BULGARIA

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT: More than half of Bulgaria is hilly or mountainous, with an average elevation of about 480 m. The Balkan Mountains cross the country from the northwestern corner to the Black Sea. More than 560 km long, the mountains vary in width from 19 to 48 km and rise to a maximum height of 2,376 m at Botev Peak. Sheep graze in the rich mountain pastures. North of the Balkan Mountains is a fertile plateau cut by deep river valleys. The plateau extends to the Danube, which forms most of the country’s northern boundary. The plateau is part of the Danubian Plain, Bulgaria’s most fertile expanse of land and the nation’s chief grain-growing region. In northeastern Bulgaria, the plateau extends into an agricultural region known as Dobruja, which lies partly in Romania. The central and southern sides of the Balkan Mountains are fringed by a series of narrow plains, notably the fertile Thracian Plain. In the southern part of the country are the broad and irregular Rhodope Mountains, which contain many lakes and deep river valleys and form the boundary with Greece. At the western end of these mountains, in southwestern Bulgaria, are the rugged Rila Mountains, which rise to a maximum elevation of 2,925 m at Musala, the highest peak in the Balkan Peninsula. Several smaller ranges lie along the western boundaries. The principal river draining Bulgaria is the Danube. Its primary tributaries in Bulgaria are the Iskŭr and the Yantra. The Maritsa, which flows east to Greece and Turkey across the Thracian Plain, is the deepest river of the Aegean Sea basin. Other important rivers are the Kamchiya, which empties into the Black Sea, and in the southwest, the Struma and Mesta, which flow south to the Aegean Sea. 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. 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 and the July temperature ranges from 16° to 27°C. In Varna, along the Black Sea, the average January temperature ranges from -1° to 6°C and the July temperature ranges from 19° to 30°C. The average rainfall in Bulgaria is about 630 mm per year, ranging from a low of about 190 mm in the northeast, to a high of about 190 cm in the Rila Mountains. The wettest period is early summer in most of the country and autumn or winter in the southern valleys.
AGRICULTURE: Emphasis on agriculture, once the largest sector of Bulgaria’s economy, declined significantly after World War II. However, Bulgaria remains a surplus food producer, and farming still occupies a major role in Bulgaria’s economic life. In 2004 agriculture contributed 11.1 percent to the country’s gross domestic product and employed about one-quarter of the nation’s total workforce. Climate and soil conditions support raising livestock and the growing of cereals, sunflower seeds, and tomatoes, grapes, and other fruits. Tobacco is one of the most valuable crops, contributing approximately 20 percent to the total value of agricultural goods. The most important livestock raised include fowl, sheep, and hogs. Collectivization of agriculture began under communist rule in the early 1950s, and by the late 1980s most farmland was part of the country’s collective farm system. In 1990 private farming was legalized, and from 1992 to 1999 more than 96 percent of collectivized farmland had been returned to its former owners and their heirs.
ENERGY: Bulgaria derives about half of its energy from nuclear power plants, with most of the rest coming from thermal plants burning low-grade coal and waterpower facilities. Bulgaria’s Kozloduy nuclear power plant produces enough energy to permit the country to earn millions of dollars from electricity exports. However, under pressure from the European Union, which expressed concerns about the safety of four of the six reactors at the plant, Bulgaria closed two of the oldest reactors in late 2002, and it agreed to close two additional reactors by the end of 2006. Meanwhile, to meet future energy needs, Bulgaria announced plans to open two new reactors at Belene in the Danube River valley and a new coal-fired plant at Maritsa East thermal power complex in central Bulgaria. Bulgaria produced 38.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2003.