Bulgaria Government

What is the capital of Bulgaria?

Country Name	Bulgaria
Full Country Name	Republic of Bulgaria
Local - Long	Republika Bulgaria
Local - Short	Bulgaria
Former Name	Republika Balgariyak, Balgariya
Etymology- history of name	Named after the Bulgar tribes who settled the lower Balkan region in the 7th century A.D.
Government Type	Parliamentary republic
Capital Name	Sofia
Capital - geographic coordinate	42 41 N, 23 19 E
Capital Time Difference	UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Daylight Savings Time	+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Independence	3 March 1878 (as an autonomous principality within the Ottoman Empire); 22 September 1908 (complete independence from the Ottoman Empire)
National Holiday	Liberation Day, 3 March (1878)
Constitution	History: several previous; latest drafted between late 1990 and early 1991, adopted 13 July 1991 Amendments: proposed by the National Assembly or by the president of the republic; passage requires a three-fourths majority vote of National Assembly members in three ballots; signed by the National Assembly chairperson; note - under special circumstances, a "Grand National Assembly" is elected with the authority to write a new constitution and amend certain articles of the constitution, including those affecting basic civil rights and national sovereignty; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote in each of several readings; amended several times, last in 2015

Bulgaria Capital City Map

Source: Google Maps

Bulgaria Government and Politics

Who is the president of Bulgaria?

Executive Branch:	Chief of State: President Rumen RADEV (since 22 January 2017); Vice President Iliana IOTOVA (since 22 January 2017) Head of Government: Prime Minister Boyko BORISOV (since 4 May 2017); note - BORISSOV served 2 previous terms as prime minister (27 July 2009-13 March 2013 and 7 November 2014-27 January 2017) Cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister, elected by the National Assembly Elections/Appointments: president and vice president elected on the same ballot by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 6 and 13 November 2016 (next to be held in fall 2021); chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) elected by the National Assembly; deputy prime ministers nominated by the prime minister, elected by the National Assembly Election Results: Rumen RADEV elected president in second round; percent of the vote - Rumen RADEV (independent, supported by Bulgarian Socialist Party) 59.4%, Tsetska TSACHEVA (GERB) 36.2%, neither 4.5%; Boyko BORISOV (GERB) elected prime minister; National Assembly vote - 133 to 100
Citizenship Criteria:	Citizenship by Birth: no Citizenship by Descent Only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Bulgaria Dual Citizenship Recognized: yes Residency Requirement for Naturalization: 5 years
Legal System:	Civil law
Suffrage:	18 years of age; universal
Legislative Branch:	Description: unicameral National Assembly or Narodno Sabranie (240 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms) Elections: last held on 26 March 2017 (next to be held spring 2021) Election Results: percent of vote by party/coalition - GERB 32.7%, BSP 27.2%, United Patriots 9.1%, DPS 9%, Volya 4.2%, other 17.8%; seats by party/coalition - GERB 95, BSP 80, United Patriots 27, DPS 26, Volya 12; composition - men 183, women 57, percent of women 23.8%
Judicial Branch:	Highest Court(s): Supreme Court of Cassation (consists of a chairman and approximately 72 judges organized into penal, civil, and commercial colleges); Supreme Administrative Court (organized in 2 colleges with various panels of 5 judges each); Constitutional Court (consists of 12 justices); note - Constitutional Court resides outside the judiciary Judge Selection and Term of Office: Supreme Court of Cassation and Supreme Administrative judges are elected by the Supreme Judicial Council or SJC (consists of 25 members with extensive legal experience) and appointed by the president; judges can serve until mandatory retirement at age 65; Constitutional Court justices elected by the National Assembly and appointed by the president and the SJC; justices appointed for 9-year terms with the renewal of 4 justices every 3 years Subordinate Courts: appeals courts; regional and district courts; administrative courts; courts martial
Regions or States:	28 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast); Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Dobrich, Gabrovo, Haskovo, Kardzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Ruse, Shumen, Silistra, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofia, Sofia-Grad (Sofia City), Stara Zagora, Targovishte, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Yambol
Political Parties and Leaders:	Alternative for Bulgarian Revival or ABV [Konstantin PRODANOV] Attack (Ataka) [Volen Nikolov SIDEROV] Bulgarian Agrarian People’s Union [Nikolay NENCHEV] Bulgarian Socialist Party or BSP [Korneliya NINOVA] Bulgaria of the Citizens or DBG [Meglena KUNEVA] Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria or GERB [Boyko BORISSOV] Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria or DSB [Atanas ATANOSOV] Democrats for Responsibility, Solidarity, and Tolerance or DOST [Lyutvi MESTAN] IMRO - Bulgarian National Movement or IMRO-BNM [Krasimir KARAKACHANOV] Movement for Rights and Freedoms or DPS [Mustafa KARADAYA] National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria or NFSB [Valeri SIMEONOV] New Republic (alliance of DSB and other center-right parties) [Radan KANEV] Reformist Bloc or RB (a four-party alliance including DBG and SDS) United Patriots (alliance of IMRO-BNM, NFSB, and Attack) Union of Democratic Forces or SDS [Bozhidar LUKARSKI] Yes! Bulgaria [Hristo IVANOV] Volya [Veselin MARESHKI]
International Law Organization Participation:	Accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
International Organization Participation:	Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EU, FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OIF, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic Representation in the US:	Chief of Mission: Ambassador Tihomir Anguelov STOYTCHEV (since 27 June 2016) Chancery: 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 Telephone: [1] (202) 387-0174 FAX: [1] (202) 234-7973 Consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York
Diplomatic Representation from US:	Chief of Mission: Ambassador Eric Seth RUBIN (since 24 February 2016) Embassy: 16 Kozyak Street, Sofia 1408 Mailing Address: American Embassy Sofia, US Department of State, 5740 Sofia Place, Washington, DC 20521-5740 Telephone: [359] (2) 937-5100 FAX: [359] (2) 937-5320

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