85%, Muslim 13%, Jewish 0.8%, Roman Catholic 0.5%,Uniate Catholic 0.2%, Protestant, Gregorian-Armenian, and other 0.5%
Languages:
Bulgarian; secondary languages closely correspond to ethnic breakdown
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1970 est.)
total population:
93%
male:
NA%
female:
NA%
Labor force:
4.3 million
by occupation:
industry 33%, agriculture 20%, other 47% (1987)
@Bulgaria, Government
Names:
conventional long form:
Republic of Bulgaria
conventional short form:
Bulgaria
Digraph:
BU
Type:
emerging democracy
Capital:
Sofia
Administrative divisions:
9 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast); Burgas, Grad Sofiya,
Khaskovo, Lovech, Montana, Plovdiv, Ruse, Sofiya, Varna
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 Zhelyu Mitev ZHELEV (since 1 August 1990); Vice President
(vacant); election last held January 1992; results - Zhelyu ZHELEV was
elected by popular vote
head of government:
Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) Lyuben Borisov
BEROV (since 30 December 1992); Deputy Chairman of the Council of
Ministers (Deputy Prime Minister) Evgeniy MATINCHEV (since 30 December
1992)
cabinet:
Council of Ministers; elected by the National Assembly
Legislative branch:
unicameral
National Assembly (Narodno Sobranie):
last held 13 October 1991; results - UDF (and breakaway factions) 34%,
BSP 33%, MRF 7.5%; seats - (240 total) UDF 110, BSP 106, Movement for
Rights and Freedoms 24
note:
the UDF split in March 1993 to form the New Union for Democracy (NUD)
with 18 seats, and the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) with 92 seats
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court, Constitutional Court
Political parties and leaders:
Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), Filip DIMITROV, chairman, an
alliance of approximately 20 pro-Democratic parties including United
Democratic Center, Democratic Party, Radical Democratic Party,
Christian Democratic Union, Alternative Social Liberal Party,
Republican Party, Civic Initiative Movement, and about a dozen other
groups; Movement for Rights and Freedoms (mainly ethnic Turkish party)
(MRF), Ahmed DOGAN, chairman; Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Zhan
VIDENOV, chairman; New Union for Democracy (NUD), Dimitar LUDZHEV,
chairman
Other political or pressure groups:
Ecoglasnost; Podkrepa (Support) Labor Confederation; Fatherland Union;
Bulgarian Democratic Youth (formerly Communist Youth Union);
Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (KNSB);
Nationwide Committee for Defense of National Interests; Peasant Youth
League; Bulgarian Agrarian National Union - United (BZNS); Bulgarian
Democratic Center; "Nikola Petkov" Bulgarian Agrarian National Union;
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Union of Macedonian
Societies (IMRO-UMS); numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest
groups with various agendas
Member of:
ACCT (observer), BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI (participating), CSCE, EBRD,
ECE, FAO, G-9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO,
INMARSAT, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer),
ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UNTAC, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Ognyan Raytchev PISHEV
chancery:
1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
