Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0060/00600.txt

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 10KB | 204 lines

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$Title{Bulgaria
Front Matter}
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$Author{Eugene K. Keefe//L}
$Affiliation{United States Government}
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$Date{1974}
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Country:     Bulgaria
Book:        Bulgaria, A Country Study
Affiliation: United States Government
Date:        1974

Front Matter

Authors:
Violeta D. Baluvut, William Giloane, Anne K. Long, James M. Moore Jr., Neda A.
Walpore

Foreword

     This volume is one of a series of handbooks prepared by Foreign Area
Studies (FAS) of The American University, designed to be useful to military
and other personnel who need a convenient compilation of basic facts about the
social, economic, political, and military institutions and practices of
various countries. The emphasis is on objective description of the nation's
present society and the kinds of possible or probable changes that might be
expected in the future. The handbook seeks to present as full and as balanced
an integrated exposition as limitations on space and research time permit. It
was compiled from information available in openly published material. An
extensive bibliography is provided to permit recourse to other published
sources for more detailed information. There has been no attempt to express
any specific point of view or to make policy recommendations. The contents of
the handbook represent the work of the authors and FAS and do not represent
the official view of the United States government.

     An effort has been made to make the handbook as comprehensive as
possible. It can be expected, however, that the material, interpretations, and
conclusions are subject to modification in the light of new information and
developments. Such corrections, additions, and suggestions for factual,
interpretive, or other change as readers may have will be welcomed for use in
future revisions. Comments may be addressed to:

The Director
Foreign Area Studies
The American University
5010 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20016

Preface

     Although many changes have swept across the Eastern European communist
countries, Bulgaria through the years has remained a bastion of consistency.
It is a loyal military ally of the Soviet Union as a member of the Warsaw
Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact), and its economy is inextricably linked to
the Soviet Union through bilateral agreements as well as through membership in
the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON). Of the six Eastern
European members of the Warsaw Pact, Bulgaria shares with the German
Democratic Republic (East Germany) the distinction of not having contiguous
borders with the Soviet Union. It is, however, important geographically
because it anchors the southeastern sector of the alliance and borders two
member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-Greece and Turkey.

     The authors of the Area Handbook for Bulgaria have attempted to describe,
comprehensively and objectively, the workings of the economic, political,
social, and military systems dominant in the country in the early 1970s as
those systems have developed in the post-World War II period. Despite the
concentration on the communist era, important historical factors are referred
to wherever necessary for understanding the modern scene, and a historical
chapter is included to provide the proper setting for the modern state.

     The spelling of place names conforms to the transliteration system used
by the United States Board on Geographic Names. The use of abbreviations,
acronyms, and foreign terms has been held to a minimum. The one abbreviation
that necessarily appears throughout the work is BKP for Bulgarian Communist
Party (Bulgarska Komunisticheska Partiya). All tons are metric unless
otherwise stated. A glossary is appended for convenience, but all unfamiliar
terms are explained on first use in the text.

Country Summary

     1. COUNTRY: People's Republic of Bulgaria. Proclaimed by the communist
party in the 1947 Constitution. Formerly, Kingdom of Bulgaria.

     2. SIZE AND LOCATION: Area 42,800 square miles. Located in eastern part
of Balkan Peninsula on Black Sea south of Danube River. Borders Romania,
Yugoslavia, Greece, and Turkey.

     3. TOPOGRAPHY: Mountains predominate in west and in ranges that run west
to east across the central and southern regions. Lower and more level areas
south of Danube River and between the mountain ranges permit extensive
cultivation.

     4. CLIMATE: Transitional between Eastern European continental and
Mediterranean. Northern regions have hot summers, cold winters; south is more
moderate but has hot, dry summers.

     5. POPULATION: About 8.7 million in 1973; density 203 persons per square
mile. Growth rate 0.7 percent annually.

     6. ETHNIC GROUPS AND LANGUAGES: 85 percent of population is Bulgar.
Persons of Turkish, Macedonian, Greek, Romanian, and other origins are
guaranteed the right to use their languages and to preserve their cultural
heritage, but Bulgarian, the official language, is spoken by the entire
population.

     7. RELIGION: 90 percent of population adheres to the Eastern Orthodox
faith. There are some 750,000 Moslems, 26,000 Protestants, 32,000 Roman
Catholics, and 3,000 to 7,000 Jews. Freedom of religion guaranteed, but
practice strictly controlled by state.

     8. GOVERNMENT: National Assembly is unicameral legislature. Council of
Ministers, performing governmental administrative functions, is responsible to
State Council, the supreme executive body. Real power vested in communist
party's first secretary, Politburo, Secretariat, and Central Committee.

     9. ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS: Administration is by people's councils at
district (okrug) and township or borough (obshtina) levels. There are
twenty-eight districts, including one composed only of metropolitan Sofia.
Districts subdivided into about 1,150 townships and boroughs.

     10. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: Member of the Warsaw Treaty Organization
(Warsaw Pact); the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON); and the
United Nations (UN), including several UN specialized agencies.

     11. JUSTICE: Three-level court system headed by Supreme Court. Military
and special courts responsible directly to Supreme Court. Judiciary
administered by Ministry of Justice within Council of Ministers.

     12. COMMUNICATIONS: Mass media are state owned and regulated. Little
latitude given subject matter produced locally; imports of foreign films and
publications are restricted.

     13. EDUCATION: Free and compulsory until age fifteen. Priority on
scientific, technological, and vocational curricula. Marxism-Leninism stressed
in all curricula.

     14. ECONOMY: Production, growth, and development programmed in five-year
plans, drawn up and monitored by party. The 1971-75 plan, dependent on
financial and technical aid from Soviet Union, recognizes need to raise
standard of living; improvement is conditional upon rising productivity.

     15. LABOR: Work force numbers about 4.4 million. About 27 percent (1.2
million) of the total are in state and collective industries; 25 percent (1.1
million) work full time on agroindustrial complexes. Skilled workers in short
supply.

     16. AGRICULTURE: Approximately 53 percent of land is agricultural, 69
percent of which is cultivated. All but small mountain farms are organized
into 170 agroindustrial complexes. Grains predominate on plains south of
Danube River; irrigated Thracian Plain produces more diversified crops.
Livestock production inadequate for domestic needs and exports.

     17. INDUSTRY: Virtually all state owned. Rapid expansion encouraged by
state, increasingly slowed by inadequate raw material resources and skilled
labor. Emphasis in early 1970s on improving unsatisfactory productivity levels
and quality of industrial products.

     18. FINANCE: Nonconvertible lev (see Glossary) has officially declared
values ranging from 0.59 to 1.65 leva p