule |
Late in 1989, Zhivkov was ousted from
power and expelled from the Bulgarian Communist Party; replacing him as general
secretary was the foreign minister, Petur T. Mladenov. Under Mladenov’s
leadership, Bulgaria restored the civil rights of Bulgarian Turks and began to
institute a multiparty system. In June 1990 the communists, running as the
Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), won the nation’s first free parliamentary
elections since World War II. Mladenov, who had become president in April,
resigned in July over a scandal regarding the use of force in the suppression of
student demonstrations. The parliament replaced him with Zhelyu Zhelev of the
Union of Democratic Forces (UDF).
The subsequent collapse of the Bulgarian
economy led to the resignation in November 1990 of Prime Minister Andrei Lukanov
of the BSP. Despite being replaced by an independent candidate, Dimiter Popov,
new elections were scheduled. The UDF won the elections of 1991 by a narrow
margin. Filip Dimitrov, head of the UDF, became the prime minister. Under a new
constitution providing for direct presidential voting, Zhelyu Zhelev won
reelection in January 1992.
E | Economic and Political Instability |
Following the 1991 elections, the
government slowly began initiating economic reforms. Among the reforms were laws
allowing foreign investment, privatization of state-owned companies, and the
return of lands seized by the communists to their original owners. However,
public dissatisfaction with the social effects of the reforms led to the
overthrow of Dimitrov’s government in October 1992.
The following two years were
characterized by volatile and ineffective political alliances with parliament
unable to enact key legislation. When the BSP and the UDF refused to form a new
government, President Zhelev of the UDF dissolved parliament in October 1994. He
then appointed a caretaker government until parliamentary elections were held in
December. The BSP won a clear majority, capturing 125 of the 240 seats. Zhan
Videnov, the 35-year-old chairman of the BSP, was appointed prime minister.
In 1996 Zhelev lost his party’s
nomination to Petar Stoyanov for the November presidential elections. Stoyanov
won 60 percent of the vote in the elections, defeating Ivan Mazarov, the BSP
candidate. Faced with Mazarov’s defeat, a collapsing economy, and an intraparty
rebellion against his leadership, Videnov resigned his posts as prime minister
and chairman of the BSP in December. The BSP parliamentary majority then
appointed the interior minister, Nikolay Dobrev, as their choice for prime
minister. The UDF objected vigorously to continuing the BSP mandate and demanded
an early parliamentary election, but the BSP refused, insisting that its mandate
from 1994 be continued. Meanwhile, the national economy collapsed; the
lev, the Bulgarian currency plunged in value and inflation soared,
leaving the country in a state of near-bankruptcy. In January 1997 tens of
thousands of Bulgarians began to hold daily protests, calling for early
elections and an end to the country’s economic crisis.
On January 10, 1997, the UDF and other
opposition parties—angered that the BSP refused to consider the UDF’s motion for
new elections—walked out of a National Assembly session and began a boycott of
parliament. Protesters immediately stormed the parliament building, trapping
more than 100 BSP deputies inside until police broke through and enabled the
deputies to escape. The next day, President Zhelev announced he would not give
the BSP’s newly appointed prime minister the mandate, as required by the
constitution, to form a new government. In the face of this political standoff,
president-elect Stoyanov took office on January 22. After the mass protests and
strikes succeeded in paralyzing the economy, the BSP conceded to the
opposition’s demands on February 4, and Stoyanov appointed a caretaker
government led by Sofia mayor Stefan Sofianski. The economy began to recover
somewhat in March, in part because the interim government was able to attract
support from international lenders and donor governments.
In the April 1997 parliamentary
elections, the United Democratic Forces (ODC)—an electoral alliance of the UDF
and several smaller parties—swept into power, winning 137 parliamentary seats.
The leader of the alliance, Ivan Kostov of the UDF, was unanimously chosen to be
prime minister. He immediately established a currency-board system to stabilize
Bulgaria’s currency, the lev, a measure required by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for aid. Kostov promised to battle organized
crime and corruption and institute rigorous economic reforms. Bulgaria used IMF
funds to help carry out financial, tax, and trade reforms, and to modernize
agriculture and other economic sectors. In 2000 the European Union (EU) opened
membership talks with Bulgaria.
F | Recent Events |
In April 2001 Simeon Saxe-Coburg,
Bulgaria’s former king Simeon II, reentered Bulgarian politics by creating a
political organization that promised to improve living standards and combat
political corruption—a chronic problem since the collapse of communism. Exiled
in 1946, Saxe-Coburg had spent much of his life as a businessman in Madrid,
Spain. Saxe-Coburg’s organization, the National Movement for Simeon II, emerged
as the largest party in the June 2001 parliamentary elections. His party formed
a coalition government with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, an ethnic
Turkish party, and he became Bulgaria’s prime minister in July. Since then,
Saxe-Coburg’s government has won praise from Western governments for pressing
ahead with market reforms to meet targets set by the EU. In the November 2001
elections for the largely ceremonial position of president, BSP leader Georgi
Parvanov edged out incumbent candidate Peter Stoyanov. Parvanov was reelected in
a runoff in October 2006.
No comments:
Post a Comment