Bulgaria Geography Profile 2009

Location

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

Geographic coordinates

43 00 N, 25 00 E

Map references

Europe

Area

total: 110,879 sq km
land: 108,489 sq km
water: 2,390 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 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: 29.94%
permanent crops: 1.9%
other: 68.16% (2005)

Irrigated land

5,880 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources

19.4 cu km (2005)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)

total: 6.92 cu km/yr (3%/78%/19%)
per capita: 895 cu m/yr (2003)

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-Sulfur 94, 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, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note

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