The ongoing migrant crisis in Europe continued tobe one of Bulgaria’s most pressing domestic andforeign policy issues in 2016. Prime Minister Boiko

Borisov stated that as many as 200 unregistered migrantswere being detained in Bulgaria each day, as the Turkish-Bulgarian frontier became the primary overland routeinto the EU. Bulgaria’s interior ministry faced criticism forits handling of the crisis, however, and in August Borisovcalled for the resignation of the country’s top two borderpolice officials when it was revealed that they had engagedin business dealings with accused human traffickers.Borisov stepped down on November 14, one day after hisparty’s candidate finished a distant second to pro-RussianSocialist Rumen Radev in the presidential race.

Vital statisticsBirth rate per 1,000 population (2015): 9.2 (world avg. 19.5).Death rate per 1,000 population (2015): 15.3 (world avg. 8.1).Natural increase rate per 1,000 population (2015): –6.1 (worldavg. 11.4).

Life expectancy at birth (2013): male 71.0 years; female 78.0years.

DemographyPopulation (2016): 7,151,000.Density (2016): persons per sq mi166.9, persons per sq km 64.4.

Sex distribution (20162): male 48.61%;female 51.39%.

Population projection: (2020) 6,983,000;(2030) 6,570,000.

Major cities (20162): Sofia 1,231,981;Plovdiv 341,625; Varna 334,466;Burgas 203,017; Ruse 145,765.

Urban-rural (20162):

Bulgaria

Official name: Republika BUlgaria (Republicof Bulgaria).

Form of government: unitary multipartyrepublic with one legislative house (NationalAssembly [240]).

Head of state: President Rosen Plevneliev.Head of government: Prime Minister BoikoBorisov.

Capital: Sofia.Official language: Bulgarian.Official religion: none1.Monetary unit: lev (Lv; plural leva); valuation(Sept. 1, 2016) 1 U.S.$ = 1.75 leva; 1 £ = 2.32 leva.

Ethnic composition (2011):

Age breakdown (20162):

Religious affiliation (2011)5:

Area and populationarea population area population

20162 20162

Districts sq km estimate Districts sq km estimate

Blagoevgrad 6,449 312,831Burgas 7,748 413,884Dobrich 4,720 180,601Gabrovo 2,023 114,272Khaskovo 5,533 236,383KUrdzhali 3,209 151,319Kyustendil 3,052 126,014Lovech 4,129 131,493Montana 3,636 137,188Pazardzhik 4,457 263,630Pernik 2,394 125,456Pleven 4,335 251,986Plovdiv 5,973 673,283Razgrad 2,640 117,241

Ruse 2,803 225,674Shumen 3,390 175,720Silistra 2,846 113,248Sliven 3,544 191,185Smolyan 3,193 111,601Sofiya3 7,062 237,080Sofiya-Grad4 1,349 1,319,804Stara Zagora 5,151 323,685TUrgovishte 2,559 115,211Varna 3,819 472,926Veliko TUrnovo 4,662 245,006Vidin 3,033 91,235Vratsa 3,938 172,007Yambol 3,355 123,821TOTAL 111,002 7,153,784

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National economyBudget (2013)6. Revenue: 28,977,000,000 leva (tax revenue 56.3%, of

which VAT 25.4%, excise taxes 14.0%, income tax13.5%; nontax revenue 34.5%; grants 9.2%).Expenditures: 30,418,000,000 leva (social security 36.2%;health 11.6%; defense 10.4%; education 10.2%).

Public debt (external, outstanding; 2014): U.S.$6,068,-642,000.

Gross national income (GNI; 2014): U.S.$55,042,000,000(U.S.$7,620 per capita); purchasing power parity GNI(U.S.$16,260 per capita).

Production (metric tons except as noted). Agriculture,forestry, fishing (2014): wheat 5,347,078, corn (maize)3,137,478, sunflower seeds 2,010,668, barley 852,231,rapeseed 527,912, grapes 325,59610, potatoes 132,651,

