The Republic of Bulgaria is located in Southeastern Europe bordering Romania, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, and Serbia, and the Black Sea. It is about the size of Tennessee and covers an area of 110,910 sq. kilometers.  Bulgaria’s total population is about 7.2 million and is shrinking at a rate of 0.79% with 71% living in urban areas.  The Bulgarian capital of Sofia has a population of about 1.2 million with other major cities including Plovdiv (368,000) and Varna (349,000). The people are governed by a parliamentary democracy, are predominately Bulgarian Orthodox, and the primary language is Bulgarian. Bulgaria joined NATO in 2004 and joined the EU in 2007. The local currency used is the Bulgarian Lev with plans to adopt the Euro by 2012-13.

Bulgaria’s economy has improved greatly in the past decade and has begun attracting more foreign investment.  Membership in the EU will be beneficial to the economy but there still remain concerns about corruption and organized crime. Its main trade partners are Germany, Turkey, Russia, Italy, Greece, Ukraine, Romania, and Austria. Its primary imports are machinery and equipment, metals and ores, chemicals, plastics, fuels, minerals, and raw materials. Exports consist of clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, and fuels. Bulgaria’s GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) is $93.78 billion and is growing at a real rate of 6% with an inflation rate of 7.8%. Bulgaria ranked 45th out of 181 countries in the World Bank Group’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking.