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Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. The capital and largest city is Sofia; other major cities are Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas. With a territory of 110,994 square kilometres, Bulgaria is Europe's 16th-largest country.

Geography

Bulgaria occupies a portion of the eastern Balkan peninsula, bordering five countries—Greece and Turkey to the south, Macedonia and Serbia to the west, and Romania to the north. The land borders have a total length of 1,808 kilometres, and the coastline has a length of 354 kilometres. Its total area of 110,994 square kilometres ranks it as the world's 105th-largest country. Bulgaria's geographic coordinates are 43° N 25° E. The most notable topographical features are the Danubian Plain, the Balkan Mountains, the Thracian Plain, and the Rhodope Mountains. The southern edge of the Danubian Plain slopes upward into the foothills of the Balkans, while the Danube defines the border with Romania. The Thracian Plain is roughly triangular, beginning southeast of Sofia and broadening as it reaches the Black Sea coast.

The Balkan mountains run laterally through the middle of the country. The mountainous southwest has two distinct alpine ranges—Rila and Pirin, which border the lower but more extensive Rhodope Mountains to the east. Musala peak, at 2,925 metres, is the highest point in both Bulgaria and the Balkan peninsula, and the Black Sea coast is the country's lowest point. Plains occupy about one-third of the territory, while plateaus and hills occupy 41 per cent. Most of the rivers are short and with low water levels. The longest river located solely in Bulgarian territory, the Iskar, has a length of 368 kilometres. Other major rivers include the Struma and the Maritsa in the south.

Bulgaria has a dynamic climate, which results from being positioned at the meeting point of the Mediterranean and continental air masses combined with the barrier effect of its mountains. Northern Bulgaria averages 1 °C cooler, and registers 200 millimetres more precipitation, than the regions south of the Balkan mountains. Temperature amplitudes vary significantly in different areas. The lowest recorded temperature is −38.3 °C, while the highest is 45.2 °C. Precipitation averages about 630 millimetres per year, and varies from 500 millimetres in Dobrudja to more than 2,500 millimetres in the mountains. Continental air masses bring significant amounts of snowfall during winter.

Demographics

The population of Bulgaria is 7,364,570 people according to the 2011 national census. The majority of the population, or 72.5 percent, reside in urban areas. As of 2017, Sofia is the most populated urban centre with 1,325,429 people, followed by Plovdiv (345,000), Varna (344,000), Burgas (209,000) and Ruse (160,000). Bulgarians are the main ethnic group and comprise 84.8 percent of the population. Turkish and Roma minorities comprise 8.8 and 4.9 percent, respectively; some 40 smaller minorities comprise 0.7 percent, and 0.8 percent do not self-identify with an ethnic group. Former Statistics head Reneta Indzhova has disputed the 2011 census figures, suggesting the actual population is smaller than reported and a higher percentage of citizens are of Romani origin. The Roma minority is usually underestimated in census data and may represent up to 11 per cent of the population.

Bulgaria is in a state of demographic crisis. It has had negative population growth since the early 1990s, when the economic collapse caused a long-lasting emigration wave. Some 937,000 to 1,200,000 people—mostly young adults—left the country by 2005. The total fertility rate (TFR) was estimated at 1.46 children born per woman in 2017. The majority of children are born to unmarried women. Furthermore, a third of all households consist of only one person and 75.5 percent of families do not have children under the age of 16. The resulting birth rates are among the lowest in the world while death rates are among the highest.

More than 80% of all deaths are due to cancer and cardiovascular conditions. Mortality rates may be amenable with timely, adequate health care, which the current system fails to provide fully. Although healthcare in Bulgaria is universal, out-of-pocket expenses account for nearly half of all healthcare spending, and significantly limit access to medical care. Other problems disrupting care provision are the emigration of doctors due to low wages, understaffed and under-equipped regional hospitals, supply shortages and frequent changes to the basic service package for those insured.