Background:

The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Turks. Northern Bulgaria attained autonomy in 1878 and all of Bulgaria became independent in 1908. Having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, Bulgaria 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 multiparty 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 the EU. The country joined NATO in 2004.

• Population: 7,450,349
• Ethnic Groups: Bulgarian 83.9%, Turk 9.4%, Roma 4.7%, other 2%
• Religions: Bulgarian Orthodox 82.6%, Muslim 12.2%, other Christian 1.2%, other 4%

Geography:

• Area: total: 110,910 sq km. water: 360 sq km, land: 110,550 sq km
• Borders: Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey
• Climate: temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers
• Terrain: mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast

• Ministry of Tourism
• Sofia News Agency
• Travel Guide

• Industries: electricity, gas and water; food, beverages and tobacco; machinery and equipment, base metals, chemical products

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

• Exports: clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels