Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
Native name	Република България''Republika Balgariya''
Conventional long name	Republic of Bulgaria
Common name	Bulgaria
Image coat	Coat of arms of Bulgaria.svg
Map caption
National motto	(Bulgarian) (transliteration)Unity makes strength(English)
National anthem	(Bulgarian)(transliteration)''Dear Motherland''(English)
Official languages	Bulgarian
Capital	20px Sofia (''София'')
Largest city	capital
Government type	Parliamentary democracy
Leader title1	President
Leader name1	Georgi Parvanov
Leader title2	Prime Minister
Leader name2	Boyko Borisov
Ethnic groups	85.8% Bulgarians,7.8% Turks, 4.9% Roma, 1.5% others and don't self-define
Ethnic groups year	2011
Sovereignty type	Formation
Established event1	First Bulgarian Empire
Established date1	681–1018
Established event2	Second Bulgarian Empire
Established date2	1185–1396
Established event3	Re-established as a tributary principality
Established date3	1878
Established event4	Third independent Bulgarian state
Established date4	Since 1908
Accessioneudate	1 January 2007
Area rank	105th
Area magnitude	1 E11
Area km2	110,993.6
Area sq mi	42823
Percent water	0.3
Population census	7,364,570
Population census year	2011
Population census rank	98th
Population density rank	96th
Population density km2	66.2
Population density sq mi	171
Population density rank	139th
Gdp ppp year	2010
Gdp ppp	$96.778 billion
Gdp ppp rank	70th
Gdp ppp per capita	$12,851
Gdp ppp per capita rank	65th
Gdp nominal	$47.702 billion
Gdp nominal rank	75th
Gdp nominal year	2010
Gdp nominal per capita	$6,334
Gdp nominal per capita rank	74th
Gini	33.5
Gini year	2008
Gini category	medium
Hdi year	2010
Hdi	0.743
Hdi rank	60th
Hdi category	high
Currency	Lev2
Currency code	BGN
Country code	bg
Time zone	EET
Utc offset	+2
Time zone dst	EEST
Utc offset dst	+3
Demonym	Bulgarian
Drives on	right
Cctld	.bg3
Calling code	359
Footnote1
Footnote2	plural ''Levs''.
Footnote3	In common with other European Union member-states, the .eu domain is also in use.
Footnote4	Cell phone system GSM and NMT 450i
Footnote5	Domestic power supply /, Schuko (CEE 7/4) sockets
Footnote6	}}

Bulgaria (}}), officially the Republic of Bulgaria (}}) is a country in Southeast Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north (mostly along the Danube), Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south. The Black Sea defines the extent of the country to the east.

With a territory of , Bulgaria ranks as the 15th-largest country in Europe. Several mountainous areas define the landscape, most notably Stara Planina (''the Balkan mountains'') and Rhodope mountain ranges, as well as the Rila range, which includes the highest peak in the entire Balkans. In contrast, the Danubian plain in the north and the Upper Thracian Plain in the south represent Bulgaria's lowest and most fertile regions. The Black Sea coastline covers the entire eastern bound of the country.

The emergence of a unified Bulgarian ethnicity and state dates back to the 7th century AD. All Bulgarian political entities that subsequently emerged preserved the traditions (in ethnic name, language and alphabet) of the First Bulgarian Empire (681–1018), which at times covered most of the Balkans and became a cultural hub for the Slavs in the Middle Ages. With the decline of the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396), Bulgarian territories came under Ottoman rule for nearly five centuries. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 led to the establishment of a Third Bulgarian state as a principality in 1878, which gained its full sovereignty in 1908. In 1945, after World War II, it became a communist state and was a part of the Eastern Bloc until the political changes in Eastern Europe in 1989/1990, when the Communist Party allowed multi-party elections. Bulgarian politics undertook a transition to democracy and elements of free-market capitalism were introduced.

The Bulgarian government functions as a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic. Sofia, the capital, is Bulgaria's largest and the European Union's 12th largest city, and is also a global city. Its government is a member of the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and is a founding state of the OSCE and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization. Bulgaria has a high Human Development Index of 0.743, ranking 58th in the world in 2010.

History

Prehistory and antiquity

Prehistoric cultures in the Bulgarian lands include the Neolithic Hamangia culture and Vinča culture (6th to 3rd millennia BC), the eneolithic Varna culture (5th millennium BC; see also Varna Necropolis), and the Bronze Age Ezero culture. The Karanovo chronology serves as a gauge for the prehistory of the wider Balkans region.

The Thracians, one of the three primary ancestral groups of modern Bulgarians, lived separated in various tribes until King Teres united most of them around 500 BC in the Odrysian kingdom. They were eventually subjugated by Alexander the Great and later by the Roman Empire. After migrating from their original homeland, the easternmost South Slavs settled on the territory of modern Bulgaria during the 6th century and assimilated the Hellenized or Romanised Thracians. Eventually the Bulgar élite incorporated all of them into the First Bulgarian Empire. By the 9th century, Bulgars and Slavs were mutually assimilated.

First Bulgarian Empire

Asparukh, heir of Old Great Bulgaria's khan Kubrat, migrated with several Bulgar tribes to the lower courses of the rivers Danube, Dniester and Dniepr (known as ''Ongal'') after his father's state was subjugated by the Khazars. He conquered Moesia and Scythia Minor (Dobrudzha) from the Byzantine Empire, expanding his new kingdom further into the Balkan Peninsula. A peace treaty with Byzantium in 681 and the establishment of a Bulgarian capital at Pliska south of the Danube mark the beginning of the First Bulgarian Empire.

Succeeding khans strengthened the Bulgarian state — Tervel (700–721) established Bulgaria as a major military power by defeating a 26,000-strong Arab army during the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople; Krum (802–814) doubled the country's territory, killed emperor Nicephorus I in the Battle of Pliska, and introduced the first written code of law; Boris I (852–889) abolished Tengriism in favor of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in 864, and introduced the Cyrillic alphabet. Simeon the Great's rule (893–927) saw the largest territorial expansion of Bulgaria in its history, along with a golden age of Bulgarian culture and a military supremacy over the Byzantine Empire, demonstrated in the Battle of Achelous (917).

After Simeon's death, Bulgaria declined during the mid-10th century, weakened by wars with Croatians, Magyars, Pechenegs and Serbs, and the spread of the Bogomil heresy. This resulted in consecutive Rus' and Byzantine invasions, which ended with the seizure of the capital Preslav by the Byzantine army. Under Samuil, Bulgaria somewhat recovered from these attacks and even managed to conquer Serbia, Bosnia and Duklja, but this ended in 1014, when Byzantine Emperor Basil II ("the Bulgar-Slayer") defeated its armies at Klyuch. Samuil died shortly after the battle, on 15 October 1014, and by 1018 the Byzantine Empire conquered the remaimed parts of the First Bulgarian Empire, putting it to an end.

Second Bulgarian Empire

Basil II managed to prevent rebellions by retaining the local rule of the Bulgarian nobility (incorporated into Byzantine aristocracy as archons or strategoi), guaranteeing the indivisibility of Bulgaria in its former geographic borders and recognising the autocephaly of the Bulgarian Archbishopric of Ohrid. After his death Byzantine domestic policies changed, which led to a series of unsuccessful rebellions, the largest being led by Peter II Delyan. It was not until 1185 when Asen dynasty nobles Ivan Asen I and Peter IV organized a major uprising and succeeded in reestablishing the Bulgarian state, marking the beginning of the Second Bulgarian Empire.

The Asen dynasty set up its capital in Tarnovo. Kaloyan, the third of the Asen monarchs, extended his dominions to Belgrade, Nish and Skopie; he acknowledged the spiritual supremacy of the Pope, and received a royal crown from a papal legate. Cultural and economic growth persisted under Ivan Asen II (1218–1241), who extended Bulgaria's control over Albania, Epirus, Macedonia and Thrace. The achievements of the Tarnovo artistic school as well as the first coins to be minted by a Bulgarian ruler were only a few signs of the empire's welfare at that time.

The Asen dynasty ended in 1257, and due to Tatar invasions, internal conflicts, and constant Byzantine and Hungarian attacks, the country's military and economic might declined. By the end of the 14th century, factional divisions between Bulgarian feudal landlords (''bolyari'') and the spread of Bogomilism had caused the Second Bulgarian Empire to split into three small tsardoms (At Vidin, Tarnovo and Karvuna) and several semi-independent principalities that fought among themselves, and also with Byzantines, Hungarians, Serbs, Venetians and Genoese. In the same period the Ottoman Turks, who had already started their invasion of the Balkans, conquered most Bulgarian towns and fortresses south of the Balkan Mountains and began their northwards conquest.

