earned its independence from the Ottoman Empire
in 1878, but having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, it
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 multi-party 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. Today, reforms and democratization keep Bulgaria on a
path toward eventual integration into NATO and the EU - with which
it began accession negotiations in 2000.

Bulgaria Geography

Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between
Romania and Turkey

Geographic coordinates: 43 00 N, 25 00 E

Map references: Europe

Area: total: 110,910 sq km

land: 110,550 sq km

water: 360 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than Tennessee

Land boundaries: total: 1,808 km

border countries: Greece 494 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Yugoslavia 318 km, Turkey 240 km

Coastline: 354 km

Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 NM

exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

territorial sea: 12 NM

Climate: temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers

Terrain: mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Black Sea 0 m

highest point: Musala 2,925 m

Natural resources: bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable
land

Land use: arable land: 43%

permanent crops: 2%

permanent pastures: 14%

forests and woodland: 38%

other: 3% (1999 est.)

Irrigated land: 12,370 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: earthquakes, landslides

Environment - current 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

Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution,
Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlan