style="font-size:15px;"> female: 97%
Government—————
Name of country: conventional long form: Republic of Bulgaria conventional short form: Bulgaria
Data code: BU
Type of government: 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; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Zhelyu Mitev ZHELEV (since 1 August 1990,
when he was elected by the National Assembly); president and vice
president elected for five-year terms by popular vote; election last
held NA January 1992 (next to be held NA 1997); results - Zhelyu
ZHELEV elected by popular vote; Vice President (vacant)
head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime
Minister) Zhan VIDENOV (since 25 January 1995) appointed by the
president; Deputy Prime Ministers Doncho KONAKCHIEV (since 25
January 1995), Atanas PAPAKIZOV (since NA), Rumen GECHEV (since 25
January 1995), Svetoslav SHIVAROV (since 25 January 1995)
cabinet: Council of Ministers elected by the National Assembly
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Narodno Sobranie): last held 18 December 1994 (next to be held NA 1997); results - BSP 43.5%, UDF 24.2%, PU 6.5%, MRF 5.4%, BBB 4.7%; seats - (240 total) BSP 125, UDF 69, PU 18, MRF 15, BBB 13
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, chairman appointed for a seven-year term by the president; Constitutional Court, 12 justices appointed or elected for a nine-year term
Political parties and leaders: Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP),
Zhan VIDENOV, chairman; Union of Democratic Forces (UDF - an
alliance of pro-Democratic parties), Ivan KOSTOV; People's Union
(PU), Stefan SAVOV; Movement for Rights and Freedoms (mainly ethnic
Turkish party) (MRF), Ahmed DOGAN; Bulgarian Business Bloc (BBB),
George GANCHEV
Other political or pressure groups: Democratic Alliance for the
Republic (DAR); New Union for Democracy (NUD); Ecoglasnost; Podkrepa
Labor Confederation; Fatherland Union; Bulgarian Communist Party
(BCP); Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (KNSB);
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
International organization participation: ACCT, BIS, BSEC, CCC,
CE, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU,
ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarset, Intelsat (nonsignatory
user), Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, OSCE,
PCA, PFP, UN, UNAVEM III, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMOT, UPU, WEU
(associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant), ZC
Diplomatic representation in US: chief of mission: Ambassador Snezhana Damianova BOTUSHAROVA chancery: 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 387–7969 FAX: [1] (202) 234–7973
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant)
embassy: 1 Saborna Street, Sofia
mailing address: Unit 1335, APO AE 09213–1335
telephone: [359] (2) 88–48-01 through 05
FAX: [359] (2) 80–19-77
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)
Economy———
Economic overview: One of the poorest countries of central Europe, Bulgaria has continued the difficult process of moving from its old command economy to a modern, market-oriented economy. GDP rose a moderate 2.4% in 1995; inflation was down sharply; and unemployment fell from an estimated 16% to 12%. Despite this progress, structural reforms necessary to underpin macroeconomic stabilization were not pursued vigorously. Mass privatization of state-owned industry continued to move slowly, although privatization of small-scale industry, particularly in the retail and service sectors, accelerated. The Bulgarian economy will continue to grow in 1996, but economic reforms will remain politically difficult as the population has become weary of the process.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $43.2 billion (1995 est.)
GDP real growth rate: 2.4% (1995 est.)
GDP per capita: $4,920 (1995 est.)
GDP composition by sector: agriculture: 12% industry: 36% services: 52% (1994)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 35% (1995)
Labor force: 3.1 million by occupation: industry 41%, agriculture 18%, other 41% (1992)
Unemployment rate: 11.9% (1995 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $3.8 billion
