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Bulgaria
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FactsBackground: 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 from the Ottoman Empire 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. The country joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007. note: data are in 2010 US dollars GDP (official exchange rate): $44.84 billion (2010 est.); GDP - real growth rate: 0.3% (2010 est.); -4.9% (2009 est.); 6.2% (2008 est.); GDP - per capita (PPP): $12,800 (2010 est.); $12,700 (2009 est.); $13,300 (2008 est.); note: data are in 2010 US dollars GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 6%; industry: 30.3%; services: 63.7% (2009); Population below poverty line: 21.8% (2008); Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.9%; highest 10%: 23% (2009); Labor force: 3.4 million (2009 est.); Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 7.1%; industry: 35.2%; services: 57.7% (2009); Unemployment rate: 9.2% (2010); 9.1% (2009 est.); Budget: revenues: $15.71 billion; expenditures: $17.52 billion (2010 est.); Industries: electricity, gas, water; food, beverages, tobacco; machinery and equipment, base metals, chemical products, coke, refined petroleum, nuclear fuel; Industrial production growth rate: 0.4% (2010 est.); Electricity - production: 4.309 billion kWh (2009); Electricity - consumption: 28.3 billion kWh (2009); Electricity - exports: 7.073 billion kWh (2009); Electricity - imports: 2.66 billion kWh (2009); Statistics: CIA World Factbook. Press 1 2 Displaying 1 to 7 of 11 items. Banker(Independent business weekly), Sofia Bulgarian Telegraph Agency(Official news service), Sofia Bulgarishes Wirtschaftsblatt(German-language), Dnevnik(Conservative), Sofia Duma(Bulgarian Socialist Party-owned), Sofia Focus(News agency), Sofia Kapital(Independent conservative weekly), Sofia Bulgaria in the NewsDisplaying 5 to 8 of 22 items. Bulgarians Protest Use of Cyanide LeachingRecent events, and the actions of foreign mining companies, have re-focused public attention throughout central and Eastern Europe on the dangers associated with cyanide. Bulgaria Won't BudgeThe Bulgarian newspapers are full of reports of warnings by the al-Tawhid group to turn Bulgaria The Way out of Hell'Now is the time for the powers on both sides of the Atlantic to say what exactly they want, what they are capable of, and whether they earnestly desire to win the peace in Iraq,' Simeon Vassilev writes for the Bulgarian newspaper, Banker. The Bulgarian Press on the War in IraqPlamen Petrov reports on Bulgarian coverage of the war in Iraq. |
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