Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Bulgaria Today
National Interests
In joining the European Union in 2007, Bulgaria achieved the greatest goal of its post-com-
munist incarnation. Bulgarians were rightly proud of this achievement, though any linger-
ing europhoria has long since dissipated - no economic miracles have occurred, and the
prevalence of decrepit and destroyed old communist-era factories by the roadsides hardly
conjures up images of European affluence.
Yet there are signs of change too - the
smoking ban in restaurants and bars, for ex-
ample, is respected much more widely here than
in neighbouring Romania, which also joined the
EU in 2007. Sofia's expanding metro system
now covers much of the city, making the capital
easier to enjoy. And signs of 'progress' - which
in 2013 included a projected 10 new shopping
malls in Sofia alone - indicate that today's Bul-
garians are happily drifting ever further from
»Population: 7.35 million
»Area: 42,823 sq km
»GDP per capita: 15,981 lev (US $10,700)
»Inflation: 7.3%
»Literacy rate: 98.2%
»Ethnicity (2011): 84.8% Bulgarian, 8.8% Turkish,
4.9% Roma, 1.5% other
their former communist island.
Indeed, despite chronic complaints over the economy and corruption at high levels, Bul-
garians have retained their wry sense of humour. One riotous example occurred in June
2011, when an unknown street artists gave an old Soviet fighters monument a makeover,
