Careers, Jobs and Education Resources for: Bulgaria

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. (from the CIA)
 
 
 

Economic Overview

Bulgaria, a former communist country that entered the eu on 1 january 2007, has experienced strong growth since a major economic downturn in 1996. successive governments have demonstrated commitment to economic reforms and responsible fiscal planning, but have failed so far to rein in rising inflation and large current account deficits. bulgaria has averaged more than 6% growth since 2004, attracting significant amounts of foreign direct investment, but corruption in the public administration, a weak judiciary, and the presence of organized crime remain significant challenges.

Environmental 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

Government Type

Parliamentary democracy

Population

7,262,675 (july 2008 est.)

Location

Southeastern europe, bordering the black sea, between romania and turkey

Area

Total: 110,910 sq km land: 110,550 sq km water: 360 sq km

Slightly larger than tennessee

Country Aliases

Conventional long form: republic of bulgaria conventional short form: bulgaria local long form: republika balgariya local short form: balgariya

Capital

Name: sofia geographic coordinates: 42 41 n, 23 19 e time difference: utc+2 (7 hours ahead of washington, dc during standard time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last sunday in march; ends last sunday in october

Military Service

18-27 years of age for voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 9 months; as of may 2006, 67% of the bulgarian army comprised of professional soldiers; conscription ended as of 1 january 2008; air and air defense forces and naval forces became fully professional at the end of 2006 (2008)

International Disputes

None

Sources: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)