Ottoman rule and national awakening

In 1393, the Ottomans captured Tarnovo, the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, after a three-month siege. In 1396, the Vidin Tsardom fell after the defeat of a Christian crusade at the Battle of Nicopolis. Finally, the Vidin Tzardom fell to in 1423 and with this, the Ottomans finally subjugated and occupied all Bulgarian controlled lands south of the Danube. During their rule, the Bulgarian population south of the Danube suffered greatly from oppression, intolerance and misgovernment.North of the Danube, where a significant number of Bulgarian nobility and common folk remained, the population was under the jurisdiction of various Christian autonomous, predominately Wallachian led principalities, where the Bulgarian alphabet continued to be used and many cities kept their Bulgarian names, like the Wallachian capital of Targovishte. The nobility in the Christian principalities north of the Danube, continued to be known by their Bulgarian titles of Boyars and regularly helped Bulgarian population to continue to migrate north, as part of their military campaigns south of the Danube. Thus, Bulgarian population north of the Danube never came under Ottoman occupation, which greatly helped the National revival south of the Danube in later centuries. The nobility south of the Danube however, was eliminated and parts of the peasantry enserfed to Ottoman masters while Bulgarians lacked judicial equality with the Ottoman Muslims and had to pay much higher taxes than them. Bulgarian culture became isolated from Europe, its achievements destroyed, and the educated clergy fled to other countries.

Throughout the nearly five centuries of Ottoman rule, the Bulgarian people responded to the oppression by strengthening the ''haydut'' ("rebels") tradition, and attempted to reestablish their state by organizing several revolts, most notably the First and Second Tarnovo Uprisings (1598 / 1686) and Karposh's Rebellion (1689). The National awakening of Bulgaria became one of the key factors in the struggle for liberation, resulting in the 1876 April uprising—the largest and best-organized Bulgarian rebellion. Though crushed by the Ottoman authorities—in reprisal, the Turks massacred some 15,000 Bulgarians—the uprising prompted the Great Powers to take action. They convened the Constantinople Conference in 1876, but their decisions were rejected by the Ottoman authorities, which allowed the Russian Empire to seek a solution by force without risking military confrontation with other Great Powers (as had happened in the Crimean War of 1854 to 1856). The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 resulted in the defeat of Ottoman forces by the Russian Army (supported by Bulgarian volunteer forces and the Romanian Army) and the Treaty of San Stefano (3 March 1878), which set up an autonomous Bulgarian principality.

The Great Powers immediately rejected the treaty, fearing that such a large country in the Balkans might threaten their interests. The subsequent Treaty of Berlin (1878) provided for a much smaller autonomous state comprising Moesia and the region of Sofia. The Bulgarian principality proclaimed itself a fully independent state on 5 October (22 September O.S.), 1908, after it won a war against Serbia and incorporated the semi-autonomous Ottoman territory of Eastern Rumelia.

Modern era

In the years following the achievement of complete independence Bulgaria became increasingly militarized, and was referred to as "the Balkan Prussia". In 1885 Northern Bulgaria and Southern Bulgaria united and subsequently defeated Serbia in the war of 1885. Between 1912 and 1918, Bulgaria became involved in a string of three consecutive conflicts – the Balkan Wars and World War I. After a disastrous defeat in the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria again found itself fighting on the losing side as a result of its alliance with the Central Powers in World War I. Despite achieving several decisive victories at Doiran, Monastir and again at Doiran in 1918, the country capitulated in 1918 and suffered significant territorial losses, a total of 412,000 casualties, and a wave of more than 253,000 refugees who put an additional strain on the already ruined national economy.

The political unrest resulting from these losses led to the establishment of a royal authoritarian dictatorship by Tsar Boris III (1918–1943). Bulgaria entered World War II in 1941 as a member of the Axis but declined to participate in Operation Barbarossa and saved its Jewish population from deportation to concentration camps. In the summer of 1943 Boris III died suddenly, an event which pushed the country into political turmoil as the war turned against Nazi Germany and the Communist guerilla movement gained more power. In September 1944 the Communist-dominated Fatherland Front took power, following strikes and unrest, ending the alliance with Nazi Germany and joining the Allied side until the end of the war in 1945.

The Communist uprising of 9 September 1944 led to the abolition of monarchic rule, but it was not until 1946 that a people's republic was established. It came under the Soviet sphere of influence, with Georgi Dimitrov (1946–1949) as the foremost Bulgarian political leader. Bulgaria installed a Soviet-style planned economy with some market-oriented policies emerging on an experimental level under Todor Zhivkov (1954–1989). By the mid 1950s standards of living rose significantly. Lyudmila Zhivkova, daughter of Zhivkov, promoted Bulgaria's national heritage, culture and arts worldwide. On the other hand, an assimilation campaign of the late 1980s directed against ethnic Turks resulted in the emigration of some 300,000 of them to Turkey. On 10 November 1989, the Bulgarian Communist Party gave up its political monopoly, Zhivkov resigned, and Bulgaria embarked on a transition from a single-party republic to a parliamentary democracy.

In June 1990 the first free elections took place, won by the moderate wing of the Communist Party (the Bulgarian Socialist Party—BSP). In July 1991, a new constitution that provided for a relatively weak elected President and for a Prime Minister accountable to the legislature, was adopted. The new system eventually failed to improve living standards or create economic growth — the average quality of life and economic performance actually remained lower than in the times of Communism well into the early 2000s.

A reform package introduced in 1997 restored positive economic growth, but led to rising social inequality. Bulgaria became a member of NATO in 2004 and of the European Union in 2007. The US Library of Congress Federal Research Division reported it in 2006 as having generally good freedom of speech and human rights records, while Freedom House listed Bulgaria as "free" in 2011, giving it scores of 2 for political rights and 2 for civil liberties.

This score represents a reduction in its previous ranking of 1 for Political Rights on 2008.

Geography

Bulgaria lies between latitudes 41° and 45° N, and longitudes 22° and 29° E.

Geographically and in terms of climate, Bulgaria features notable diversity, with the landscape ranging from the Alpine snow-capped peaks in Rila, Pirin and the Balkan Mountains to the mild and sunny Black Sea coast; from the typically continental Danubian Plain (ancient Moesia) in the north to the strong Mediterranean climatic influence in the valleys of Macedonia and in the lowlands in the southernmost parts of Thrace.

Relief and natural resources

About 30% of the land is made up of plains, while plateaus and hills account for 41%. The mountainous southwest of the country has two alpine ranges — Rila (where mount Musala, at , is located) and Pirin, and further east stand the lower but more extensive Rhodope Mountains. The Balkan mountain chain runs west-east through the middle of the country, north of the Rose Valley. Hilly countryside and plains lie to the southeast, along the Black Sea coast, and along Bulgaria's main river, the Danube, to the north.

Bulgaria has large deposits of bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, bismuth and manganese. Smaller deposits exist of iron, gold, silver, uranium, chromite, nickel, and others. Bulgaria has abundant non-metalliferous minerals such as rock-salt, gypsum, kaolin and marble.

Hydrography and climate

The country has a dense network of about 540 rivers, most of them—with the notable exception of the Danube—short and with low water-levels. Most rivers flow through mountainous areas. The longest river located solely in Bulgarian territory, the Iskar, has a length of . Other major rivers include the Struma and the Maritsa in the south.

Bulgaria overall has a temperate climate, with cold winters and hot summers. The barrier effect of the Balkan Mountains has some influence on climate throughout the country – northern Bulgaria experiences lower temperatures and receives more rain than the southern lowlands.

Precipitation averages about per year. In the lowlands rainfall varies between , and in the mountain areas between of rain falls per year. Drier areas include Dobrudja and the northern coastal strip, while the higher parts of the Rila, Pirin, Rhodope Mountains, Stara Planina, Osogovska Mountain and Vitosha receive the highest levels of precipitation.

Environment and wildlife

Bulgaria has signed and ratified the Kyoto protocol and has achieved a 30% reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from 1990 to 2009, completing the protocol's objectives. However, pollution from outdated factories and metallurgy works, as well as severe deforestation (mostly caused by illegal logging), continue to be major problems. Urban areas are particularly affected mostly due to energy production from coal-based powerplants and automobile traffic, while pesticide usage in the agriculture and antiquated industrial sewage systems have resulted in extensive soil and water pollution with chemicals and detergents. In addition, Bulgaria remains the only EU member which does not recycle municipal waste, although an electronic waste recycling plant was put in operation in June 2010. The situation has improved in recent years, and several government-funded programs have been initiated in order to reduce pollution levels.

Three national parks, 11 nature parks and 17 biosphere reserves exist on Bulgaria's territory. Nearly 35% of its land area consists of forests, where some of the oldest trees in the world – such as Baikushev's Pine and the Granit oak – have grown. The brown bear and the jackal are prominent mammals, while the Eurasian lynx, the Eastern imperial eagle and the European mink have small, but growing populations.

Politics

The National Assembly or ''Narodno Sabranie'' (Народно събрание) consists of 240 deputies, each elected for four-year terms by popular vote. The National Assembly has the power to enact laws, approve the budget, schedule presidential elections, select and dismiss the Prime Minister and other ministers, declare war, deploy troops abroad, and ratify international treaties and agreements. The president serves as the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. While unable to initiate legislation other than constitutional amendments, the President can return a bill for further debate, although the parliament can override the President's veto by vote of a majority of all MPs. Boyko Borisov, leader of the centre-right party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, became prime minister on 27 July 2009, and Georgi Parvanov was re-elected as a president in 2005.

