Bulgaria Missions
Missionaries Serving: Harry and Julie Miller
Capital
Sofia (1,114,000, 1993 est.)
System of Government
Unitary Multiparty Republic
Area
110,912 Sq Km (42,823 Sq Mi) (slightly larger than Tennessee)
Estimated 2000 Population
8,427,000
Geography
Bulgaria is located on the Balkan Peninsula of South East Europe. It is bound by Romania to the north, Macedonia and Yugoslavia to the west, Turkey to the southeast, Greece to the south and the Black Sea to the east. Bulgaria is divided into three topographical zones. The Danubian Tablelands are in the north, the Balkan Mountains are in the center and the Thracian Plains and Rhodope and Pirin Mountains in the south and southwest.
Climate
Bulgaria has a continental climate with hot summers and cold winters. In the south the climate is Mediterranean with winters that are milder and moister. On the coastal fringes of the Black Sea winters are slightly warmer but the northeast winds from Russia blow cold air causing cold spells. Average temperature ranges in Sofia are from 25 to 36 degrees Fahrenheit in January to 61 to 81 degrees Fahrenheit in July.
People
The principal ethnic majority are the Bulgarians who are of Slavic descent and account for approximately 85% of the population. The principal ethnic minority are the Turks who account for 8.5% of the population, followed by Gypsies and Macedonians who account for 2.6% and 2.5% of the population respectively.
Vital Statistics
Life Expectancy at Birth: 68.2 years male, 74.4 years female (1986). Infant Mortality Rate: 15.9 per 1,000 live births (1992). HIV/AIDS Adult Prevalence Rate: 0.01% (1999 est.)
Religions
The primary religion is Bulgarian Orthodox, which accounts for 83.5% of the population. Muslims account for 13%, Roman Catholics 1.5%, Uniate Catholics 0.2%, and Jewish 0.8%. Protestants and Gregorian-Armenians are the smallest religious minorities. Orthodoxy was the state religion until 1945, and then Communism until 1989. The new democratic constitution proclaims freedom for all denominations, but gives primary status to the Orthodox Church. Bulgaria’s political and spiritual transformation has been one of the most dramatic in the former Communist bloc, from one of the most repressive regimes with severe persecution of Christians to a multiparty democracy.
Languages
The official language is Bulgarian which is also the national language, although Turkish is also spoken by the ethnic minorities.
History
During World War II Bulgaria allied with Germany, Italy and Japan, and was occupied by German forces in 1941. Although Bulgaria refused to declare war on the Soviet Union, in 1944 the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria. Fighting did not take place and an armistice was quickly agreed. A pro-Soviet government was formed soon afterward. In 1946 the monarchy was abolished and Bulgaria became a republic. Farmland was collectivized, and mines and banks were nationalized. Bulgaria was one of the Soviet Union’s most loyal satellite states in Eastern Europe. In 1991, following the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe, Bulgaria elected a noncommunist government for the first time since 1944. The government started a massive program of privatizaton in 1993, moving toward political democracy and a market economy while combating inflation, unemployment, corruption, and crime. Today, reforms and democratization keep Bulgaria on a path toward eventual integration into the European Union and NATO.
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