Polity · 1990 CE – present
Republic of Bulgaria
България · Republika Bulgaria
Also recorded as Bulgaria
- Peak recorded area
- 109,708 km²
- 1992 CE
- Rulers on record
- 14
- from 1990 CE
- Data series
- 415
- 1990 CE–2025 CE
Overview
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey to the south, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, and Romania across the Danube river to the north.
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 the last complete year, 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 53 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population134 obs · 1960 CE–2025 CE | 6.7Mpersons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy123 obs · 1960 CE–2025 CE | 75.96years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Population Growth100 obs · 1961 CE–2025 CE | -0.673% annual2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Net Migration69 obs · 1991 CE–2025 CE | -2,961persons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Female68 obs · 1991 CE–2025 CE | 79.51years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Male68 obs · 1991 CE–2025 CE | 72.52years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
Economy
6 of 151 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP Current Usd81 obs · 1980 CE–2025 CE | 130.8Bcurrent US$2025 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Agriculture % GDP46 obs · 1980 CE–2025 CE | 2.47% of GDP2025 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Industry % GDP46 obs · 1980 CE–2025 CE | 21.21% of GDP2025 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Services % GDP46 obs · 1980 CE–2025 CE | 63.31% of GDP2025 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Water Productivity GDP Per M343 obs · 1980 CE–2022 CE | 11.4usd_per_m32022 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Coal Rents % GDP42 obs · 1980 CE–2021 CE | 0.1264%2021 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
Military
6 of 57 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Military Expenditure % GDP72 obs · 1989 CE–2025 CE | 2.1% of GDP2025 CE · CIA World Factbook 2024 |
| Military Expenditure Usd36 obs · 1989 CE–2024 CE | 2.3Bcurrent US$2024 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Military Expenditure Constant Usd35 obs · 1990 CE–2024 CE | 2,265.11millions_usd_20232024 CE · SIPRI Military Expenditure Database |
| Military Expenditure per capita35 obs · 1990 CE–2024 CE | 343.74usd_current2024 CE · SIPRI Military Expenditure Database |
| Armed Forces Personnel33 obs · 1985 CE–2020 CE | 37Kpersons2020 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| CINC Score26 obs · 1991 CE–2016 CE | 0.0009CINC (share of world capability)2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
Territory & resources
6 of 70 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Arable Land %96 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 32.12% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Forest Area %67 obs · 1990 CE–2023 CE | 36.22% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Surface Area63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 111Ksq. km2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Water Stress Level %43 obs · 1980 CE–2022 CE | 40.24%2022 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Fao Forest Land35 obs · 1991 CE–2025 CE | 4Mha2025 CE · FAOSTAT |
| Water Withdrawal Agriculture %35 obs · 1988 CE–2022 CE | 13.35%2022 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
Governance
6 of 28 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index34 obs · 1991 CE–2024 CE | 0.646index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index34 obs · 1991 CE–2024 CE | 0.508index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index34 obs · 1991 CE–2024 CE | 0.455index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Regime Type34 obs · 1991 CE–2024 CE | 2RoW index (0-3)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index34 obs · 1991 CE–2024 CE | 0.559index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Executive Years In Office33 obs · 1991 CE–2023 CE | 1years2023 CE · Database of Political Institutions (DPI) 2023 |
Development
6 of 56 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Patent Applications42 obs · 1980 CE–2021 CE | 165applications2021 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Dpt Immunization %34 obs · 1991 CE–2024 CE | 94%2024 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Electricity Access %34 obs · 1990 CE–2023 CE | 100%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Electricity Access Rural %34 obs · 1990 CE–2023 CE | 100%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Electricity Access Urban %34 obs · 1990 CE–2023 CE | 100%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Freedom Of Expression Index34 obs · 1991 CE–2024 CE | 0.804index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
Rulers
14 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Petar MladenovHead of State1990 CE
- Zhelyu ZhelevHead of State1990 CE – 1997 CE
- Petar StoyanovHead of State1997 CE – 2002 CE
- Georgi ParvanovHead of State2002 CE – 2012 CE
- Rosen PlevnelievHead of State2012 CE – 2017 CE
- Boyko BorissovHead of Government2017 CE – 2021 CE
- Ognyan GerdzhikovHead of Government2017 CE
- Rumen RadevHead of State2017 CE –
- Kiril PetkovHead of Government2021 CE –
- Galab DonevHead of Government2022 CE – 2023 CE
- Nikolai DenkovHead of Government2023 CE – 2024 CE
- Dimitar GlavchevHead of Government2024 CE – 2025 CE
- Rosen ZhelyazkovHead of Government2025 CE –
- Iliana YotovaHead of State2026 CE –
Country profile
From the CIA World Factbook 2024. Long entries are trimmed at a sentence boundary.
- Location
- Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey
- Government type
- parliamentary republic
- Executive branch
- chief of state: President Rumen RADEV (since 22 January 2017); head of government: Prime Minister Rosen ZHELYAZKOV (since 16 January 2025); cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister, elected by the National Assembly;
- Ethnic groups
- Bulgarian 78.5%, Turkish 7.8%, Roma 4.1%, other 1.2%, unspecified 9.4% (2021 est.)
- Natural resources
- bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land
- Economy
- upper-middle-income EU economy; currency pegged to the euro, with eurozone accession pending; declining energy prices helping lower inflation rate; EU structural funds contributing to investment recovery; skilled labor shortage driven by emigration and aging population
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- Bulgarian
- Currency
- leva (BGN)
Memberships
- Central PowersHistorical alliance · member1915 CE – 1918 CE
- Axis PowersHistorical alliance · member1941 CE – 1944 CE
- Warsaw PactWPMilitary alliance · founding member1955 CE – 1991 CE
- United NationsUNInternational organisation · member1955 CE –
- Greece–Bulgaria Non-Aggression Pact (1991)Historical alliance · member1991 CE –
- Bulgaria–Romania Non-Aggression Pact (1992)Historical alliance · member1992 CE –
- Bulgaria–Russia Non-Aggression Pact (1992)Historical alliance · member1992 CE –
- Bulgaria–Turkey Non-Aggression Pact (1992)Historical alliance · member1992 CE –
- Bulgaria–Belarus Non-Aggression Pact (1993)Historical alliance · member1993 CE –
- Albania–Bulgaria Non-Aggression Pact (1993)Historical alliance · member1993 CE –
- NATONATOMilitary alliance · member2004 CE –
- European UnionEUEconomic bloc · member2007 CE –
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
Central Intelligence Agency (2024). The World Factbook. Washington, DC.
Public Domain (US Government work)
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
Database of Political Institutions (DPI) 2023DPI 2023
Cruz, C., Keefer, P. & Scartascini, C. (2023). Database of Political Institutions 2023. Inter-American Development Bank.
IDB open data, attribution
FAOSTAT2024 release
FAO (2024). FAOSTAT Statistical Database. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
CC BY 4.0
SIPRI Military Expenditure Database2024
SIPRI (2024). Military Expenditure Database.
Free for non-commercial 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
Republic of Bulgaria is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.