tomatoes 120,489, cherries 37,72410, anise, badian, fennel, and corian-der 37,19510, tobacco 34,00010; livestock (number of live animals)1,369,578 sheep, 586,418 pigs, 575,584 cattle; roundwood (2013)6,154,520 cu m, of which fuelwood 45%; fisheries production (2013)21,822 (from aquaculture 56%). Mining and quarrying (2013): lime-stone 6,000,000; copper 75,30712; zinc 11,99212; silver 55,637 kg12; gold7,385 kg. Manufacturing (value added in U.S.$’000,000; 2014): refinedpetroleum products, n.a.; food and food products 1,165; textiles andwearing apparel 780; machinery and apparatus 693; fabricated metalproducts 591; chemicals and chemical products 570; cement, bricks,ceramics 385; electrical equipment 346. Energy production (consump-tion): electricity (kW-hr; 2015) 48,440,000,000 (37,990,000,000), bysource (2012): fossil fuels 54.7%; nuclear 34.0%; renewable energy11.3%, of which hydroelectric 6.5%; hard coal (metric tons; 2013)4,000 ([2011] 3,160,000); lignite (metric tons; 2015) 35,900,000 ([2011]27,900,000); crude petroleum (barrels; 2014) 365,000 ([2011]37,300,000); petroleum products (metric tons; 2011) 5,438,000(3,938,000); natural gas (cu m; 2015) 181,000,000 (2,635,000,000).

Average household size (2013): 2.4.Population economically active (2015): total 3,337,000; participation

rates: ages 15–64, male 60.0%; female 48.6%; unemployed 9.2%, ofwhich youth (ages 15–24) 21.6%.

Land use as % of total land area (2009): in temporary crops 26.2%,left fallow 1.8%, in permanent crops 1.6%, in pasture 15.8%, forestarea 35.7%.

MilitaryTotal active duty personnel (November 2015):

31,300 (army 52.1%, navy 11.0%, air force21.4%, central staff 15.5%). Military expen-diture as percentage of GDP (2015): 1.3%;per capita expenditure U.S.$83.

Foreign trade11

Imports (2015): 51,654,500,000 leva (machinery andtransportation equipment 27.1%; mineral fuels15.6%; chemicals and chemical products 14.0%;food and food products 8.0%). Major import sources:

Exports (2015): 45,469,700,000 leva (machinery andtransportation equipment 21.1%; food and foodproducts 11.7%; mineral fuels 10.7%, of whichrefined petroleum products, n.a.; chemicals andchemical products 9.8%). Major export destinations:

Transport and communicationsTransport. Railroads (2013): route length (2015) 2,497mi, 4,019 km; passenger-km 1,825,800,000; metric ton-km cargo 3,246,000,000. Roads (2013): length12,227 mi, 19,678 km (paved 99%); passen-ger-km (2010) 10,613,000,000; metric ton-kmcargo 27,236,800,000. Vehicles: cars (20132)2,806,814; trucks and buses (20162) 420,052.

Education and healthLiteracy (2015): total population age 15 and overliterate 98.4%; males literate 98.7%; females lit-erate 98.1%.

Health (20162): physicians 28,863 (1 per 248 per-sons); hospital beds 55,360 (1 per 129 persons);infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births (2015)6.6; undernourished population (2006–08) lessthan 5% of total population.

1The constitution refers to Eastern Orthodoxy as the “traditional” religion. 2January 1. 3Districtnearly encircles Sofiya-Grad district on north, east, and south. 4Sofiya-Grad includes Sofia city andimmediately adjacent urban and rural areas. 5Unofficially, in 2005, up to 40% of the population wasestimated to be atheist or agnostic. 6Budget of general government. 7Taxes on products less subsi-dies. 8Unemployed. 9Detail does not add to total given because of rounding. 102013. 11Imports c.i.f.;exports f.o.b. 12Metal content of mine output. 13Subscribers.

Internet resources for further information:• National Statistical Institute www.nsi.bg• Bulgarian National Bank www.bnb.bg

Structure of gross domestic product and labour force2015 2013

in value % of total labour % of labour’000,000 leva value force force

Agriculture, forestry, fishing 3,792 4.4 195,500 5.8Mining and quarrying 26,000 0.8Public utilities 16,944 19.6 76,600 2.3Manufacturing 576,400 17.1Construction 3,436 4.0 206,900 6.1Transp. and commun. 15,512 17.9 256,100 7.6Trade, restaurants 671,600 19.9Finance, real estate 17,419 20.2 61,300 1.8Pub. admin., defense 10,685 12.4 347,400 10.3Services 6,016 7.0 517,100 15.3Other 12,5677 14.57 436,3008 13.08

TOTAL 86,3739 100.0 3,371,200 100.0

Communications units unitsnumber per 1,000 number per 1,000

Medium date in ’000s persons Medium date in ’000s persons

TelephonesCellular 2015 9,19513 1,29313

Landline 2015 1,654 233

Internet users 2009 3,395 450Broadband 2015 1,59413 22413

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