Law

The Bulgarian legal system recognizes the Acts of Parliament as a main source of law, and is a typical representative of the Romano-Germanic law family. The judiciary is overseen by the Ministry of Justice, while the Supreme Administrative Court and Supreme Court of Cassation, the highest courts of appeal, rule on the application of laws in lower courts. The Supreme Judicial Council manages the system and appoints judges. Bulgaria's judiciary remains one of Europe's most corrupt and inefficient.

Law enforcement organisations are mainly subordinate to the Ministry of Interior. The National Police Service is responsible for combating general crime and supporting the operations of other law enforcement agencies, the National Investigative Service and the Central Office for Combating Organized Crime. The Police Service has criminal and financial sections and national and local offices. The Ministry of Interior also heads the Border Police Service and the National Gendarmerie, a specialized branch for anti-terrorist activity, crisis management and riot control. In 2008, the State Agency for National Security, a specialized body for counterintelligence, was established with the aim to eliminate threats to national security. Bulgaria's police force numbers 27,000 officers.

Foreign relations and military

Bulgaria became a member of the United Nations in 1955, and a founding member of OSCE in 1975. As a Consultative Party to the Antarctic Treaty, the country takes part in the administration of the territories situated south of 60° south latitude. It joined NATO on 29 March 2004, signed the European Union Treaty of Accession on 25 April 2005, and became a full member of the European Union on 1 January 2007.

In April 2006 Bulgaria and the United States of America signed a defence cooperation agreement providing for the usage of the Bezmer and Graf Ignatievo air bases, the Novo Selo training range, and a logistics centre in Aytos as joint military facilities. ''Foreign Policy'' magazine lists Bezmer Air Base as one of the six most important overseas facilities used by the USAF.

The military of Bulgaria, an all-volunteer body, consists of three services—land forces, navy and air force. As a NATO member, the country maintains a total of 913 troops deployed abroad. Historically, Bulgaria deployed significant numbers of military and civilian advisors in socialist-oriented countries, such as Nicaragua and Libya (more than 9,000 personnel).

Following a series of reductions beginning in 1990, the active troops today number about 32,000, down from 152,000 in 1988, and are supplemented by a reserve force of 303,000 soldiers and officers and paramilitary forces, numbering 34,000. The inventory includes highly capable Soviet equipment, such as MiG-29 fighters, SA-10 Grumble SAMs and SS-21 Scarab short-range ballistic missiles. Military spending in 2009 cost $1.19 billion.

Administrative divisions

Between 1987 and 1999 Bulgaria's administrative structure consisted of nine provinces (''oblasti'', singular ''oblast''). Since 1999, it includes 27 provinces and a metropolitan capital province (Sofia-Grad). All areas take their names from their respective capital cities.

Arms	Province	Arms	Province	Arms	Province
					Sofia Province (excludes the metropolitan capital area)

The provinces subdivide into 264 municipalities.

Economy

Bulgaria has an industrialized, open free-market economy, with a large, moderately advanced private sector and a number of strategic state-owned enterprises. The World Bank classifies it as an "upper-middle-income economy". Bulgaria has experienced rapid economic growth , even though its income level remains one of the lowest within the EU. According to Eurostat data, Bulgarian PPS GDP per capita stood at 45% of the EU average in 2009, while the cost of living in the country was 51% of the EU average in 2010. The Bulgarian lev is the country's national currency. The lev is pegged to the euro at a rate of 1.95583 levs for 1 euro.

In 2010, GDP (PPP) was estimated at $96.778 billion, with a per capita value of $12,851. The services sector accounts for 63.7% of the GDP, followed by the industry with 30.3% and agriculture with 6.0%. Major industries include iron, copper, bismuth and coal extraction, electronics, chemicals, machinery, steel and refined petroleum fuel production, vehicle components, firearms and construction materials. The total labor force amounts to 3.4 million people.

Amidst the Financial crisis of 2007–2010, unemployment rates increased to 9.1% in 2009, while GDP growth contracted from 6.3% (2008) to −4.9% (2009). The crisis had a negative impact mostly on industry, with a 10% decline in the national industrial production index, a 31% drop in mining, and a 60% drop in "ferrous and metal production". Positive growth was restored to 0.3% in 2010. Corruption in the public administration and a weak judiciary have also hampered Bulgaria's economic development. Bulgaria is ranked 51st in the Ease of Doing Business rank list, higher than most other Eastern European states.

Although it has relatively few reserves of fossil fuels, Bulgaria's well-developed energy sector and strategic geographical location make it a key European energy hub. A single nuclear power station with two active reactors satisfies 34% of the country's energy needs, and another nuclear power station with a projected capacity of is under construction. have seen a rapid increase in electricity production from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, making Bulgaria one of the fastest-growing wind energy producers in the world. The industry is concentrated around textiles, metallurgy, fuel and food processing, production of various chemicals, and mining. In Europe, the country ranks as the 3rd-largest copper producer, 6th-largest zinc producer, and 9th-largest coal producer, and is the 9th-largest bismuth producer in the world.

In contrast with the industrial sector, Bulgarian agriculture has marked a decline since the beginning of the 2000s, with production in 2008 amounting to only 66% of that between 1999 and 2001. Overall, the agricultural sector has dwindled since 1990, with cereal and vegetable yields dropping nearly 40% by 1999. A five-year modernization and development program was launched by the government in 2007, aimed at strengthening the sector by investing a total of 3.2 billion euro. Specialized equipment amounts to some 25,000 tractors and 5,500 combine harvesters, with a fleet of light aircraft. Bulgaria remains a major European producer of agricultural commodities such as tobacco (3rd) and raspberries (12th).

Tourism

In 2008 Bulgaria was visited by a total of 8,900,000 people, with Greeks, Romanians and Germans accounting for more than 40% of all visitors. Significant numbers of British, Russian, Dutch, Serbian, Polish and Danish tourists also visit Bulgaria. In 2010, Lonely Planet ranked it among its top 10 travel destinations for 2011.

Main destinations include the capital Sofia, coastal resorts Albena, Sozopol, Nesebar, Golden Sands and Sunny Beach and winter resorts such as Pamporovo, Chepelare, Borovetz and Bansko. The rural tourist destinations of Arbanasi and Bozhentsi offer well-preserved ethnographic traditions. Other popular attractions include the 10th-century Rila Monastery and the 19th-century Euxinograd château.

Infrastructure

Bulgaria occupies a unique and strategically important geographic location. Since ancient times, the country has served as a major crossroads between Europe, Asia and Africa. Five of the ten Trans-European corridors run through its territory.

Bulgaria's national road network has a total length of , of which are paved. Motorways, such as Trakiya, Hemus and Struma, have a total length of . Bulgaria also has of railway track, more than 60% of which is electrified, and plans to construct a high-speed railway by 2017, at a cost of €3 bln. Sofia and Plovdiv are major air travel hubs, while Varna and Burgas are the principal maritime trade ports.

Science and technology

In 2008 Bulgaria spent 0.4% of its GDP on scientific research, which represents one of the lowest scientific budgets in Europe. Chronic underinvestment in the scientific sector since 1990 forced many scientific professionals to leave the country. Bulgaria has traditions in astronomy, physics, nuclear technology, medical and pharmaceutical research, and maintains an Antarctic exploration program by means of an artificial satellite and a permanent research base. The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) is the leading scientific institution in the country and employs most of Bulgaria's researchers in its numerous branches.

Bulgarian scientists have made several notable discoveries and inventions, such as the prototype of the digital watch (Peter Petroff); galantamine (Dimitar Paskov); the molecular-kinetic theory of crystal formation and growth (formulated by Ivan Stranski) and the space greenhouse (SRI-BAS). With major-general Georgi Ivanov flying on Soyuz 33 in 1979, Bulgaria became the 6th country in the world to have an astronaut in space.

Due to its large-scale computing technology exports to COMECON states, in the 1980s Bulgaria became known as the Silicon Valley of the Eastern Bloc. The country ranked 8th in the world in 2002 by total number of ICT specialists, outperforming countries with far larger populations, and it operates the only supercomputer in the Balkan region, an IBM Blue Gene/P, which entered service in September 2008.

Demographics

The data of the 2011 census gives a figure of 7,364,570 inhabitants, down from a peak population of 8,981,000 inhabitants in 1988.

Bulgaria is in a state of demographic crisis, and has had negative population growth since the early 1990s, with the country's economic difficulties leading to low fertility rates and high levels of emigration. Despite some progress, the population is still decreasing with 30,000 people per year and the growth rate is the lowest of any sovereign nation in the world.

According to the 2001 census, the population of 7,932,984 people consists mainly of 6,655,210 ethnic Bulgarians (83.9%), followed by the Turkish (9.4%) and Roma minority (4.7%). Of the remaining 2%, 0.9% comprises some 40 smaller minorities, while 1.1% of the population have not declared their ethnicity. Some 6,700,000 people (~85%) speak Bulgarian as their mother tongue, which belongs to the group of South Slavic languages and is the only official language.

According to the 2001 census most of the population (82.6%) self-identify as Orthodox Christian. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church gained autocephalous status in 927 AD and is the earliest Slavic Orthodox Church. Other religious denominations include Islam (12.2%), Roman Catholicism (0.6%) and Protestantism (0.5%); with other religions (0.2%), and with "not stated" totalling approximately 4%. Bulgaria regards itself officially as a secular state. The Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion, but appoints Orthodoxy as "a traditional" religion.

