Monday, December 10, 2007

Republic of Bulgaria





















Bulgarian Anthem

Parliamentary democracy

Geography
Area: 110,910 sq. km. (slightly larger than Tennessee). Major cities: Capital--Sofia 1.2 million. Others: Plovdiv--368,568, Varna--349,482. Terrain: Bulgaria is located in South Central Europe. The terrain is varied, containing large mountainous areas, fertile valleys, plains and a coastline along the Black Sea. Climate: Continental--mild summers and cold, snowy winters.

Population
Population (2006): 7,679,290. Growth rate (2006): -0.51. Ethnic groups (2001): Bulgarian 83.94%, Turkish 9.42%, Roma 4.68%, and other 2% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian). Religions (2001): Bulgarian Orthodox 82.6%, Muslim 12.2%, Roman Catholic 0.6%, Protestant 0.5%, others. Language: Bulgarian 84.5%, other 15.5%. Health: Life expectancy (2006)--male 68.68 years; female 76.13 years. Infant mortality rate (2006)--19.85 deaths/1,000 live births. Work force (2005 est.): 3.34 million. Agriculture--11%; industry--32.7%; services--32% (3rd qtr. 2004 est.).

Economy
GDP (2006): $31.49 billion. Real GDP growth: 6.1% (2006); 5.5% (2005); 5.7% (2004); 4.3% (2003). Per capita GDP (PPP, 2006): $10,700. Inflation rate: 6.5% (2006); 5% (2005); 6% (2004); 5.6% (2003). Unemployment rate: 9.61% (2006 average); 11.5% (2005); 12.7% (2004 average); 14.25% (2003 average). Natural resources: Bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, and timber. Official exchange rate: Lev per $1 U.S.--1.56 (2006); 1.57 (2005 average); 1.58 (2004 average); 1.73 (2003 average).

Geography
Bulgaria shares a border with Turkey and Greece to the south, Macedonia and Serbia to the west, Romania to the north, and the Black Sea to the east. The capital, Sofia, lies in the western region of the country. Ethnic groups include Bulgarian, Turkish, Roma, and others. The official language is Bulgarian.

Goverment and Politic
Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic. The unicameral National Assembly, or Narodno Subranie, consists of 240 deputies who are elected for 4-year terms through a system of proportional representation in 31 electoral regions. Party or coalition lists, rather than individual candidate names, appear on the ballots. A party or coalition must garner a minimum of 4% of the vote to enter parliament. Parliament selects and dismisses government ministers, including the prime minister, exercises control over the government, and sanctions deployment of troops abroad. It is responsible for enactment of laws, approval of the budget, scheduling of presidential elections, declaration of war, and ratification of international treaties and agreements

Foreign Relations
Bulgaria became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on March 29, 2004, and a member of the European Union on January 1, 2007. Bulgaria is a member of the United Nations and in 2002-2003 served a 2-year term as a nonpermanent member on the UN Security Council. Bulgaria served as Chair-In-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2004.

Bulgaria joined the World Trade Organization in 1996. In July 1998, Bulgaria became a full member of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), which called for the reduction of tariffs by 2002 on most industrial and agricultural goods traded between CEFTA countries. Bulgaria has initialed free trade agreements with Turkey, Macedonia, Croatia, Lithuania, Estonia, Israel, Albania, and Latvia.

Bulgaria's relationship with its neighbors has generally been good. Bulgaria has proven to be a constructive force in the region and has played an important role in promoting regional security. Pursuing its initiative as a partner in the South-East European regional cooperation, Bulgaria has taken over the chairmanship-in-office of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) for the period May 2007-May 2008.

U.S. - Bulgarian relations
The year 2003 marked the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Bulgaria. U.S.-Bulgarian relations were severed in 1950 but were restored a decade later. Bilateral relations between the two nations improved dramatically after the fall of communism. The United States moved quickly to encourage development of multi-party democracy and a market economy. The U.S. signed a Bilateral Investment Treaty in 1994 and gave Bulgaria most-favored-nation trade status in October 1996.

Defense
Bulgaria became a member of NATO on March 29, 2004 after depositing its instruments of treaty ratification. Bulgaria's military is currently undergoing an ambitious restructuring program aimed to bring the army up to NATO standards and modernize equipment. In 2007, constitutional amendments annulled military conscription, thus allowing the Bulgarian army
s transformation to an all-volunteer force.

Bulgaria has been an active participant in military operations outside its borders. It currently has company-sized units working with coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq and has maintained small contingents of troops deployed with international forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. It deployed a frigate to Lebanon with UNIFIL in late 2006.

Bulgarian group information:

Martin Kostov (email - n3tsky@abv.bg)

Todor Bachvarov (email - marginal_89@abv.bg)

Silva Atanasova (email - silva_atanasova@abv.bg)

Desislava Dimitrova (email - dessyland@gmail.com)

Denitsa Damyanova (email - jigra_@abv.bg)

Tereza Todorova (email - teri_todorova@abv.bg)


Bulgarian students are from a small town called Gorna Oryahovitsa. They study in a comprehensive high school "Vicho Grancharov". They are studyng computer technologies and foreign languages. As part of this youth exchange their main purpose is to develop their knowledge about European Union and the Euro as a currency and then share this experiance with their classmates and teachers.