NAVIGATION
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NAVIGATION
Republic of Bulgaria
INTRODUCTION
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Background:
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The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Turks. Bulgaria regained its independence in 1878, but having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, it fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990, when Bulgaria held its first multiparty election since World War II and began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy while combating inflation, unemployment, corruption, and crime. Today, reforms and democratization keep Bulgaria on a path toward eventual integration into NATO and the EU - with which it began accession negotiations in 2000. |
GEOGRAPHY
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Location:
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Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey |
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Geographic coordinates:
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43 00 N, 25 00 E |
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Map references:
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Europe |
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Area:
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total: 110,910 sq km
water: 360 sq km land: 110,550 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly larger than Tennessee |
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Land boundaries:
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total: 1,808 km
border countries: Greece 494 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia and Montenegro 318 km, Turkey 240 km |
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Coastline:
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354 km |
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Maritime claims:
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contiguous zone: 24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
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Climate:
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temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers |
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Terrain:
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mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Musala 2,925 m |
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Natural resources:
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bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land |
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Land use:
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arable land: 39%
permanent crops: 1.8% other: 59.2% (1998 est.) |
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Irrigated land:
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8,000 sq km (1998 est.) |
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Natural hazards:
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earthquakes, landslides |
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Environment - current issues:
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air pollution from industrial emissions; rivers polluted from raw sewage, heavy metals, detergents; deforestation; forest damage from air pollution and resulting acid rain; soil contamination from heavy metals from metallurgical plants and industrial wastes |
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
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Geography - note:
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strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia |
PEOPLE
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Population:
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7,621,337 (July 2002 est.) |
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Age structure:
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0-14 years: 14.6% (male 572,961; female 543,004)
15-64 years: 68.5% (male 2,569,199; female 2,648,461) 65 years and over: 16.9% (male 540,109; female 747,603) (2002 est.) |
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Population growth rate:
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-1.11% (2002 est.) |
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Birth rate:
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8.05 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
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Death rate:
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14.42 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
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Net migration rate:
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-4.74 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
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Sex ratio:
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at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
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Infant mortality rate:
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14.18 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total population: 71.5 years
female: 75.22 years (2002 est.) male: 67.98 years |
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Total fertility rate:
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1.13 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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0.01% (1999 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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346 (2000) |
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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less than 100 (1999 est.) |
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Nationality:
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noun: Bulgarian(s)
adjective: Bulgarian |
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Ethnic groups:
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Bulgarian 83.6%, Turk 9.5%, Roma 4.6%, other 2.3% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) (1998) |
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Religions:
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Bulgarian Orthodox 83.8%, Muslim 12.1%, Roman Catholic 1.7%, Jewish 0.1%, Protestant, Gregorian-Armenian, and other 2.3% (1998) |
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Languages:
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Bulgarian, secondary languages closely correspond to ethnic breakdown |
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Literacy:
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definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% male: 99% female: 98% (1999) |