Republic of Bulgaria

The flag of Bulgaria

The map of Bulgaria

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Bulgaria shares borders with Serbia, FYROM, Romania, Greece, and Turkey. Two mountain ranges and two great valleys mark the topography of Bulgaria, situated on the Black Sea. The Maritsa (Evros) is Bulgaria's principal river, and the Danube also flows through the country.

President: Georgi Purvanov (2002)

Prime Minister: Sergei Stanishev (2005)

Land area: 110,549 sq km; total area: 10,910 sq km

Population (2008 est.): 7,262,675 (growth rate: –0.8%); birth rate: 9.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 18.5/1000; life expectancy: 72.8; density per sq mi: 65

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Sofia, 1,088,700

Other large cities: Plovdiv, 338,200; Varna, 312,300; Burgas, 192,000; Ruse, 161,000

Monetary unit: Lev

Languages: Bulgarian 85%, Turkish 10%, Roma 4%

Ethnicity/race: Bulgarian 83.9%, Turk 9.4%, Roma 4.7%, other (including Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) 2% (2001)

National Holiday: Liberation Day, March 3

Religions: Bulgarian Orthodox 83%, Islam 12%, other Christian 1% (2001)

Literacy rate: 98.2% (2006 est.)

Economic summary: GDP per capita $11,300. Real growth rate: 6.2%. Inflation: 7.6%. Unemployment: 7.7%. Arable land: 40%. Agriculture: vegetables, fruits, tobacco, wine, wheat, barley, sunflowers, sugar beets; livestock. Labor force: 3.34 million; agriculture 11%, industry 32.7%, services 56.3% (3rd quarter 2004 est.). Industries: electricity, gas, water; food, beverages, tobacco; machinery and equipment, base metals, chemical products, coke, refined petroleum, nuclear fuel. Natural resources: bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land. Exports: $11.67 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): hing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels. Imports: $15.9 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; fuels, minerals, and raw materials. Major trading partners: Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belgium, Greece, U.S., France, Russia (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 2,868,200 (2002); mobile cellular: 2,597,500 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 31, FM 63, shortwave 2 (2001). Television broadcast stations: 39 (plus 1,242 repeaters) (2001). Internet hosts: 53,421 (2004). Internet users: 630,000 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 4,294 km (2004). Highways: total: 37,077 km; paved: 34,111 km (including 328 km of expressways); unpaved: 2,966 km (2002). Waterways: 470 km (2004). Ports and harbors: Burgas, Varna. Airports: 213 (2004 est.).

Republic of Poland

The flag of Poland

Map of Poland

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Poland, is in north-central Europe. Most of the country is a plain with no natural boundaries except the Carpathian Mountains in the south and the Oder and Neisse rivers in the west. Other major rivers, which are important to commerce, are the Vistula, Warta, and Bug.

National name: Rzeczpospolita Polska

President: Lech Kaczynski (2005)

Prime Minister: Jaroslaw Kaczynski (2006)

Land area: 304,509 sq km total area: 312,685 sq km

Population (2007 est.): 38,518,241 (growth rate: 0.0%); birth rate: 9.9/1000; infant mortality rate: 7.1/1000; life expectancy: 75.2; density per sq mi: 328

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Warsaw, 2,201,900 (metro. area), 1,607,600 (city proper)

Other large cities: Lodz, 778,200; Krakow, 733,100; Wroclaw, 632,200; Poznan, 581,200; Gdansk, 456,700; Szczecin, 415,700

Monetary unit: Zloty

Language: Polish 98% (2002)

Ethnicity/race: Polish 96.7%, German 0.4%, Belorussian 0.1% Ukrainian 0.1%, other 2.7% (2002)

Religions: Roman Catholic 90% (about 75% practicing), Eastern Orthodox 1%, Protestant and other (2002)

