Bulgaria: Government#
| Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Bulgaria conventional short form: Bulgaria local long form: Republika Bulgaria local short form: Bulgaria etymology: named after the Bulgar tribes who settled the lower Balkan region in the 7th century A.D. |
|---|---|
| Government type | parliamentary republic |
| Capital | Sofia
Sofia
geographic coordinates: 42 41 N, 23 19 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
| Administrative divisions | 28 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast); Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Dobrich, Gabrovo, Haskovo, Kardzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Ruse, Shumen, Silistra, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofia, Sofia-Grad (Sofia City), Stara Zagora, Targovishte, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Yambol |
| Independence | 3 March 1878 (as an autonomous principality within the Ottoman Empire); 22 September 1908 (complete independence from the Ottoman Empire) |
| National holiday | Liberation Day, 3 March (1878) |
| Constitution | history: several previous; latest drafted between late 1990 and early 1991, adopted 13 July 1991 amendments: proposed by the National Assembly or by the president of the republic; passage requires three-fourths majority vote of National Assembly members in three ballots; signed by the National Assembly chairperson; note - under special circumstances, a "Grand National Assembly" is elected with the authority to write a new constitution and amend certain articles of the constitution, including those affecting basic civil rights and national sovereignty; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote in each of several readings; amended several times, last in 2015 (2016) |
| Legal system | civil law |
| International law organization participation | accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction |
| Citizenship | citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Bulgaria dual citizenship recognized: yes residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President Rosen PLEVNELIEV (since 22 January 2012); Vice President Margarita POPOVA (since 22 January 2012) head of government: Prime Minister Boyko BORISOV (since 7 November 2014); Deputy Prime Ministers Tomislav DONCHEV (since 7 November 2014), Rumyana BACHVAROVA (since 7 November 2014), Meglena KUNEVA (since 7 November 2014); note - this is BORISOV's second term as prime minister, he first served between 27 July 2009 and 13 March 2013 cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister, elected by the National Assembly elections/appointments: president and vice president elected on the same ballot by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 6 and 13 November 2016 (next to be held fall 2021); chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) elected by the National Assembly; deputy prime ministers nominated by the prime minister, elected by the National Assembly election results: Rumen RADEV elected president in runoff election; percent of vote - Rumen RADEV (independent) 59.4%, Tsetska TSACHEVA (GERB) 36.2%, 4.5% neither; note - Rumen RADEV will assume office on 22 January 2017 |
| Legislative branch | description: unicameral National Assembly or Narodno Sabranie (240 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms) elections: last held on 5 October 2014 (next to be held in 2018) election results: percent of vote by party - GERB 32.7%, CfB 15.4%, DPS 14.8%, RB 8.9%, PF 7.3%, BBTs 5.7%, Ataka 4.5%, ABV 4.2%, other 6.5%; seats by party - GERB 84, CfB 39, DPS 38, RB 23, PF 19, BBTs 15, Ataka 11, ABV 11 |
| Judicial branch | highest court(s): Supreme Court of Cassation (consists of a chairman and approximately 72 judges organized into penal, civil, and commercial colleges); Supreme Administrative Court (organized in 2 colleges with various panels of 5 judges each); Constitutional Court (consists of 12 justices); note - Constitutional Court resides outside the judiciary judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court of Cassation and Supreme Administrative judges elected by the Supreme Judicial Council or SJC (consists of 25 members with extensive legal experience) and appointed by the president; judges can serve until mandatory retirement at age 65; Constitutional Court justices elected by the National Assembly and appointed by the president and the SJC; justices appointed for 9-year terms with renewal of 4 justices every 3 years subordinate courts: appeals courts; regional and district courts; administrative courts; courts martial |
| Political parties and leaders | Alternative for Bulgarian Revival or ABV (Georgi PARVANOV) Attack (Ataka) (Volen Nikolov SIDEROV) Bulgarian Socialist Party or BSP (Mihail MIKOV) Bulgaria of the Citizens or DBG (Meglena KUNEVA) Bulgaria Without Censorship or BBTs (Nikolay BAREKOV) Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria or GERB (Boyko BORISOV) Coalition for Bulgaria or CfB (Mikhail MIKOV) (coalition dominated by BSP) Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria or DSB (Radan KANEV) IMRO - Bulgarian National Movement or IMRO-BNM (Krasimir KARAKACHANOV) Movement for Rights and Freedoms or DPS (Lyutvi MESTAN) National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria or NFSB (Valeri SIMEONOV) National Movement for Stability and Progress or NDSV (Hristina HRISTOVA) (formerly National Movement Simeon II or NMS2) United Patriots Front (alliance of IMRO-BNM, NFSB, and Attack) Union of Democratic Forces or SDS (Bozhidar LUKARSKI) Reformist Bloc or RB (a five-party alliance including the DSB, DBG, and SDS) |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria or CITUB Podkrepa Labor Confederationother: numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest groups with various agendas |
| International organization participation | Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EU, FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OIF, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Tihomir Anguelov STOYTCHEV (since 27 June 2016) chancery: 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (1) (202) 387-0174 FAX: (1) (202) 234-7973 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Eric RUBIN (since February 2016) embassy: 16 Kozyak Street, Sofia 1407 mailing address: American Embassy Sofia, US Department of State, 5740 Sofia Place, Washington, DC 20521-5740 telephone: (359) (2) 937-5100 FAX: (359) (2) 937-5320 |
| Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red; the pan-Slavic white-blue-red colors were modified by substituting a green band (representing freedom) for the blue note: the national emblem, formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe, has been removed |
| National symbol(s) | lion; national colors: white, green, red |
| National anthem | name: "Mila Rodino" (Dear Homeland) lyrics/music: Tsvetan Tsvetkov RADOSLAVOV note: adopted 1964; composed in 1885 by a student en route to fight in the Serbo-Bulgarian War |