no permanent national government; transitional, parliamentary federal government
Independence date
3 March 1878 (as an autonomous principality within the Ottoman Empire); 22 September 1908 (complete independence from the Ottoman Empire)
Religions
Bulgarian Orthodox 82.6%, Muslim 12.2%, other Christian 1.2%, other 4% (2001 census)
Sunni Muslim
Languages
Bulgarian 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)
Somali (official), Arabic, Italian, English
Exports
clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels
External Debt
$46,840,000,000 $
Exchange Rate
leva (BGN) per US dollar - 1.3171 (2008 est.), 1.4366 (2007), 1.5576 (2006), 1.5741 (2005), 1.5751 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
5
0
Location
Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey
Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, east of Ethiopia
Area
110,879 km sq
637,657 km sq
Coastline
354 km
3,025 km
Climate
temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers
principally desert; northeast monsoon (December to February), moderate temperatures in north and hot in south; southwest monsoon (May to October), torrid in the north and hot in the south, irregular rainfall, hot and humid periods (tangambili) between monsoons
