Located in South Eastern Europe, Bulgaria is ideally positioned between the world’s major trading blocks of the EU and Asia. Bordered by Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and the Black Sea, Bulgaria is vibrant and high growth economy that is currently enjoying one of the most productive and successful periods of its entire history.
The country has an area of 110,910 km² spreading from its mountainous regions in the West through amazing plains and valleys to the Black Sea on its Eastern border. Bulgaria’s landscape and scenery is utterly breathtaking and as yet undiscovered by the majority of the tourist population, a fact that rapidly changing. The Worrld Tourism Organisation (WTO) has seen amazing tourist growth in Bulgaria over the last five years and makes the bold prediction that tourist numbers will reach 20m annually by 2010.
Bulgaria has a population of 7.64 million (2008 est.) the majority of whom reside in the major urban areas such as Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, etc. The main language is Bulgarian with English and Russian also being widely spoken as second language, a fact which has contributed in no small part to the current high levels of inward foreign direct investment.
Bulgaria has, through successive governments, achieved many of the reforms committed to in the mid nineteen nineties. The economy is now stable and has grown at a rate in excess of 6% per annum over the last five years. This growth is expected to continue at a steady pace over the coming years as the Bulgarian economy achieves similar success to that seen by Poland and the Czech Republic in recent years. A full member of the European Union since January 1st, 2007, Bulgaria is also receiving considerable economic and structural funding from Brussels to assimilate Bulgaria to the EU in terms of economic performance and infrastructure. |
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| Bulgaria Overview – Snapshot |
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| Full Name: |
The Republic of Bulgaria |
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| Population: |
7.64m |
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| Capital: |
Sofia |
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| Area: |
110,910km |
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Major
Languages: |
Bulgarian (Official), Russian, English, French, German |
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Gained
Independence: |
1908 |
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Monetary
Unit: |
1lev = 0.5134 euro
(fixed to the euro) |
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Main
Exports: |
Minerals fuels & oils, copper, apparel and clothing accessories, iron and steel, machinery. |
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GDP per
Capita: |
Nominal USD$5,947
PPP USD$11,904 (2008est) |
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Unemployment
Rate: |
6.7% (March 2008) |
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