Bulgaria: Geography

Geography

Bulgaria

Location:	Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey
Geographic coordinates:	43 00 N, 25 00 E
Map references:	Europe
Area:	total: 110,910 sq km water: 360 sq km land: 110,550 sq km
Area - comparative:	slightly larger than Tennessee
Land boundaries:	total: 1,808 km border countries: Greece 494 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia and Montenegro 318 km, Turkey 240 km
Coastline:	354 km
Maritime claims:	contiguous zone: 24 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 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: 39% permanent crops: 1.8% other: 59.2% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:	8,000 sq km (1998 est.)
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-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note:	strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia