Long-form name: Republic of Bulgaria

Type: emerging democracy, continuing significant Communist party influence

Capital: Sofia

Administrative divisions: 9 provinces (oblasti, singular--oblast); Burgas, Grad Sofiya, Khaskovo, Lovech, Mikhaylovgrad, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Sofiya, Varna

Independence: 22 September 1908 (from Ottoman Empire)

Constitution: 16 May 1971, effective 18 May 1971; a new constitution is likely to be adopted in 1991

Legal system: based on civil law system, with Soviet law influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the State Council; has accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire, 3 March (1878)

Executive branch: president, chairman of the Council of Ministers (premier), three deputy chairmen of the Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Narodno Sobranie)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Leaders: Chief of State--President Zhelyu ZHELEV (since 1 August 1990); Head of Government--Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Premier) Dimitur POPOV (since 19 December 1990); Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Aleksandur TOMOV (since 19 December 1990); Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Viktor VULKOV (since 19 December 1990); Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Dimitur LUDZHEV (since 19 December 1990);

Political parties and leaders: government--Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), formerly Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP), Aleksandur LILOV, chairman; opposition--Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), Filip DIMITROV, chairman, consisting of Nikola Petkov Bulgarian Agrarian National Union, Milan DRENCHEV, secretary of Permanent Board; Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, Petur DERTLIEV; Green Party; Christian Democrats; Radical Democratic Party; Rights and Freedoms Movement (pro-Muslim party), Ahmed DOGAN; Bulgarian Agrarian National Union (BZNS), Viktor VULKOV

Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18

Elections: Chairman of the State Council--last held 1 August 1990 (next to be held May 1991); results--Zhelyo ZHELEV was elected by the National Assembly; National Assembly--last held 10 and 17 June 1990 (next to be held in autumn 1991); results--BSP 48%, UDF 32%; seats--(400 total) BSP 211, UDF 144, Rights and Freedoms Movement 23, Agrarian Party 16, Nationalist parties 3, independents and other 3

Communists: Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), formerly Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP), 501,793 members

Other political or pressure groups: Ecoglasnost; Podkrepa (Support) Labor Confederation; Fatherland Union; Bulgarian Democratic Youth (formerly Communist Youth Union); Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (KNSB); Committee for Defense of National Interests; Peasant Youth League; National Coalition of Extraparliamentary Political Forces; numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest groups with various agendas

Member of: BIS, CCC, CSCE, ECE, FAO, G-9, IAEA, IBEC, ICAO, IIB, ILO, IMO, INMARSAT, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Ognyan PISHEV; Chancery at 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 387-7969; US--Ambassador H. Kenneth HILL; Embassy at 1 Alexander Stamboliski Boulevard, Sofia (mailing address is APO New York 09213-5740); telephone [359] (2) 88-48-01 through 05

Flag: three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red; the national emblem formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe has been removed--it contained a rampant lion within a wreath of wheat ears below a red five-pointed star and above a ribbon bearing the dates 681 (first Bulgarian state established) and 1944 (liberation from Nazi control)

NOTE: The information regarding Bulgaria on this page is re-published from the 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Bulgaria Government 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Bulgaria Government 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.