Education

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Science oversees education in Bulgaria. All children aged between 7 and 16 must attend full-time education. Six-year-olds can enroll at school at their parents' discretion. The State provides education in its schools free of charge, except for higher education establishments, colleges and universities. The curriculum focuses on eight main subject-areas: Bulgarian language and literature, foreign languages, mathematics, information technology, social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and ecology, music and art, physical education and sports.

Government estimates from 2003 put the literacy rate at 98.6%, approximately the same for both sexes. Bulgaria has traditionally had high educational standards.

Health

Bulgaria has a universal, mostly state-funded healthcare system. The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) pays a gradually increasing portion of the costs of primary healthcare. Employees and employers pay an increasing, mandatory percentage of salaries, with the goal of gradually reducing state support of health care. Between 2002 and 2004, health-care expenditures in the national budget increased from 3.8% to 4.3%, with the NHIF accounting for more than 60% of annual expenditures. In 2010, the healthcare budget amounts to 4.2% of GDP, or about 1.3 billion euro.

Bulgaria has 181 doctors per 100,000 people, which is above the EU average. Some of Bulgaria's largest medical facilities are the Pirogov Hospital and the Military Medical Academy of Sofia. Life expectancy is 73.6 years, which is below the European union average.

Urbanization

Most of the population (72.5%) resides in urban areas. Bulgaria's 20 largest cities have populations as follows:

Culture

Traditional Bulgarian culture contains mainly Thracian, Slavic and Bulgar heritage, along with Greek, Roman, Ottoman and Celtic influences. Thracian artifacts include numerous tombs and golden treasures. The country's territory includes parts of the Roman provinces of Moesia, Thrace and Macedonia, and many of the archaeological discoveries date back to Roman times, while ancient Bulgars have also left traces of their heritage in music and in early architecture. Both the First and the Second Bulgarian empires functioned as the hub of Slavic culture during much of the Middle Ages, exerting considerable literary and cultural influence over the Eastern Orthodox Slavic world by means of the Preslav and Ohrid Literary Schools. The Cyrillic alphabet, used as a writing system to many languages in Eastern Europe and Asia, originated in the former around the 9th century AD.

Archaeological and World Heritage sites

A vast number of archaeological sites from all eras are scattered around the country's territory. Bulgaria has the third-largest total number of uncovered archaeological sites in Europe after Italy and Greece, and many of them are Thracian in origin. A historical artifact of major importance is the oldest golden treasure in the world, dating back to 5,000 BC, coming from the site of the Varna Necropolis.

Apart from these sites, nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites exist: the Madara Rider, the Thracian tombs in Sveshtari and Kazanlak, the Boyana Church, the Rila Monastery, the Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo, Pirin National Park, Sreburna Nature Reserve and the ancient city of Nesebar.

Art, music and literature

Bulgarian musical tradition is long-standing and can be traced back to the early Middle Ages and the works of Yoan Kukuzel (c. 1280–1360). National folk music has a distinctive sound and uses a wide range of traditional instruments, such as gudulka, gaida (bagpipe), kaval and tupan. The State Television Female Vocal Choir is the most famous performing folk ensemble, and received a Grammy Award in 1990. Bulgarian classical music is represented by composers Emanuil Manolov, Pancho Vladigerov, Marin Goleminov and Georgi Atanasov, opera singers Ghena Dimitrova, Boris Hristov and Raina Kabaivanska, and pianists Alexis Weissenberg and Vesselin Stanev.

Bulgaria has a rich religious visual arts heritage, especially in frescoes, murals and icons, many of them produced by the medieval Tarnovo Artistic School.

One of the earliest pieces of Slavic literature were created in Medieval Bulgaria, such as ''The Didactic Gospel'' by Constantine of Preslav and ''An Account of Letters'' by Chernorizets Hrabar, both written c. 893. Notable Bulgarian authors include late Romantic Ivan Vazov, Symbolists Pencho Slaveykov and Peyo Yavorov, Expressionist Geo Milev, science fiction writer Pavel Vezhinov, novelist Dimitar Dimov and postmodernist Alek Popov. German-language writer Elias Canetti was the only Bulgarian to win the Nobel Prize (Literature, 1981).

Media

The media in Bulgaria has a record of unbiased reporting. The written media have no legal restrictions and newspaper publishing is entirely liberal. The extensive freedom of the press means that no exact number of publications can be established, although some research put an estimate of around 900 print media outlets for 2006. The largest-circulation daily newspapers include ''Dneven Trud'' and ''24 Chasa''.

Non-printed media sources, such as television and radio, are overseen by the Council for Electronic Media (CEM), an independent body with the authority to issue broadcasting licenses. Apart from a state-operated national television channel, radio station and the Bulgarian News Agency, a large number of private television and radio stations exist. However, most Bulgarian media experience a number of negative trends, such as general degradation of media products, self-censorship and economic or political pressure. ''Slavi's Show'' and ''Gospodari Na Efira'' are among the most popular TV programs, both having more than 1,000,000 views per show.

Internet media are growing in popularity due to the wide range of available opinions and viewpoints, lack of censorship and diverse content. Since 2000, a rapid increase in the number of Internet users has occurred – from 430,000 they grew to 1,545,100 in 2004, and 3.4 million (48% penetration rate) in 2010.

Cuisine

Yogurt (''kiselo mlyako''), lukanka, banitsa, shopska salad, lyutenitsa and kozunak give Bulgaria a distinctive cuisine. Most dishes are oven baked, steamed, or in the form of stew. Deep-frying is uncommon, but grilling — especially different kinds of meats — is widely practiced. Pork is the most common meat, followed by chicken and lamb. Oriental dishes such as moussaka, gyuvech, and baklava are also present. Bulgarian cuisine is also noted for the quality of dairy products (a large variety of sirene and kashkaval cheese sorts) and salads, as well as the variety of wines and local alcoholic drinks such as rakiya, mastika and menta.

Exports of Bulgarian wine go worldwide, and until 1990 the country exported the world's second-largest total of bottled wine. As of 2007, more than 200,000 tonnes of wine were produced annually. Among the more prominent local sorts are Dimiat and Mavrud.

Sports

Bulgaria performs well in sports such as volleyball, wrestling, weight-lifting, canoeing, rowing, shooting sports, gymnastics, chess, and recently, sumo wrestling and tennis. The country fields one of the leading men's volleyball teams, ranked 7th in the world according to the 2011 FIVB rankings, while the women's volleyball team finished second in European League 2010.

Football has become by far the most popular sport in the country. Some of the most famous players are Manchester United forward Dimitar Berbatov and Hristo Stoichkov, twice winner of the European Golden Shoe and the most successful Bulgarian player of all time. Prominent domestic football clubs include PFC CSKA Sofia and PFC Levski Sofia. Bulgaria's best performance at World Cup finals came in 1994, with a 4th place.

Bulgaria participates in most Olympic competitions since its first appearance at the 1896 games, when it was represented by Charles Champaud. The country has appeared in most Summer Olympiads, and by 2010 had won a total of 218 medals: 52 gold, 86 silver, and 80 bronze, which puts it at 24th place in the all-time ranking.

2010 Wimbledon semi-finalist Tsvetana Pironkova is also Bulgarian.

See also

Bulgarian resistance movement during World War II

List of Bulgarian monarchs

List of twin towns and sister cities in Bulgaria

References

Further reading

Chary, Frederick B. ''The History of Bulgaria'' (The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations) (2011) excerpt and text search

Detrez, Raymond. ''Historical Dictionary of Bulgaria'' (2nd ed. 2006). lxiv + 638 pp. Maps, bibliography, appendix, chronology. ISBN 978-0-8108-4901-3.

Crampton, R. J. ''A Concise History of Bulgaria'' (2005) Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press ISBN 9780521616379

Bell, John D., ed. (1998). ''Bulgaria in Transition: Politics, Economics, Society, and Culture after Communism''. Westview. ISBN 978-0813390109

Chary, Frederick B., ''The Bulgarian Jews and the Final Solution 1940–1944''. University of Pittsburg Press (1972). ISBN 0-8229-3251-2

Hall, Richard C. ''Bulgaria's Road to the First World War'' (1996) New York: Columbia University Press ISBN 088033357X

Lampe, John R. ''The Bulgarian Economy in the Twentieth Century'' (1986) London: Croom Helm ISBN 0709916442

Miller-Yianni, ''Simple Treasures in Bulgaria'' (2008) UK; Lulu Inc. ISBN 978-0-9559-8490-7

Miller-Yianni, ''Bulgarian History: A Concise Account'' (2010) UK; Lulu Inc. ISBN 978-1-4457-1633-6

Perry, Duncan M. ''Stefan Stambolov and the Emergence of Modern Bulgaria, 1870–1895'' (1993) Durham: Duke University Press ISBN 0822313138

Todorov, Tzvetan ''The fragility of goodness: why Bulgaria’s Jews survived the Holocaust: a collection of texts with commentary'' (2001) Princeton: Princeton University Press ISBN 0691088322