Literacy rate: 100% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP per capita $16,300. Real growth rate: 6.5%. Inflation: 2.5%. Unemployment: 12.8%. Arable land: 40%. Agriculture: potatoes, fruits, vegetables, wheat; poultry, eggs, pork, dairy. Labor force: 17.1 million; agriculture 16.1%, industry 29%, services 54.9% (2007). Industries: machine building, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles. Natural resources: coal, sulfur, copper, natural gas, silver, lead, salt, amber, arable land. Exports: $137.9 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and transport equipment 37.8%, intermediate manufactured goods 23.7%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 17.1%, food and live animals 7.6% (2003). Imports: $150.7 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and transport equipment 38%, intermediate manufactured goods 21%, chemicals 14.8%, minerals, fuels, lubricants, and related materials 9.1% (2003). Major trading partners: Germany, Italy, France, UK, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Russia, China (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 11.475 million (2007); mobile cellular: 36.746 million (2007). Radio broadcast stations: AM 14, FM 777, shortwave 1 (1998). Radios: 20.2 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 40 (2006). Televisions: 13.05 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 5.681 million (2007). Internet users: 11 million (2006).

Transportation: Railways: total: 23,072 km (2006). Highways: total: 423,997 km; paved: 295,356 km (including 484 km of expressways); unpaved: 128,641 km (2004). Waterways: 3,997 km navigable rivers and canals (2006). Ports and harbors: Gdansk, Gdynia, Gliwice, Kolobrzeg, Szczecin, Swinoujscie, Ustka, Warsaw, Wroclaw. Airports: 123 (2007).

Romania

The flag of Romania

The map of Romania

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Romania is in southeast Europe. The Carpathian Mountains divide Romania's upper half from north to south and connect near the centre of the country with the Transylvanian Alps, running east and west. North and west of these ranges lies the Transylvanian plateau, and to the south and east are the plains of Moldavia and Walachia. In its last 190 mi (306 km), the Danube River flows through Romania only. It enters the Black Sea in northern Dobruja, just south of the border with Ukraine.

Land area: 230,339 sq km      total area: 237,500 sq km

Population (2007 est.): 22,276,056 (growth rate: –0.1%); birth rate: 10.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 24.6/1000; life expectancy: 71.9; density per sq mi: 250

Capital and largest city (2003 est.):  Bucharest, 2,210,800 (metro. area), 1,906,800 (city proper)

Other large cities: Iasi, 320,000; Cluj-Napoca, 316,400; Timisoara, 316,100; Constanta, 309,000; Craiova, 301,100, Galati, 297,100; Brasov, 282,500

Monetary unit: lei

Languages: Romanian 91% (official), Hungarian 6.7%, Romany (Gypsy) 1.1%, other 1.2%

Ethnicity/race: Romanian 89.5%, Hungarian 6.6%, Roma (Gyspy) 2.5%, Ukrainian 0.3%, German 0.3%, Russian 0.2%, Turkish 0.2%, other 0.4% (2002)

Religions: Eastern Orthodox (including all sub-denominations) 86.8%, Protestant (various denominations including Reformate and Pentecostal) 7.5%, Roman Catholic 4.7%, other (mostly Muslim) and unspecified 0.9%, none 0.1% (2002 census)

Literacy rate: 98% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): per capita $11,400. Real growth rate: 6%. Inflation: 4.8%. Unemployment: 4.1%. Arable land: 39%. Agriculture: wheat, corn, barley, sugar beets, sunflower seed, potatoes, grapes; eggs, sheep. Labor force: 9.35 million (2007 est.); agriculture 31.6%, industry 30.7%, services 37.7% (2004). Industries: textiles and footwear, light machinery and auto assembly, mining, timber, construction materials, metallurgy, chemicals, food processing, petroleum refining. Natural resources: petroleum (reserves declining), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt, arable land, hydropower. Exports: $39.62 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): textiles and footwear, metals and metal products, machinery and equipment, minerals and fuels, chemicals, agricultural products. Imports: $63.16 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and equipment, fuels and minerals, chemicals, textile and products, basic metals, agricultural products. Major trading partners: Italy, Germany, France, Turkey, UK, Russia (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 4.231 million (2006); mobile cellular: 17.4 million (2006). Radio broadcast stations: 698 (frequency type NA) (2006). Radios: 7.2 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 623 (plus 200 repeaters)(2006). Televisions: 5.25 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1.406 million (2007). Internet users: 5.063 million (2006).

