Bulgaria

C

Plant and Animal Life

Some 33 percent of Bulgaria is forested, and half this area supports tall trees suitable for timber production. About 70 percent of the forest consists of broadleaf deciduous trees; most of the rest are conifers. Most wildlife is confined to the mountainous southwestern portion of the country, which supports populations of bear, wolf, red deer, fox, and wildcat.

D

Natural Resources

The rivers of Bulgaria, which originate mostly in the Balkan Mountains and flow either north to the Danube or south to the Maritsa, are used for waterpower and for irrigating crops. The nation’s waterpower resources are plentiful but significantly underutilized.

Bulgaria’s soils are moderately fertile and support a great variety of agriculture. On the Danubian Plain, black earth and gray forest soils predominate. The Thracian Plain has mainly brown soils, together with some black earth. Deforestation and inadequate soil-conservation practices have caused erosion in some fertile areas.

Bulgaria has a wealth of metallic and nonmetallic minerals. Among the most important are iron ore and coal. Other mineral reserves are small, but some deposits, particularly lead, zinc, copper, manganese and petroleum, are valuable.

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E

Climate

Most of Bulgaria has a continental climate, with cold winters and hot summers. The climate in general is more severe than in other European areas of the same latitudes, and the average annual temperature range is greater than that of neighboring countries. Severe droughts, frosts, winds, and hail storms frequently damage crops. A Mediterranean climate, with dry summers and mild, humid winters, prevails in the valley of the southwestern Rhodope Mountains; the northern limit of the climatic zone is the Balkan Mountains.

The average January temperature in Sofia ranges from -4° to 2°C (25° to 35°F) and the July temperature ranges from 16° to 27°C (60° to 81°F). In Varna, along the Black Sea, the average January temperature ranges from -1° to 6°C (30° to 42°F) and the July temperature ranges from 19° to 30°C (65° to 85°F). The average rainfall in Bulgaria is about 630 mm (about 25 in) per year, ranging from a low of about 190 mm (about 7 in) in the northeast, to a high of about 190 cm (about 75 in) in the Rila Mountains. The wettest period is early summer in most of the country and autumn or winter in the southern valleys.

F

Environmental Issues

Bulgaria’s industrial economy has seriously damaged the nation’s environmental health. Virtually all of the middle and lower reaches of the major rivers are polluted by industrial centers that discharge detergents, heavy metals, nitrates, oils, and raw sewage. Water treatment facilities for industrial and municipal wastes are inadequate or nonexistent. Two of the largest industrial cities, Varna and Burgas, are located on the Black Sea coast. Water pollution generated by these cities has threatened the area’s valuable tourism industry. Uncontrolled mining operations and environmentally insensitive practices also contribute to soil erosion and contamination. Air pollution, from automobiles and industrial emissions, is severe, leading to acid rain and the defoliation of a significant portion of Bulgaria’s forests.

III

The People of Bulgaria

The population of Bulgaria (2008 estimate) is 7,262,675. The 1985 census population was 8,948,649; the subsequent decrease was largely caused by emigration after the collapse of the former communist regime. Bulgaria has a population density of 66 persons per sq km (170 per sq mi). Due to the communist government’s forced industrialization program, Bulgaria’s population became increasingly urbanized after 1945. Even so, today 71 percent of the people live in urban areas, a relatively modest figure compared to most European countries.

The Bulgarians are the descendants of the early Slavic inhabitants of the Balkans and of a people of Asian Turkic origin who founded states between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains in the early Middle Ages. Today about 85 percent of the population is classified as ethnic Bulgarian and about 9 percent are Turkish. Small groups of Armenians, Roma (Gypsies), Greeks, and Macedonian Slavs also live in the country.

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