Bulgaria

Bulgaria Geography

Location
Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey

Geographic coordinates
43 00 N, 25 00 E

Area
total: 110,910 sq km
land: 110,550 sq km
water: 360 sq km

Area - comparative
slightly larger than Tennessee

Land boundaries
total: 1,808 km
border countries: Greece 494 km, Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia and Montenegro 318 km, Turkey 240 km

Coastline
354 km

Maritime claims
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate
temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers

Terrain
mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast

Elevation extremes
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Musala 2,925 m

Natural resources
bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land

Land use
arable land: 40.02%
permanent crops: 1.92%
other: 58.06% (2001)

Irrigated land
8,000 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards
earthquakes, landslides

Environment - current issues
air pollution from industrial emissions; rivers polluted from raw sewage, heavy metals, detergents; deforestation; forest damage from air pollution and resulting acid rain; soil contamination from heavy metals from metallurgical plants and industrial wastes

Environment - international agreements
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulfur 94

Geography - note
strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia



- Info Provided by the CIA World Factbook -