Area: 110,993.6 sq km

Population: 7,973, 673 (2001)

Capital city: Sofia

Official language: Bulgarian

Alphabet: Cyrillic

Religion: There is freedom of religious confessions. Traditional religion in the Republic of Bulgaria is Eastern Orthodox Christianity

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

Monetary unit: the Bulgarian Lev

Administrative division: 28 regions, named after their respective regional centres.

State system: a parliamentary republic with a one-chamber parliament (National Assembly), consisting of 240 national representatives, elected for a four-year term of service. The head of state of the republic is the President, elected for a five-year term of service. The Council of Ministers is the main body of executive power.

Relief: most diverse. Average height above sea level ? 470 m. Some 31.5% of the country?s territory is plain (up to 200 m above sea level), 41% are lowlands and hilly regions (from 200 to 600 m above sea level), and 27.5% are mountains (from 600 to more than 1,600 m above sea level).

Climate: moderate continental with Black Sea influence in the east and Mediterranean ? in the south.

Waters: rivers (main rivers are Danube, Maritsa, Mesta, Strouma, Iskar, Yantra); warm and cold mineral springs