Bulgaria - Geography
Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Bulgaria. Strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia. Mother's mean age at first birth is 26.4 years (2020 est.) (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 6 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Geographical data of Bulgaria
| Location | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey |
|---|---|
| Geographic coordinates | 43 00 N, 25 00 E |
| Map references | Europe |
| Tarrain | mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast |
| Natural Resources | bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land |
| Natural Hazards | earthquakes; landslides |
| Irrigated Land | 929 sq km (2016) |
| Major rivers (by length in km) | Dunav (Danube) (shared with Germany [s], Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km note: [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth |
| Major aquifers | |
| Land Boundaries | 1,806 km |
| Border Countries | Greece 472 km; Macedonia 162 km; Romania 605 km; Serbia 344 km; Turkey 223 km |
| Coastline | 354 km |
| Climate | temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers |
| Area | |
| Total Area | |
| Land Area | 108,489 sq km |
| Water Area | 2,390 sq km |
| comparative Area | almost identical in size to Virginia; slightly larger than Tennessee |
| Maritime Claims | |
| Territorial sea | 12 nm |
| Contiguous zone | 24 nm |
| Exclusive economic zone | 200 nm |
| Elevations | |
| Highest point | Musala 2,925 m |
| Lowest point | Black Sea 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 472 m |
| Land Use | |
| Agricultural land | 46.3% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 31.9% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 1.3% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 13% (2022 est.) |
| Forest | 36.1% (2022 est.) |
| Other | 17.6% (2022 est.) |
Population Distribution
A fairly even distribution throughout most of the country, with urban areas attracting larger populations
People and Society
In Bulgaria, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Bulgarian 78.5%, Turkish 7.8%, Roma 4.1%, other 1.2%, unspecified 9.4% (2021 est.)
| Population | |
|---|---|
| Pop growth rate | -0.66% (2024 est.) |
| Birth rate | 7.9 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Death rate | 14.2 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Health expenditure | |
| Physicians Density | |
| Hospital bed Density | 7.8 beds/1,000 population (2020 est.) |
| Total fertility rate | 1.51 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
| Gross reproduction rate | 0.73 (2024 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | |
| Est married women (ages 15-49) | 57.3% (2023 est.) |
| Literacy | |
| Education expenditures | |
| Net Migration rate | -0.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Nationality | Bulgarian | Bulgarian(s) |
| Languages | |
| Religions | Christian 64.7%, Muslim 9.8%, other 0.1%, none 4.7%, unspecified 20.7% (2021 est.) |
| Age Structure | |
| 0-14 years | 13.8% (male 479,586/female 453,423) |
| 15-64 years | 65.2% (male 2,250,962/female 2,171,279) |
| 65 years and over | 21% (2024 est.) (male 572,943/female 854,466) |
| Dependency Ratios | |
| Total dependency ratio | 53.4 (2024 est.) |
| Youth dependency ratio | 21.1 (2024 est.) |
| Elderly dependency ratio | 32.3 (2024 est.) |
| Potential support ratio | 3.1 (2024 est.) |
| Median Age | |
| Total | 45.1 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 43.3 years |
| Female | 47 years |
| Urbanization | |
| Urban population | 76.7% of total population (2023) |
| Rate of urbanization | -0.28% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
| Major urban areas (Pop) | 1.288 million SOFIA (capital) (2023). |
| Sex Ratio | |
| At birth | 1.06 male(s)/female |
| 0-14 years | 1.06 male(s)/female |
| 15-64 years | 1.04 male(s)/female |
| 65 years and over | 0.67 male(s)/female |
| Total population | 0.95 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
| Infant Motality | |
| Total | 7.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
| Male | 8.7 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Female | 6.6 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life Expectancy at birth | |
| Total population | 76.1 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 72.9 years |
| Female | 79.4 years |
| Drinking Water Sources | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 99.6% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: rural | rural: 97.3% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: total | total: 99.1% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.4% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 2.7% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: total | total: 0.9% of population (2022 est.) |
| Sanitation facility acess | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 100% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: rural | rural: 100% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: total | total: 100% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 0% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: total | total: 0% of population (2022 est.) |
| Alcohol consumption per capita | |
| Total | 11.18 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Beer | 4.44 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Wine | 1.72 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Spirits | 4.96 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Other alcohols | 0.06 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Tobacco use | |
| Total | 33.1% (2025 est.) |
| Male | 36.2% (2025 est.) |
| Female | 30.3% (2025 est.) |
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Bulgaria
Want to know more about Bulgaria? Check all different factbooks for Bulgaria below.