Transportation: Railways: total: 11,385 km (3,888 km electrified) (2002). Highways: total: 198,817 km; paved: 60,043 km (including 228 km of expressways); unpaved: 138,774 km (2004). Waterways: 1,731 km (2006). Ports and harbors: Braila, Constanta, Galati, Mangalia, Sulina, Tulcea. Airports: 65 (2002).

Republic of Turkey

The flag of Turkey

The map of Turkey

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Turkey is at the northeast end of the Mediterranean Sea in southeast Europe and southwest Asia. To the north is the Black Sea and to the west is the Aegean Sea. Its neighbors are Greece and Bulgaria to the west, Russia, Ukraine, and Romania to the north and northwest (through the Black Sea), Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east, and Syria and Iraq to the south. The Dardanelles (Ellispontos), the Sea of Marmara, and the Bosporus divide the country. Its center is a treeless plateau rimmed by mountains.

National name: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti

President: Abdullah Gul (2007)

Prime Minister: Recep Tayyip Erdogan (2003)

Land area: 770,761 sq km; total area: 780,580 sq km

Population (2007 est.): 71,158,647 (growth rate: 1.0%); birth rate: 16.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 38.3/1000; life expectancy: 72.9; density per sq mi: 239

Capital (2003 est.): Ankara, 3,582,000 (metro. area), 3,456,100 (city proper)

Largest cities: Istanbul, 9,760,000 (metro. area), 8,831,805 (city proper); Izmir, 2,398,200; Bursa, 1,288,900; Adana, 1,219,900; Gaziantep, 979,500

Monetary unit: Turkish lira (YTL)

Languages: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Dimli, Azeri, Kabardian

Ethnicity/race: Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20% (estimated)

Religions: Islam (mostly Sunni) 99.8%, other 0.2% (mostly Christians and Jews)

Literacy rate: 87.4% (2004 est.)

Economic summary: GDP per capita $12,900. Real growth rate: 5%. Inflation: 8.8%. Unemployment: 9.9% (plus underemployment of 4.0%). Arable land: 30%. Agriculture: tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulse, citrus; livestock. Labor force: 23.53 million (2007); note: about 1.2 million Turks work abroad; agriculture 35.9%, industry 22.8%, services 41.2% (3rd quarter, 2004). Industries: textiles, food processing, autos, electronics, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper. Natural resources: antimony, coal, chromium, mercury, copper, borate, sulfur, iron ore, arable land, hydropower. Exports: $72.49 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): apparel, foodstuffs, textiles, metal manufactures, transport equipment. Imports: $101.2 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery, chemicals, semifinished goods, fuels, transport equipment. Major trading partners: Germany, UK, U.S., Italy, France, Spain, Russia, China (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 19.5 million (1999); mobile cellular: 17.1 million (2001). Radio broadcast stations: AM 16, FM 107, shortwave 6 (2001). Radios: 11.3 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 635 (plus 2,934 repeaters) (1995). Televisions: 20.9 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 50 (2001). Internet users: 2.5 million (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 8,607 km (2002). Highways: total: 385,960 km; paved: 131,226 km (including 1,749 km of expressways); unpaved: 254,734 km (1999). Waterways: about 1,200 km. Ports and harbors: Gemlik, Hopa, Iskenderun, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli (Izmit), Icel (Mersin), Samsun, Trabzon. Airports: 120 (2002).

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