Capital: Sofia
Administrative divisions: 9 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast); Burgas, Grad Sofiya, Khaskovo, Lovech, Montana, Plovdiv, Ruse, Sofiya, Varna

Independence: 22 September 1908 (from Ottoman Empire)
National holiday: Independence Day 3 March (1878)

Constitution: adopted 12 July 1991

Legal system: based on civil law system, with Soviet law influence; has accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Zhelyu Mitev ZHELEV (since 1 August 1990); Vice President (vacant); election last held January 1992; results - Zhelyu ZHELEV was elected by popular vote
head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) Lyuben Borisov BEROV (since 30 December 1992); Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Deputy Prime Minister) Evgeniy MATINCHEV (since 30 December 1992)
cabinet: Council of Ministers; elected by the National Assembly

Legislative branch: unicameral
National Assembly (Narodno Sobranie): last held 13 October 1991; results - UDF (and breakaway factions) 34%, BSP 33%, MRF 7.5%; seats - (240 total) UDF 110, BSP 106, Movement for Rights and Freedoms 24
note: the UDF split in March 1993 to form the New Union for Democracy (NUD) with 18 seats, and the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) with 92 seats

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, Constitutional Court

Political parties and leaders: Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), Filip DIMITROV, chairman, an alliance of approximately 20 pro-Democratic parties including United Democratic Center, Democratic Party, Radical Democratic Party, Christian Democratic Union, Alternative Social Liberal Party, Republican Party, Civic Initiative Movement, and about a dozen other groups; Movement for Rights and Freedoms (mainly ethnic Turkish party) (MRF), Ahmed DOGAN, chairman; Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Zhan VIDENOV, chairman; New Union for Democracy (NUD), Dimitar LUDZHEV, chairman
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); Nationwide Committee for Defense of National Interests; Peasant Youth League; Bulgarian Agrarian National Union - United (BZNS); Bulgarian Democratic Center; "Nikola Petkov" Bulgarian Agrarian National Union; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Union of Macedonian Societies (IMRO-UMS); numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest groups with various agendas
Member of: ACCT (observer), BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI (participating), CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, G-9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNTAC, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Ognyan Raytchev PISHEV
chancery: 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: (202) 387-7969
FAX: (202) 234-7973
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador William D. MONTGOMERY
embassy: 1 Saborna Street, Sofia
mailing address: Unit 25402, Sofia; APO AE 09213
telephone: [359] (2) 88-48-01 through 05
FAX: [359] (2) 80-19-77

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 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Bulgaria Government 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Bulgaria Government 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.