About country

Background
The first Bulgarian state was formed in the late 7th century. 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 became the member of the EU on January 1, 2007.

Population
7,385,367 (July 2006)

Age structure
0-14 years: 13.9% (male 527,881/female 502,334)
15-64 years: 68.7% (male 2,496,054/female 2,579,680)
65 years and over: 17.3% (male 527,027/female 752,391) (2006)

Population growth rate
-0,86 % (2006)

Birth rate
9,65 births/1000 population (2006)

Net migration rate
-4,01 migrants/1000 population (2006)

Infant morality rate
total: 19.85 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 23.52 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 15.95 deaths/1,000 live births (2006)

Total fertility rate
1.38 children born/woman (2006)

Ethnic groups
Bulgarian 83.9%, Turk 9.4%, Roma 4.7%, other 2% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar) (2001 census)

Religions
Bulgarian Orthodox 82.6%, Muslim 12.2%, other Christian 1.2%, other 4% (2001 census)
Languages
Bulgarian 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)

GDP - real growth rate
5,5% (2005)

GDP - per capita
$9,600 (2005 est.)

Unemployment rate
11,5% (2005)