Bulgarian geography: borders, neighbors, cities, Bulgarian resorts and historical places.

Geography of Bulgaria

Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey

Map references: Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe

Area:   total area: 110,910 sq.km.;  land area: 110,550 sq.km.;

Land boundaries: total 1,808 km, Greece 494 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia and Montenegro 318 km (all with Serbia), Turkey 240 km

Coastline: 354 km

Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers

Terrain: mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast.

Natural resources: bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land

Land use:

arable land: 34%

permanent crops: 3%

meadows and pastures: 18%

forest and woodland: 35%

other: 10%

Irrigated land: 10 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment: current issues: 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

Natural hazards: earthquakes, landslides

International agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic Treaty, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea

Note: strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia

Bulgarian Government

Names:

conventional long form: Republic of Bulgaria

conventional short form: Bulgaria

Digraph: BU

Type: emerging democracy

Capital: Sofia

Independence: 22 September 1908 (from Ottoman Empire)

National holiday: Independence Day 3 March (1878)

Constitution: adopted 12 July 1991

Legal system: based on civil law system, with Soviet law influence; has accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch:

Chief of state: President ;

Vice President;

Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister);

Deputy Prime Ministers;

Cabinet: Council of Ministers; elected by the National Assembly

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Narodno Sobranie), seats - 240 total.

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, Constitutional Court

Member of: ACCT, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI (associate members), EBRD, ECE, FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC Flag: three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red; the national emblem formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe has been removed - it contained a rampant lion within a wreath of wheat ears below a red five-pointed star and above a ribbon bearing the dates 681 (first Bulgarian state established) and 1944 (liberation from Nazi control)