2. SIZE AND LOCATION: Area 42,800 square miles. Located in eastern part of Balkan Peninsula on Black Sea south of Danube River. Borders Romania, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Turkey.
3. TOPOGRAPHY: Mountains predominate in west and in ranges that run west to east across the central and southern regions. Lower and more level areas south of Danube River and between the mountain ranges permit extensive cultivation.
4. CLIMATE: Transitional between Eastern European continental and Mediterranean. Northern regions have hot summers, cold winters; south is more moderate but has hot, dry summers.
5. POPULATION: About 8.7 million in 1973; density 203 persons per square mile. Growth rate 0.7 percent annually.
6. ETHNIC GROUPS AND LANGUAGES: 85 percent of population is Bulgar. Persons of Turkish, Macedonian, Greek, Romanian, and other origins are guaranteed the right to use their languages and to preserve their cultural heritage, but Bulgarian, the official language, is spoken by the entire population.
7. RELIGION: 90 percent of population adheres to the Eastern Orthodox faith. There are some 750,000 Moslems, 26,000 Protestants, 32,000 Roman Catholics, and 3,000 to 7,000 Jews. Freedom of religion guaranteed, but practice strictly controlled by state.
8. GOVERNMENT: National Assembly is unicameral legislature. Council of Ministers, performing governmental administrative functions, is responsible to State Council, the supreme executive body. Real power vested in communist party's first secretary, Politburo, Secretariat, and Central Committee.
9. ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS: Administration is by people's councils at district (okrug) and township or borough (obshtina) levels. There are twenty-eight districts, including one composed only of metropolitan Sofia. Districts subdivided into about 1,150 townships and boroughs.
10. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: Member of the Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact); the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON); and the United Nations (UN), including several UN specialized agencies.
11. JUSTICE: Three-level court system headed by Supreme Court. Military and special courts responsible directly to Supreme Court. Judiciary administered by Ministry of Justice within Council of Ministers.