lutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography--note: strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls
key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia

People

Population: 8,194,772 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 16% (male 674,643; female 641,943)
15-64 years: 68% (male 2,744,634; female 2,800,816)
65 years and over: 16% (male 570,766; female 761,970) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.52% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 8.71 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 13.2 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 12.37 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 72.27 years
male: 68.72 years
female: 76.03 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.23 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Bulgarian(s)
adjective: Bulgarian

Ethnic groups: Bulgarian 85%, Turk 9%, other 6%

Religions: Bulgarian Orthodox 85%, Muslim 13%, Jewish 0.8%, Roman
Catholic 0.5%, Uniate Catholic 0.2%, Protestant, Gregorian-Armenian,
and other 0.5%

Languages: Bulgarian, secondary languages closely correspond to
ethnic breakdown

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98%
male: 99%
female: 97% (1992 est.)

Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Bulgaria
conventional short form: Bulgaria

Data code: BU

Government type: republic

Capital: Sofia

Administrative divisions: 9 provinces (oblasti, singular--oblast);
Burgas, Grad Sofiya, Khaskovo, Lovech, Montana, Plovdiv, Ruse,
Sofiya, Varna

Independence: 22 September 1908 (from Ottoman Empire)

National holiday: Independence Day, 3 March (1878)

Constitution: adopted 12 July 1991

Legal system: civil law and criminal law based on Roman law;
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Petar STOYANOV (since 22 January 1997);
Vice President Todor KAVALDZHIEV (since 22 January 1997)
head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime
Minister) Ivan Kostov (si