Bulgaria

The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Turks. Northern Bulgaria attained autonomy in 1878 and all of Bulgaria became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1908. Having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, Bulgaria fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990, when Bulgaria held its first multiparty election since World War II and began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy while combating inflation, unemployment, corruption, and crime. Today, reforms and democratization keep Bulgaria on a path toward eventual integration into the EU. The country joined NATO in 2004.

Country profile: Bulgaria

After the second world war the country was a satellite of the Soviet Union for nearly half a century. It celebrated success in its bid for integration into western alliances when it became a Nato member in March 2004.

Its transition to democracy and a market economy after the collapse of communism has not been easy.

Throughout the first half of the 1990s, Bulgaria was wracked by political instability and strikes. The former communists remained a powerful influence. Although the end of the decade was more stable, there was little tangible progress with economic reform.

Under Bulgaria's former king, Simeon II, who was prime minister between 2001 and 2005, the country pressed ahead with market reforms designed to meet EU economic targets. The country achieved growth, saw unemployment fall from highs of nearly 20% and inflation come under control but incomes and living standards remained low.

Bulgaria was not among the countries invited to join the EU in 2004. However, it signed an EU accession treaty in April 2005 in preparation for joining in January 2007.

EU officials set tough entry requirements, reflecting their concerns about corruption and organised crime.

An area of friction has been the Kozloduy nuclear power plant which supplies around half of Bulgaria's electricity and earns millions of dollars for the country from electricity exports.

Under pressure from the EU, the Bulgarians agreed to shut the two oldest reactors at the end of 2002. Despite Bulgarian insistence that extensive safety improvements have been introduced in recent years, Brussels also wants two of the remaining four reactors to close.

• Full name: Republic of Bulgaria
• Population: 7.8 million (UN, 2005)
• Capital: Sofia
• Area: 110,994 sq km (42,855 sq miles)
• Major language: Bulgarian
• Major religion: Christianity
• Life expectancy: 69 years (men), 76 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 lev = 100 stotinki
• Main exports: Chemicals and plastics, food and drink, tobacco, machine-building equipment
• GNI per capita: US $3,450 (World Bank, 2006)
• Internet domain: .bg
• International dialling code: +359

President: Georgi Parvanov

Georgi Parvanov won a second five-year term with a landslide victory in October 2006. He beat nationalist Volen Siderov, who opposed the country's European Union entry in 2007.

Bulgaria's presidents are elected to five-year terms. Although the president is head of the armed forces, the role is largely ceremonial. Legislative power is exercised by the prime minister and parliament.

Prime minister: Sergei Stanishev

Bulgaria's main parties agreed in August 2005 to form a coalition, ending weeks of post-election deadlock.

The Socialist Party led by Sergei Stanishev entered into government with the liberal Movement for Simeon II (NMS). The mostly ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) is also part of the coalition.

The Socialists won the biggest number of seats in parliament in the June poll, but not enough to form a government on their own. The NMS, which led the former coalition, came second and the MRF third.

In the political manoeuvring that followed, the main parties blocked each other's attempts to form a government. As negotiations dragged on, the EU urged a rapid resolution of the situation in order to progress reforms required for accession in 2007.

Mr Stanishev has said that EU membership is his government's top priority and pledged to make up for lost time. He promises to intensify the campaign against corruption and organised crime although his government has faced criticism for failing to make sufficient progress.

Mr Stanishev's predecessor, former king Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, had been the first ex-monarch in post-communist eastern Europe to return to power.