odities:
clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels

Exports - partners:
Italy 13.1%, Germany 11.6%, Turkey 9.3%, Belgium 6.1%, Greece 5.6%,
US 5.3%, France 4.9% (2004)

Imports:
$12.23 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics;
fuels, minerals, and raw materials

Imports - partners:
Germany 15.1%, Italy 10.2%, Russia 7.9%, Greece 7.5%, Turkey 6.9%,
France 4.4% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$7.526 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external:
$16.1 billion (November 2004 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$300 million (2000 est.)

Currency (code):
lev (BGL)

Currency code:
BGN

Exchange rates:
leva per US dollar - 1.5751 (2004), 1.7327 (2003), 2.077 (2002),
2.1847 (2001), 2.1233 (2000)
note: on 5 July 1999, the lev was redenominated; the post-5 July
1999 lev is equal to 1,000 of the pre-5 July 1999 lev

Fiscal year:
calendar year

Communications Bulgaria

Telephones - main lines in use:
2,868,200 (2002)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
2,597,500 (2002)

Telephone system:
general assessment: extensive but antiquated
domestic: more than two-thirds of the lines are residential;
telephone service is available in most villages; a fairly modern
digital cable trunk line now connects switching centers in most of
the regions, the others are connected by digital microwave radio
relay
international: country code - 359; direct dialing to 58 countries;
satellite earth stations - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region); 2
Intelsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions)

Radio broadcast stations:
AM 31, FM 63, shortwave 2 (2001)

Radios:
4.51 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:
39 (plus 1,242 repeaters) (2001)

Televisions:
3.31 million (1997)

Internet country code:
.bg

Internet hosts:
53,421 (2004)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
200 (2001)

Internet users:
630,000 (2002)

Transportation Bulgaria

Railways:
total: 4,294 km
standard gauge: 4,049 km 1.435-m gauge (2,710 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 245 km 0.760-m gauge (2004)

Highways:
total: 37,077 km
paved: 34,111 km (including 328 km of expressways)
unpaved: 2,966 km (2002)

Waterways:
470 km (2004)

Pipelines:
gas 2,425 km; oil 339 km; refined products 156 km (2004)

Ports and harbors:
Burgas, Varna

Mer