External links

Government

Official governmental site

President of The Republic of Bulgaria

National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria

Chief of State and Cabinet Members

General information

Bulgaria information from the United States Department of State

Portals to the World from the United States Library of Congress

Bulgaria at ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''

Travel

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Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
Country	Bulgaria
Name	Bulgarian Army
Branches
Headquarters	Sofia
Commander-in-chief	President of Bulgaria Georgi Parvanov
Minister	Anyu Angelov (Lt. Gen. retired)
Minister title	Minister of Defence
Commander	General Atanas Samandov
Commander title	Chief of the General Staff
Conscription	No
Age	18 years of age
Manpower data	2008 est.
Manpower age	16-49
Available	1,701,979
Fit	1,364,029
Reaching	39,477
Active	34,000
Reserve	302,000
Ranked	72
Deployed	''See below''
Amount	US dollar $1.190 billion (2009) (Ranked 63d)
Amount	US dollar $1.190 billion (2009) |percent_GDP1.98% (2009)
Official feast	6th of May, Saint George,s Day, The Day of Bravery and of the Bulgarian Army
Domestic suppliers	TEREM Arsenal Corporation
Foreign suppliers
Exports	€210,000,000 (2008) €145,000,000 (2009)
History	Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878)Serbo-Bulgarian WarFirst Balkan WarSecond Balkan WarWorld War IWar of the Stray DogWorld War IIGreco-Bulgarian border conflictWarsaw Pact invasion of CzechoslovakiaIraq WarWar in Afghanistan (2001–present)
Ranks	}}

The Military of Bulgaria, officially the Bulgarian Army () represents the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria. The Commander-in-Chief is the President of Bulgaria (currently Georgi Parvanov). The Ministry of Defence is in charge of political leadership while military command remains in the hands of the General Staff, headed by the Chief of Staff. There are three main branches - the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force.

Throughout history, the army has played a major role in defending the country's sovereignty. Only several years after its liberation (1878), Bulgaria became a regional military power and was involved in several major wars - Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885), First Balkan War (1912–13), Second Balkan War (1913), First World War (1915–1919) and Second World War (1941–1944), during which the Army gained significant combat experience. During the Cold War the People's Republic of Bulgaria maintained one of the largest militaries in the Warsaw Pact, numbering an estimated 152,000 troops in 1988. Since the Fall of Communism, the country's political leadership decided to pursue a pro-NATO policy, thus reducing military personnel and weaponry. Bulgaria joined the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2004, and currently maintains a total 776 deployed troops in three countries.

The patron saint of the Bulgarian Army is St. George. The Army day or St. George's Day (6 May) is an official holiday in the country.

History of the Bulgarian Army

The modern Bulgarian military dates back to 1878. On 22 July 1878 (10 July O.S.) a total of 12 battalions of ''opalchentsi'' who participated in the Liberation war, formed the Bulgarian armed forces. According to the Tarnovo Constitution, all men between 21 and 40 years of age were eligible for military service. In 1883 the military was reorganized in four infantry brigades (in Sofia, Pleven, Ruse and Shumen) and one cavalry brigade.

Serbo-Bulgarian war

The Serbo-Bulgarian War was the first armed conflict after Bulgaria's liberation. It was a result of the unification with Eastern Rumelia, which happened on September 6, 1885. The unification was not completely recognized, however, and one of the countries which refused to recognize the act was the Kingdom of Serbia. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had been expanding its influence in the Balkans and was particularly opposed. Serbia also feared this would diminish its dominance in the region. In addition, Serbia's ruler Milan Obrenović IV was annoyed that Serbian opposition leaders like Nikola Pašić, who had escaped persecution after the Timok Rebellion, had found asylum in Bulgaria. Lured by Austria-Hungary's promises for territorial gains from Bulgaria (in return for concessions in the Western Balkans), Milan IV declared war on Bulgaria on November 14, 1885.

The military strategy relied largely on surprise, as Bulgaria had moved most of its troops near the border with the Ottoman Empire, in the southeast. As it happened, the Ottomans did not intervene and the Serbian army's advance was stopped after the Battle of Slivnitsa. The main body of the Bulgarian army traveled from the Ottoman border in the southeast to the Serbian border in the northwest to defend the capital Sofia. After the defensive battles at Slivnitsa and Vidin, Bulgaria began an offensive which took the city of Pirot. At this point, the Austro-Hungarian Empire stepped in, threatening to join the war on Serbia's side if the Bulgarian troops did not retreat. Fighting lasted for only 14 days, from November 14 to November 28. A peace treaty was signed in Bucharest on February 19, 1886. No territorial changes were made to either country, but the Bulgarian unification was recognized by the Great Powers. However, the relationship of trust and friendship between Serbia and Bulgaria, built during their long common fight against Ottoman rule, suffered irreparable damage.

First Balkan War

The instability in the Balkan region in the early 1900s quickly became a precondition for a new war. Serbia's aspirations towards Bosnia and Herzegovina were thwarted by the Austrian annexation of the province in October 1908, and so the Serbs focused their attention onto their historic cradle, Kosovo and to the south for expansion. Greek officers, revolting in August 1909, had secured the appointment of a progressive government under Eleftherios Venizelos which they hoped would resolve the Cretan issue in Greece's favour and reverse their defeat of 1897 by the Ottomans. Bulgaria, which had secured Ottoman recognition of her independence in April 1909 and enjoyed the friendship of Russia, also looked to districts of Ottoman Thrace and Macedonia for expansion.

In March 1910, an Albanian insurrection broke out in Kosovo. In August 1910, Montenegro followed Bulgaria's precedent by becoming a kingdom. In 1911, Italy launched an invasion of Tripolitania, which was quickly followed by the occupation of the Dodecanese Islands. The Italians' decisive military victories over the Ottoman Empire greatly influenced the Balkan states to prepare for war against Turkey. Thus in the spring of 1912, consultations between the various Christian Balkan nations resulted in a network of military alliances which became known as the Balkan League. The Great Powers, most notably France and Austria-Hungary, reacted to this diplomatic sensation by trying to dissuade the League from going to war, but failed.

In late September, both the League and the Ottoman Empire mobilized their armies. Montenegro was the first to declare war, on September 25 (O.S.)/ October 8. The other three states, after issuing an impossible ultimatum to the Porte on October 13, declared war on Turkey on October 17. The Balkan League relied on 700,000 troops, 370,000 of which were Bulgarians. Bulgaria, often dubbed "Prussia of the Balkans", was militarily the most powerful of the four states, with a large, well-trained and well-equipped army. The peacetime army of 60,000 men was expanded during the war to 370,000, with almost 600,000 men mobilized in total, out of a population of 4,300,000. The Bulgarian field army counted for 9 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry division and 1,116 artillery units. Commander-in-Chief was Tsar Ferdinand, while the actual command was in the hands of his deputy, General Mikhail Savov. The Bulgarians also possessed a small navy of six torpedo boats, which were restricted to operations along the country's Black Sea coast.

Bulgaria's war aims were focused on Thrace and Macedonia. For the latter Bulgaria had a secret agreement with Serbia to divide it between them signed at 13 March 1912 during the negotiations that led to the establishment of the Balkan League. But it was not a secret that Bulgaria's target was the fulfilment of the never materialized Treaty of San Stefano signed after the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78. They deployed their main force in Thrace, forming three armies. The First Army, under general Vasil Kutinchev with 3 infantry divisions, was deployed to the south of Yambol, with direction of operations along the Tundzha river. The Second Army, under general Nikola Ivanov, with 2 infantry divisions and 1 infantry brigade, was deployed west of the First and was assigned to capture the strong fortress of Adrianopel (now Edirne). According to the plans, the Third Army, under general Radko Dimitriev, was deployed east of and behind the First, and was covered by the cavalry division hiding it from the Turkish view. The Third Army had 3 infantry divisions and was assigned to cross the Stranja mountain and to take the fortress of Lozengrad (Kirk Kilisse). The 2nd and 7th divisions were assigned independent roles, operating in Western Thrace and eastern Macedonia respectively.

The first great battles were at the Adrianople - Kirk Kilisse defensive line, where the Bulgarian 1st and 3rd Armies (together 110,000 men) defeated the Ottoman East Army (130,000 men) near Gechkenli, Seliolu and Petra. The fortress of Adrianople was besieged and Kirk Kilisse was taken without resistance under the pressure of the Bulgarian Third Army. The initial Bulgarian attack by First and Third Army defeated the Turkish forces, numbering some 130,000, and reached the Sea of Marmara. But the Turks, with the aid of fresh reinforcements from the Asian provinces, established their third and strongest defensive position at the Chataldja Line, across the peninsula where Constantinople is located. New Turkish forces landed at Bulair and Şarköy but after heavy fighting they were crushed and overthrown by the newly formed 4th Bulgarian army under the command of General Stiliyan Kovachev. The offensive at Chataldja failed too. On 11 March, the final Bulgarian assault on Adrianople began. Under the command of General Georgi Vazov the Bulgarians, reinforced with two Serb divisions, conquered the "untakable" city. On 17/30 May a peace treaty was signed between Turkey and the Balkan Alliance. The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, strengthened Bulgaria's position as a regional military power, significantly reduced Ottoman influence over the Balkans, and resulted in the formation of an independent Albanian state.

Second Balkan War

The peace settlement of the First Balkan War proved unsatisfactory for both Serbia and Bulgaria. Serbia refused to cede a part of the territories in Macedonia, which it occupied and promised to give to Bulgaria according to a secret agreement. Serbia, on its side, was not satisfied with the independence of Albania, and sought a secret alliance with Greece. Armed skirmishes between Serbian and Bulgarian troops occurred.

On June 16, 1913, just a few months after the end of the first war, the Bulgarian government ordered an attack on Serbian and Greek positions in Macedonia, without declaring war. Almost all of Bulgaria's 500,000-man standing army was positioned against these two countries, on two fronts - western and southern, while the borders with Romania and the Ottoman Empire were left almost unguarded. Montenegro sent a 12,000-strong force to assist the Serbs. Exhausted from the previous war, which took the highest toll on Bulgaria, the Bulgarian army soon turned on the defensive. Romania attacked from the north and north-east, the Ottoman empire also intervened in Thrace. Allied numerical superiority was almost 2:1. After a month and two days of fighting, the war ended as a moral disaster for Bulgaria, in the same time its economy was ruined and the military - demoralized.

First World War

The Kingdom of Bulgaria participated in World War I on the side of the Central Powers between 15 October 1915, when the country declared war on Serbia, to 29 September 1918, when the Armistice of Thessalonica was signed. In the aftermath of the Balkan Wars, Bulgarian opinion turned against Russia and the western powers, whom the Bulgarians felt had done nothing to help them. The government of Vasil Radoslavov aligned the country with Germany and Austria-Hungary, even though this meant also becoming an ally of the Ottomans, Bulgaria's traditional enemy. But Bulgaria now had no claims against the Ottomans, whereas Serbia, Greece and Romania (allies of Britain and France) were all in possession of lands perceived in Bulgaria as its own.

In 1915 Germany promised to restore the boundaries according to the Treaty of San Stefano and Bulgaria, which had the largest army in the Balkans, declared war on Serbia in October the same year. In the First World War Bulgaria decisively asserted its military capabilities. The second Battle of Doiran, with general Vladimir Vazov as commander, inflicted a heavy blow on the numerically superior British army, which suffered 12,000 casualties against 2,000 from the opposite side. One year later, during the third battle of Doiran, the United Kingdom, supported by Greece, once again suffered a humiliating defeat, losing 3,155 men against just about 500 for the Bulgarian side. The reputation of the French army also suffered badly. The Battle of the Red Wall was marked with the total defeat of the French forces, with 5,700 out of 6,000 men killed. The 261 Frenchmen who survived were captured by Bulgarian soldiers.

Despite the outstanding victories, Germany was near defeat, which meant that Bulgaria would be left without its most powerful ally. The war was already unpopular among Bulgarians themselves, as they were allied with the Muslim Ottomans against their Orthodox Christian neighbours. The Agrarian Party leader, Aleksandur Stamboliyski, was imprisoned for his opposition to the war. The Russian Revolution of February 1917 had a great effect in Bulgaria, spreading antiwar and anti-monarchist sentiment among the troops and in the cities. In June Radoslavov's government resigned. Mutinies broke out in the army, Stamboliyski was released and a republic was proclaimed. In 1919 Bulgaria officially left the war with the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine.

The army between the World Wars

The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine proved to be a severe blow for Bulgaria's military. According to the treaty, the country had no right to organize a conscription-based military. The professional army was to be no more than 20,000 men, including internal forces and border guard. Equipping the army with tanks, submarines, bombers and heavy artillery was strictly prohibited, although Bulgaria managed to get around some of these prohibitions. Nevertheless, in the eve of World War II the Bulgarian army was still well-trained and well-equipped.

World War II

The government of the Kingdom of Bulgaria under Prime Minister Bogdan Filov declared a position of neutrality upon the outbreak of World War II. Bulgaria was determined to observe it until the end of the war; but it hoped for bloodless territorial gains, especially in the lands with a significant Bulgarian population occupied by neighbouring countries after the Second Balkan War and World War I. However, it was clear that the central geopolitical position of Bulgaria in the Balkans would inevitably lead to strong external pressure by both World War II factions. Turkey had a non-aggression pact with Bulgaria. On 7 September 1940, Bulgaria succeeded in negotiating a recovery of Southern Dobruja with the Treaty of Craiova (see Second Vienna Award). Southern Dobruja had been part of Romania since 1913. This recovery of territory reinforced hopes for resolving other territorial problems without direct involvement in the War. The country joined the Axis Powers in 1941, when German troops preparing to invade Yugoslavia and Greece reached the Bulgarian borders and demanded permission to pass through its territory.

On 1 March 1941, Bulgaria signed the Tripartite Pact and Tsar Boris III officially joined the Axis bloc. After a short period of inaction, the army launched an operation against Yugoslavia and Greece. The goal of reaching the shores of the Aegean sea and completely occupying the region of Macedonia came to success. Even though Bulgaria did not send any troops to support the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Navy was involved in a number of skirmishes with the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, which attacked Bulgarian shipping. Besides this, Bulgarian armed forces garrisoned in the Balkans battled various resistance groups. The Bulgarian government declared a token war on the United Kingdom and the United States near the end of 1941, an act which resulted in the bombing of Sofia and other Bulgarian cities by Allied aircraft.

Some communist activists managed to activate a guerrilla movement headed by the underground Bulgarian Communist Party. A resistance movement called Otechestven front (Fatherland front, Bulgarian: Отечествен фронт) was set up in August 1942 by the Communist Party, the Zveno movement and a number of other parties to oppose the elected government, after a number of Allied victories indicated that the Axis might lose the War. In 1943, tsar Boris III died suddenly. In the summer of 1944, after having crushed the Nazi defence around Iaşi and Chişinău, the Soviet Army was approaching the Balkans and Bulgaria. On 23 August 1944, Romania quit the Axis Powers and declared war on Germany, and allowed Soviet forces to cross its territory to reach Bulgaria. On 26 August 1944, the Fatherland Front made the decision to incite an armed rebellion against the government, which led to the appointment of a new government on 2 September. Support for the government was withheld by the Fatherland Front, since it was composed of pro-Nazi circles, in a desperate attempt to hold on to power. On 5 September 1944, the Soviet Union declared war and invaded on Bulgaria. On 8 September 1944, the Bulgarian army joined the Soviet Union in its war against Germany.

Cold War era

As the Red Army invaded Bulgaria in 1944 and installed a communist government, the armed forces were rapidly forced to reorganise following the Soviet model, and were re-named as the Bulgarian People's Army (''Bulgarska Narodna Armiya, BNA''). Moscow quickly supplied Bulgaria with T-34/85 tanks, SU-100 guns, Il-2 attack planes and other new combat machinery. As the country was a Soviet satellite, it was apart of the Eastern Bloc and entered the Warsaw Pact as one of its founders. By the time the army had expanded to over 200,000 men with hundreds of thousands of more reserve troops. Military service was obligatory. A special defensive line, known as the Krali Marko defensive line, was constructed along the entire border with Turkey. It was heavily fortified with concrete walls and turrets of T-34, Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks.

The army was involved in a border skirmishes from 1948 to 1952, repulsing several Greek attacks, and took part in the suppression of the Prague spring events. In the meantime, during the rule of Todor Zhivkov, a significant military industrial complex was established, capable of producing armored vehicles, self-proppelled artillery, small arms and ammunition, as well as aircraft engines and spare parts. Bulgaria provided weapons and military expertise to Algeria, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Nicaragua, Egypt and Syria. Some military and medical aid was also supplied to North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. During the 1970s the Air Force was at the apogee of its power, possessing at least 500 modern combat aircraft in its inventory. Training in the Bulgarian People's Army was exhaustive even by Soviet standards. In 1989, when the Cold War was coming to its end, the army numbered at least 152,000 regular troops.

Modern era

With the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the end of the Cold war, Bulgaria could no longer support a vast military. A rapid reduction in personnel and active equipment was to be carried out in parallel with a general re-alignment of strategic interests. In 1990, Bulgaria had a total of more than 2,400 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles, 2,500 large caliber artillery systems, 300 fighter and bomber aircraft, 100 trainer aircraft, more than 40 combat and 40 transport helicopters, 4 submarine, 6 fast missile craft, 2 frigates, 5 corvettes, 6 torpedo boats, 9 patrol craft, 30 minesweepers and 21 transport vessels. Due to the economic crisis that affected most former Eastern bloc countries, a steady reform in the military could not be carried out; much of the equipment fell into disrepair and some of it was smuggled and sold to the international black market. Inadequate payments, fuel and spare part shortages and the disbandment of many capable units led to an overall drop in combat readiness, morale and discipline.

After partially recovering from the 1990s crisis, the Bulgarian military became a part of the collective defensive system of NATO. As its member, Bulgaria sent a total of 485 soldiers to Iraq (2003–2008) as a participant in the Iraq War, and currently maintains a 608-strong force in Afghanistan as part of ISAF. Bulgaria had a significant missile arsenal, including 67 SCUD-B, 50 FROG-7 and 24 SS-23 ballistic missiles. In 2002, Bulgaria disbanded the Rocket Forces despite nationwide protests, and has disbanded its submarine component. Bulgaria is to have 27,000 standing troops by 2014, consisting of 14,310 troops in the land forces, 6,750 in the air force, 3,510 in the navy and 2,420 in the joint command.

