Bulgaria
The Country of the Week
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Sofia
- Population
- 6,737,997 (2025 est.)
- Area
- 110,879 sq km
- Government
- parliamentary republic
- Religions
- Christian 64.7%, Muslim 9.8%, other 0.1%, none 4.7%, unspecified 20.7% (2021 est.)
- Ethnic Groups
- Bulgarian 78.5%, Turkish 7.8%, Roma 4.1%, other 1.2%, unspecified 9.4% (2021 est.)
- Currency
- leva (BGN)
- Life Expectancy
- 76.1 years (2024 est.)
- Internet Domain
- .bg
- Climate
- temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers
- Terrain
- mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast
- Natural Resources
- bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land
- Major Exports
- refined petroleum, garments, refined copper, wheat, natural gas (2023)
Source: CIA World Factbook (public domain)
Overview
The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state.