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Bulgaria: country overview

23 May 2012
by Ina Dimireva -- last modified 21 September 2021

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. Northern Bulgaria attained autonomy in 1878 and all of Bulgaria became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1908. Having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, Bulgaria 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. The country joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007.


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Bulgaria flag

Capital: Sofia

Geographical size: 110 370 kmĀ²

Population: 6,919,180 (July 2021 est.)

Gross domestic product (GDP): $68.49 billion (2019 est.)

Official EU language(s): Bulgarian

Political system: parliamentary republic

EU member country since: 1 January 2007

Seats in the European Parliament: 17

Currency: Bulgarian lev BGN. Bulgaria has committed to adopt the euro once it fulfils the necessary conditions.

Schengen area member? Bulgaria is currently in the process of joining the Schengen area.

Map of Bulgaria

Political system

Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic. The head of government - the prime minister - holds the most powerful executive position. The head of state - the president - primarily holds representative powers as well as limited veto powers. Bulgaria is a unitary state with a centralised structure. It consists of 27 provinces and a metropolitan capital province (Sofia-Grad). The regional governors are appointed by the government.

Trade and economy

The most important sectors of Bulgaria's economy in 2018 were industry (23.1%), wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food services (22.6%) and public administration, defence, education, human health and social work activities (14.1%).

Intra-EU trade accounts for 69% of Bulgaria's exports (Germany 15%, Italy 9% and Romania 9%), while outside the EU 8% go to Turkey and 3% to China.

In terms of imports, 64% come from EU Member States (Germany 12%, Italy 8% and Romania 7%), while outside the EU 10% come from Russia and 6% from Turkey.

Useful links

The Commission's Representation in Bulgaria

European Parliament office in Bulgaria

Bulgarian Government

Tourist information

Source: European Commission, CIA - The World Factbook

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