Organization

General Staff

The Bulgarian Armed Forces are Headquartered in Sofia, where most of the general staff is based. Currently headed by Chief of Staff general Simeon Simeonov, the General Staff is responsible for operational command of the Bulgarian Army and its 3 major branches. Deputies: Vice Admiral Petar Petrov, General Atanas Zaprianov, General Dimitar Zekhtinov.

Chief commanders:

Land Forces: Major General Stefan Vassilev

Air Force: Major General Konstantin Popov

Naval Forces: Rear admiral Plamen Manushev

Units and formations

In 2010 the Ministry of Defence completed a thorough study of the defence policy and issued a ''White Book'', or a ''White Paper on Defence'', calling for a major overhaul of the structure of Defence Forces. According to the document the military of the Republic of Bulgaria should include two mechanized brigades, four regiments (Logistics, Artillery, Engineering, SpecOps), four battalions (Reconnaissance, Mechanized, NBC, PsyOps) in the Land Forces; Fighter base, helicopter base, SAM air defense brigade and Air force training base in the Air Force; and two naval bases in the Navy. Currently deployed units are as follows:

:Land Forces:

2nd Light Infantry Brigade (scheduled to be disbanded)

61st Stryamska Mechanized Brigade

68th Special Forces Brigade

5th Shipchenska Infantry Brigade, the last of the ''Shipchenski'' brigades, has been disbanded in late 2010.

:Air Force:

3rd Fighter Air Base

12th Training Air Base

16th Transport Air Base

22nd Bomber/Attack Air Base

24th Helicopter Air Base

:Navy:

Varna Naval Base

Burgas Naval Base

Chayka Naval Helicopter Air Base

Personnel and education

Bulgaria's total military personnel as of late 2010 is 34,500, of which 30,400 (88.1%) are active military personnel and 4,100 (11.9%) are civilian personnel. The Land Forces are the largest branch, with at least 18,000 men serving there. In terms of percentage, 53% of all Army personnel are in the Land Forces, 25% are in the Air Force, 13% are in the Navy and 9% are in the Joint Forces Command. Annual spending per soldier amounts to 30,000 leva (~ 15,000 euro) and is scheduled to increase to 43,600 leva by 2014.

Unlike many former Soviet bloc militaries, discipline and morale problems are not common. During the Communist era, the army members enjoyed extensive social privileges. After the fall of Communism and Bulgaria's transition to a market economy, wages fell severely. For almost a decade social benefits were virtually non-existent, and some of them have been restored but recently. Nikolai Tsonev, defence minister under the 2005-2009 cabinet, undertook steps to provide the members of the military and their families with certain privileges in terms of healthcare and education, and to improve living conditions.

Military education in Bulgaria is provided in military universities and academies. Due to cuts in spending and manpower some universities have been disbanded and their campuses were included as faculties of other, larger educational entities. The largest institutions of military education in Bulgaria are:

Vasil Levski National Military University

Rakovski Defence and Staff College

Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy

Military Medical Academy - a mixed military academy/hospital institution

Training

The Land Forces practice extensive year-round military training in various conditions. Cooperative drills with the United States are very common, the last series of them conducted in 2008. Bulgaria's most recent full-scale exercise simulating a foreign invasion was carried out in 2009. It was conducted at the Koren range, and included some 1,700 personnel with tanks, ATGMs, attack aircraft, AA guns and armored vehicles. The combat skills of individual soldiers are on a very high level, on par with troops of the U.S. Army.

Until recent years the Air Force suffered somewhat from fuel shortages; a problem which was overcome in 2008. Fighter pilots have year-round flights, but gunship pilots do not fly often due to the yet unfulfilled modernization of the Mi-24 gunships. Due to financial difficulties fighter pilots have 60 hours of flying time per year, only a third of the national norm of 180 hours.

The Navy also has some fuel shortage problems, but military training is still effective. The most recent overseas operation of the Navy was along the coast of Libya as part of Operation Unified Protector.

Budget

After the collapse of the Warsaw pact, Bulgaria lost the ability to acquire cheap fuel and spares for its military. A large portion of its nearly 2,000 T-55 tanks fell into disrepair, and eventually almost all of them were scrapped or sold to other countries. In the early 1990s the budget was so small, that regulars only received token-value payments. Many educated and well-trained officers lost the opportunity to educate younger soldiers, as the necessary equipment and basis lacked adequate funding. Military spending increased gradually, especially in the last 10 years. As of 2005, the budget was no more than $400 mln., while military spending for 2009 amounted to more than $1.3 bln. - almost a triple increase for 4 years. Despite this growth, the military still does not receive sufficient funds for modernization. An example of bad spending plans is the large-scale purchasing of transport aircraft, while the Air Force has a severe need of new fighters (the MiG-29s, even though modernized, are nearing their operational limits). The planned procurement of 2-4 Gowind class corvettes has been cancelled. As of 2009, military spending were about 1.98% of GDP. In 2010 the budget is to be only 1.3% due to the international financial crisis.

Land Forces

The Land Forces are functionally divided into Deployable and Reserve Forces. Their main functions include deterrence, defence, peace support and crisis management, humanitarian and rescue missions, as well as social functions within Bulgarian society. Active troops in the land forces number about 18,000 men, and reserve troops number about 300,000.

The equipment of the land forces is impressive in terms of numbers, but most of it is nonoperational and scheduled to be scrapped or refurbished and exported to other nations. Bulgaria has a military stockpile of about 5,000,000 small arms, models ranging from World War II-era MP 40 machine pistols to modern Steyr AUG, AK-74, HK MP5, HK416 and AR-M2F assault rifles.

National guard unit

The National Guard of Bulgaria, founded in 1879, is the successor to the personal guards of Knyaz Alexander I. On July 12 of that year, the guards escorted the Bulgarian knyaz for the first time; today, July 12 is the official holiday of the National Guard. Throughout the years the structure of the guards has evolved, going from convoy to squadron, to regiment and, subsequent to 1942, to division. Today it includes military units for army salute and wind orchestra duties.

In 2001, the National Guard unit was designated an official military unit of the Bulgarian army and one of the symbols of state authority, along with the flag, the coat of arms and the national anthem.

Statistics and equipment

''Note'': This table represents active equipment only; there are large numbers of equipment in reserve status. They are not listed here.

Personnel	18,285
Main battle tanks
Heavy armored vehicles (Infantry fighting vehicle	378 ([[BMP-23
Light armored vehicles	696 - BRDM-2 (12), [[HMMWV">M1114 Humvees (52), Sand Cat (25), G-class (600)
Artillery pieces over 100 mm (excl. mortar)	192 (BM-21, 2S1 Gvozdika
	84 - [[SA-10 Grumble (10), SA-5 Gammon (10), SA-6 Gainful (20), SA-8 Gecko (24), SA-13 Gopher (20)
	AT-3 Sagger, AT-4 Spigot, AT-5 Spandrel, AT-6 Spiral, AT-7 Saxhorn, BRDM-2 Konkurs (24 vehicles)
MANPADS	SA-7 Grail, SA-14 Gremlin, SA-16 Gimlet, SA-18 Grouse
	8 TELs

Navy

The Navy has traditionally been the smallest component of the Bulgarian military. Established almost simultaneously with the Ground forces in 1879, initially it consisted of a small fleet of boats on the Danube river. Bulgaria has a coastline of about 354 kilometers - thus, naval warfare is not considered a priority.

After the downturn in 1990, the Navy was largely overlooked and received almost no funding. No projects for modernization were carried out until 2005, when a Wielingen class frigate (F912 Wandelaar) was acquired from Belgium. By 2009, Bulgaria acquired two more frigates of the same class. The first of them was renamed ''41 Drazki'' and took part in several operations and exercises, most notably the UNIFIL Maritime Patrol along the coast of Lebanon in 2006, and Operation Active Endeavour. ''41 Drazki'' is currently (as of April 2011) participating in the enforcement the naval blockade against Muammar Gaddafi's regime off the coast of Libya.

The equipment is typical for a small navy, consisting mostly of light multi-purpose vessels - 4 frigates, 3 corvettes, 5 minesweepers, 3 fast missile craft and 2 landing ships. One submarine - ''84 Slava'' - remains in inventory, although it is not considered in active service as the submarine component was disbanded in 2010. ''84 Slava'' is scheduled to be turned into a museum. Other equipment includes a coastal defence missile battalion armed with locally modified P-15 Termit missiles, a coastal artillery battery, a naval helicopter airbase and a marine special forces unit.

The Bulgarian Navy is centered in two main bases - in Varna and in Bourgas.

Air Force

In the past decade Bulgaria has been trying actively to restructure its army as a whole and a lot of attention has been placed on keeping the aging Russian aircraft operational. Currently the attack and defence branches of the Bulgarian air force are mainly MiG-21s, MiG-29s and Su-25s. About 16 MiG-29 fighters have been modernized in order to meet NATO standards. The first aircraft arrived on 11/29/07 and final delivery was due in 03/09. In 2006 the Bulgarian government signed a contract with Alenia Aeronautica for the delivery of five C-27J Spartan transport aircraft in order to replace the Soviet made An-24 and An-26, although the contract was later changed to only three aircraft. Modern EU-made transport helicopters were purchased in 2005 and a total of 12 Eurocopter Cougar have been delivered (8 transport and 4 CSAR).

