Polity · 1948 CE – 1990 CE
People's Republic of Bulgaria
Народна Република България · Народна република България
- Peak recorded area
- 109,612 km²
- 1948 CE
- Rulers on record
- 10
- from 1949 CE
- Data series
- 275
- 1948 CE–1990 CE
Overview
The People's Republic of Bulgaria was the Bulgarian state that existed from 1946 to 1990, ruled by the Bulgarian Communist Party together with its coalition partner, the Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union. Bulgaria was also part of Comecon as well as a member of the Warsaw Pact.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
3 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before 1990 CE, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 42 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population84 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 8.8Mpersons1990 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Female72 obs · 1950 CE–1990 CE | 74.81years1990 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Male72 obs · 1950 CE–1990 CE | 68.08years1990 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Net Migration72 obs · 1950 CE–1990 CE | -116.8Kpersons1990 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 71.32years1990 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Urban Population43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 2.8Mpersons1990 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
Economy
6 of 121 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 8,9222011 int'l $1990 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| GDP per capita PPP43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 9,630int'l $ (inflation adj.)1990 CE · Gapminder |
| Total Exports43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 2,031.61million USD (current)1990 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Total Imports43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 3,461.7million USD (current)1990 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Balance43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | -1,430.09million USD (current)1990 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Openness43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 5,493.31million USD (current)1990 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
Military
6 of 34 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| CINC Score43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 0.0028CINC (share of world capability)1990 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 43.9Mcoal-ton equivalents1990 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 2.2Mtons1990 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 2Bcurrent USD1990 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 129Kpersons1990 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Mil Equip Aircraft Transport21 obs · 1970 CE–1990 CE | 16count1990 CE · rDMC Military Capabilities v1.0 |
Territory & resources
6 of 31 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Coal Production43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 59.21TWh1990 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Gas Production43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 0.098TWh1990 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Oil Production43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 2.52TWh1990 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Agricultural Land %30 obs · 1961 CE–1990 CE | 55.67%1990 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Arable Land %30 obs · 1961 CE–1990 CE | 34.85%1990 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators (Climate & Environment) |
| Arable Land per capita Ha30 obs · 1961 CE–1990 CE | 0.4423hectares per person1990 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
Governance
6 of 18 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 0.574index (0-1)1990 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 0.46index (0-1)1990 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 0.362index (0-1)1990 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Polity243 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 8index (-10 to 10)1990 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Regime Type43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 2RoW index (0-3)1990 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 0.689index (0-1)1990 CE · V-Dem v15 |
Development
6 of 29 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 0.885index (0-1)1990 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Tech Electricity Production43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 42.1BGWh1990 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Newspaper Circulation43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 4Mcirculation1990 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Radios43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 3,950count1990 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Telephones43 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 2.6Mcount1990 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Railway Freight Tkm42 obs · 1948 CE–1990 CE | 14.1Ktonne-km1990 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
Rulers
10 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Vasil KolarovChairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Bulgaria1949 CE – 1950 CE
- Valko ChervenkovChairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Bulgaria1950 CE – 1954 CE
- Anton YugovChairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Bulgaria1956 CE – 1958 CE
- Todor ZhivkovChairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Bulgaria1962 CE – 1966 CE
- Stanko TodorovChairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Bulgaria1971 CE – 1976 CE
- Grisha FilipovChairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Bulgaria1981 CE – 1986 CE
- Georgi AtanasovChairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Bulgaria1986 CE – 1990 CE
- Dimitar Iliev PopovChairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Bulgaria1990 CE – 1991 CE
- Nikolai TodorovChairman (President) of Bulgaria1990 CE
- Zhelyu ZhelevChairman (President) of Bulgaria1990 CE – 1992 CE
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- Bulgarian
- Currency
- Bulgarian lev (BGN)
Memberships
- Bulgaria–Russia Defense Pact (1948)Military alliance · member1948 CE – 1989 CE
- Poland–Bulgaria Defense Pact (1948)Military alliance · member1948 CE – 1989 CE
- Hungary–Bulgaria Defense Pact (1948)Military alliance · member1948 CE – 1989 CE
- 8-member Defense Pact (1955)Military alliance · member1955 CE – 1989 CE
- German Democratic Republic–Bulgaria Defense Pact (1967)Military alliance · member1967 CE – 1989 CE
- Czechoslovakia–Bulgaria Defense Pact (1948)Military alliance · member1968 CE – 1989 CE
- Bulgaria–Romania Defense Pact (1948)Military alliance · member1970 CE – 1989 CE
- Bulgaria–Libya Non-Aggression Pact (1983)Historical alliance · member1983 CE – 1989 CE
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
CHAT (Comin-Hobijn)2009 (FinalCHAT_72909)
Comin, D. & Hobijn, B. (2009). The CHAT Dataset. NBER Working Paper 15319.
NBER research data, freely downloadable
Clio-Infra2017 datasets
Clio-Infra project (2017). Reconstructions of global inequality and well-being. International Institute of Social History.
Academic use, attribution
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
Barbieri, K. & Keshk, O. (2016). Correlates of War Project Trade Data Set, v4.0.
Free academic use, citation
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
Our World in Data (2024). Energy dataset. Based on Energy Institute & Ember.
CC BY 4.0
rDMC Military Capabilities v1.0v1.0
Reconstructed Data on Military Capabilities (rDMC), v1.0. Harvard Dataverse.
Academic use, attribution
UN World Population Prospects 20242024
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024.
CC BY 3.0 IGO
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators (Climate & Environment)2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators (Climate & Environment series). Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0
People's Republic of Bulgaria is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.