Republic of Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic in Southeast Europe. It borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east. With a territory of 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi), Bulgaria ranks as the 15th-largest country in Europe.
The current political structure dates to the adoption of a democratic constitution in 1991. Bulgaria is a member of the European Union, NATO, the Council of Europe, a founding state of the OSCE, and has been a member of the UN Security Council three times. It is a unitary state with a high degree of political, administrative and economic centralisation, and it is considered a free country. The population of 7.36 million people is predominantly urban and mainly concentrated in the administrative centres of its 28 provinces. With 1.2 million people, the capital Sofia is the largest city and concentrates most commercial and cultural activities. The strongest sectors of the economy are heavy industry, power engineering and agriculture, all relying on local natural resources. As a historical crossroad for various civilisations, Bulgaria is the home of some of the most ancient cultural artifacts in the world.
Politics Bulgaria is a parliamentary democracy in which the most powerful executive position is that of the prime minister. The political system has three separate branches of power—legislative, executive and judicial, with universal suffrage for citizens 18 years of age and older. Elections are supervised by an independent Central Election Commission that includes members from all major political parties. Parties must register with the commission prior to participating
in a national election. Normally, the prime minister-elect is the leader of the party receiving the most votes in parliamentary elections.
The National Assembly (Народно събрание) consists of 240 deputies, each elected for four-year terms by direct popular vote. The National Assembly has the power to enact laws, approve the budget, schedule presidential elections, select and dismiss the Prime Minister and other ministers, declare war, deploy troops abroad, and ratify international treaties and agreements. The president serves as the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and has the authority to return a bill for further debate, although the parliament can override the presidential veto by a simple majority vote of all members of parliament. Boyko Borisov, leader of the centre-right party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (Grazhdani za Evropeysko Razvitie na Bulgaria, GERB), became prime minister on 27 July 2009, and Georgi Parvanov was re-elected as a president in 2005. In 2011 Rosen Plevneliev from GERB was elected to succeed Parvanov, receiving 52.5 per cent of the votes on the second round against 47.5 per cent for his Socialist Party opponent Ivaylo Kalfin.
Demographics According to the 2011 census, the population of Bulgaria is 7,364,570 people, down from a peak of nine million inhabitants in 1989. Bulgaria has had negative population growth since the early 1990s, when the collapse of the economy caused some 800,000 people—mostly young adults—to emigrate by 2004. The population continues to decrease and the growth rate is the lowest of any sovereign country in the world.
Bulgarian is a native language for about 5,659,000 people (85 per cent) and is the only one with official status. It is the most ancient Slavic language, although distinguished from the other languages in this group due to certain grammatical peculiarities. Most of the population (76 per cent) self-identify as Orthodox Christian. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church gained autocephalous status in 927 AD, and currently has 12 dioceses and over 2,000 priests. Other religious denominations include Islam (10 per cent), Roman Catholicism (0.8 per cent) and Protestantism (1.1 per cent); 12.1 per cent practice other beliefs or did not state their religion. Bulgaria regards itself officially as a secular state. The Constitution guarantees religious freedom, but appoints Orthodoxy as a "traditional" religion. Bulgaria has traditionally had high educational standards. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Science funds all public educational establishments, sets criteria for textbooks and oversees the publishing process. The State provides education in its schools free of charge, except for higher education establishments. The educational process spans through 12 grades, where grades one to eight are the primary and nine to twelve are the secondary level. High schools can be technical, vocational, general or specialised in a certain discipline, while higher education consists of a 4-year bachelor degree and a 1year Master's degree.
Flag of Bulgaria
The flag of Bulgaria is a tricolour consisting of three equal-sized horizontal bands of (from top to bottom) white, green, and red. The flag was first adopted after the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), where Bulgaria gained independence. The national flag at times was charged with the state emblem, especially during
the People's Republic of Bulgaria. The current flag was re-established with the 1991 Constitution of Bulgaria and was confirmed in a 1998 law.
What is the Bulgarian Lev (BGL)? The unit of currency in Bulgaria (currency code: BGL) is the lev, divided into 100 stotinki. The Bulgarian National Bank is the bank of issue and handles government funds and state-owned enterprises. On the 5th of July, 1999, the Bulgarian National Bank acted on the previously announced re-denomination of the Bulgarian Lev by introducing new banknotes and coins. The Bulgarian Council of Ministers together with the National Assembly passed and enacted a package of laws and decrees outlining and regulating the re-denomination well before the 5th of July, 1999. Starting at 12:00 am on Monday, the 5th of July, 1999, the Bulgarian lev was substituted by a new lev in a ratio of 1,000:1. That is to say, as of that date 1,000 old leva equaled 1 new lev (equal to 1 Deutsche Mark, 0.51 Euro or US$ 0.55). The redenomination went into effect for all prices in leva - goods, services, bank accounts, and savings bonds. Until December 31st, 1999, all prices must be stated both in new and old leva; after that date, all prices will be stated in new leva only. The entire process was performed in order to facilitate all payments, as well as all accounting and exchange operations. Simultaneously with the re-denomination, the Bulgarian National Bank began to circulate new banknotes and coins. Beginning on July 5th, 1999, there were 6 new coins and 6 new banknotes in circulation. Until December 31st, 1999, all individuals and sales persons are obliged to accept both old and new banknotes and coins; after that date, the old currency may be exchanged for new one at any branch of the BNB. Bulgarian coins
Bulgarian banknotes