Branches of the airforce include: fighter aviation, assault aviation, intelligence aviation and transportation aviation, aid defence troops, radio-technical troops, communications troops, radio-technical support troops, logistics and medical troops.

The Bulgarian ministry of defense has announced plans tto withdraw and replace the MiG-21 fighters with new ones. Several offers were received from international suppliers - the United States (offering F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-18 Super Hornet), Sweden JAS-39 Gripen), Germany (Eurofighter Typhoon), Italy (second-hand Eurofighter Typhoon), Russia (MiG-29) and Israel (IAI Kfir).

Aircraft Inventory

With the exception of the Navy's small helicopter fleet, the Air Forces are responsible for all military aircraft in Bulgaria. The Air Forces' inventory numbers 124 aircraft, including 46 combat jets and 42 helicopters. Aircraft of western origin have only begun to enter the fleet, numbering 13 of the total in service.

Bulgarian-American cooperation

The Bulgarian-American Joint Military Facilities were established by a Defence Cooperation Agreement signed by the United States and Bulgaria in April 2006. Under the agreement, U.S. forces can conduct training at several bases in the country, which remain under Bulgarian command and under the Bulgarian flag. Under the agreement, no more than 2,500 U.S. military personnel can be located at the joint military facilities.

''Foreign Policy'' magazine lists Bezmer Air Base as one of the six most important overseas facilities used by the USAF.

Deployments

Both during Communist rule and after, Bulgaria has deployed troops with different tasks in various countries. The table below lists Bulgarian military deployments in foreign countries. Active missions are shown in bold.

{|class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" |- !Country !! Operation !! Organization !! Timespan !! Personnel !! Casualties |- | || - || People's Republic of Bulgaria || ? || a total of 9,000 military and non-military advisors || - |- | || Nicaraguan Revolution || People's Republic of Bulgaria || 1980s || unknown number of military instructors || - |- | || Gulf War || UN || 1991 || 270 || - |- | || peacekeeping || UNTAC || 1992–1993 || 850 troops34 military observers || 11 |- | || military observation || UNOMA || 1995–2000 ||48 military observers || - |- | || military observation || UNMOT || 1995–2000 ||27 military observers || - |- | || peacekeeping (EUFOR Althea) || SFOR / EUFOR || 1997–present || 120 troops || - |- | || demining || OSCE || 1999–2001 || unknown || - |- | / || peacekeeping || UNMEE || 2001–2004 || 11 military observers || - |- | || construction / peacekeeping || UNMIK and KFOR || 2000–present ||10 || - |- | || humanitarian (construction of field kitchens and a hospital) || - || 1999–2003 || ? || - |- | || internal security / anti-terrorist || ISAF || 2001–present || 767 troops (2011) || - |- | || peacekeeping || UNMIL || 2003–present || 2 || - |- | || Iraq War || Multi-National Force – Iraq || 2003–2008 || 485 || 13 |- | || peacekeeping || European Union Monitoring Mission || 2008–present || 12 || - |- | || training mission || NATO Training Mission – Iraq || 2009–present || 2 || - |- | || Operation Unified Protector || - || 27 April 2011 - 3 June 2011 || 160 military observers, including a group of 12 naval special commandos with the frigate Drazki|| - |}

References

Sources

Бяла книга на Въоръжените сили (White Paper of the Armed Forces), Ministry of Defence of Bulgaria, 2011.

Wikisource:Great Battles of Bulgaria

External links

Ministry of Defence of Bulgaria

Equipment holdings in 1996

http://www.wikileaks.ch/cable/2007/10/07SOFIA1271.html - U.S. Embassy Sofia views via United States diplomatic cables leak on appropriate future equipment purchases, 2007

See also

Defense industry of Bulgaria

Bulgaria and weapons of mass destruction

Medieval Bulgarian Army

bn:বুলগেরিয়ার সামরিক বাহিনী bg:Българска армия cs:Bulharská armáda de:Bulgarische Streitkräfte fr:Forces armées bulgares lt:Bulgarijos karinės pajėgos hu:Bulgária hadereje mk:Бугарска армија ja:ブルガリア軍 pl:Siły Zbrojne Bułgarii ro:Forțele armate ale Bulgariei ru:Вооружённые силы Болгарии sr:Војска Бугарске sv:Bulgariens militär uk:Збройні сили Болгарії

Stoyan Stoyanov was the highest scoring Bulgarian fighter ace of the Royal Bulgarian Air Force in World War II with 14 victories.

Early life

Stoyan Stoyanov was born 12 March, 1913 in the village of Galata (now a part of the city of Varna). He was one of five siblings. Five months before his birth, his father, a flag bearer of the 8th Sea-Regiment of Varna in the Balkan war, had been killed in a battle against the Ottoman Army near the town of Edirne, near Istanbul.

Because of his father's death, he was accepted in a school for war-orphans in Varna. He sold newspapers in the streets of Varna. He continued his secondary education in the national Seminary (in Sofia), which he entered in 1930.

Military schools and training

In 1934 he was granted a scholarship to the higher army school for army officers in Sofia. He passed the examinations with an excellent score and became a cavalry officer. He then attended the Royal Military Academy in Sofia in late 1934 taking the aviator’s course. In 1938 he graduated and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.

Stoyanov was then sent for training abroad in Germany. In July-September 1938, he took part in a competition course for acrobatic flying in Kaufbeuren. He finished this course 15 days before his fellow Bulgarian students and in September 1938 began a second course in the Higher school for fighter pilots at Werneuchen (near Berlin), with six of his Bulgarian colleagues. In 1939 he graduated and in Germany, trained his colleagues Ch. Toplodolsky and D. Spissarevsky (who both became high scoring aces).

Stoyanov was trained to fly a variety of planes, among which was Gothaer, Bücker Bü 181 Bestman, Stiglec, Focke-Wulf, Arado-45 , Arado-68, Heinkel He 51, Focke-Wulf Fw 56 Stösser, Messerschmitt Bf 109 Dora, Bf 109 Emil, Bf 109 (G2 and G6) and others.

In 1939 Stoyanov became an instructor in the fighter pilot's school at Karlovo airfield, training pilots to fly Bf 109s recently delivered to the Bulgarian Air Force. In 1939 he met Mina, an 18-year-old girl who lived in Karlovo and they married in August 1940. In mid 1943 he was appointed commander of 682 (Jato) Sq./6th Fighter Regiment based at Karlovo and equipped with the Bf 109 G-2 and G-6.

World war II career and awards

Stoyanov claimed his initial victory on 1 August 1943 during Operation ''Tidal Wave''. He was personally decorated by the Bulgarian King Boris III with the "Commander’s medal for bravery". He also received the Iron Cross 2nd Class from the German Embassy. A second medal for bravery was awarded on 24 June 1944.

His last aerial victory was on 26 August 1944. In September 1944 he was promoted to Captain. The same month Bulgaria joined the Allies and thereafter the air operations were against the retreating Axis forces.

On 22 November 1944 he received his third medal for bravery and was promoted to Major, this time for combat against German ground forces in Macedonia and Kosovo (Bulgaria had joined the Allies after a political change of government on 9 September 1944.)

Stoyanov is also referenced as being credited with 4 individual destroyed, 1 shared destroyed and 4 damaged ( Philippe Saintes,: 'Stoyan Stoyanov, le Comte du Bf 109' Avions, Issue 124, June 2003) or 4 individual destroyed, 2 shared destroyed and 3 damaged.

After the war

Stoyanov remained in the Air Force of PR Bulgaria for a couple of years. In March 1945 Bulgaria received 120 Russian Yak-9M fighter planes and he trained many new pilots to fly them. He was dismissed in 1956 with a low military pension. He worked for 30 years as a guide in the Rila Monastery, a national museum and tourist site in the Rila Mountains, while his family lived in Sofia.

After the fall of the communist regime

As late as after 1989 Stoyanov was honoured as No 1 ace of the Bulgarian Royal Air Force in World War II. In 1992 he was raised to the honorary rank of general-major (retired). He died five years later.

References

Stefan Semerdjiev: ''Ace in Defense of Bulgaria''. Military History (USA), August 1999, p. 50-56

Stefan Semerdjiev: ''Bulgarian Eagles''. Airpower (USA), September 2003, p. 14-23

Jay Stout. ''Fortress Ploesti - The campaign to destroy Hitler's oil'' (USA-2003), p. 68-70, 180-185

J.Dugan and C. Stewart. ''Ploesti - The great grand-air battle of 1 August 1943'' (USA-2002) p. 202-203

Hans W. Neulen: ''Am Himmel Europas'', 1998 Munich

Philippe Saintes: ''Le comte de BF 109''. AVIONS n124, p 43-53, July 2003

External links

Category:Bulgarian military personnel of World War II Bulgaria Category:People from Sofia

bg:Стоян Стоянов (летец)