Ethnicity: Bulgarian 83.6%, Turkish 9.5%, Roma 4.6%, other 2.3%
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Capital: Sofia
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Legislature: Bulgaria has a unicameral legislature. The
National Assembly has 240 members,
elected for four-year terms by proportional representation from multi-member
constituencies.
Electoral authority: The
Bulgarian Central Election Commission conducts national elections.
Freedom House 2005 rating: Political Rights 1, Civil Liberties 2
Political history
The mediaeval Bulgarian state was overrun by the Ottomans in 1396, and a Bulgarian
state did not re-emerge until the 19th century. After Ottoman massacres of Bulgarian
nationalists, the great powers forced the Ottomans to withdraw, and in 1879 Bulgaria
became an autonomous principality, with Alexander of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as prince. In
1907 Bulgaria became a fully independent kingdom.
Bulgaria was a German ally in the First World War, and after the war the Agrarian
Party came to power on a policy of radical reform. In 1923 the army seized power and
the Agrarian leader Alexander Stamboliyski was assassinated. In the 1930s King Boris
established a royal dictatorship and led Bulgaria into the Second World War as a
German ally.
Bulgaria was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1944, and in 1946 young King
Simeon was forced into exile and a Communist government was installed. The Communists
held power until 1991, when free elections were held in wake of the collapse of the
Soviet Union and its local allies. During the 1990s the reformed Communists, the
Bulgarian Socialist Party, alternated in office with the
anti-Communist Union of Democratic Forces, a coalition of
the Democratic Party, the Agrarians and
the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party.
Both these parties failed to deal with Bulgaria's economic
problems, and in 2000 former King Simeon returned to Bulgaria to enter politics under
the name Simeon Saxecoburgotski. His party,
the National Movement for Simeon the Second swept
to power in the 2001 elections. The
Movement for Rights and Freedoms represents the
Turkish-speaking minority. At the 2005 elections the Socialists under Sergei Stanishev returned to power at the head of a coalition
government.
Bulgaria was a German ally in the First World War, and after the war the Agrarian Party came to power on a policy of radical reform. In 1923 the army seized power and the Agrarian leader Alexander Stamboliyski was assassinated. In the 1930s King Boris established a royal dictatorship and led Bulgaria into the Second World War as a German ally.
Bulgaria was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1944, and in 1946 young King Simeon was forced into exile and a Communist government was installed. The Communists held power until 1991, when free elections were held in wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and its local allies. During the 1990s the reformed Communists, the Bulgarian Socialist Party, alternated in office with the anti-Communist Union of Democratic Forces, a coalition of the Democratic Party, the Agrarians and the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party.
Both these parties failed to deal with Bulgaria's economic problems, and in 2000 former King Simeon returned to Bulgaria to enter politics under the name Simeon Saxecoburgotski. His party, the National Movement for Simeon the Second swept to power in the 2001 elections. The Movement for Rights and Freedoms represents the Turkish-speaking minority. At the 2005 elections the Socialists under Sergei Stanishev returned to power at the head of a coalition government.