The country is divided into 28 Provinces subdivided into 264 municipalities.

The Republic of Bulgaria is a parliamentary democracy under a unitary constitutional republic, governed by the President, as Head of State and commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, the Prime Minister, as Head of the Council of Ministers, and the Cabinet, in a coalition of the three main parties:
BSP (Bulgaria Socialist Party)
NSM (National Movement Simeon 11 (the son of the former Tsar Boris 111)
The movement for Rights and Freedoms (representing mainly the Turkish minority).

The next elections are scheduled to take place in Summer 2009.

Over the last two years the Government, centred on the capital Sofia, has concentrated on :

• Accession to the E.U (Achieved on the 1st of January 2007) and full participation in EU bodies and Institutions
• Joining the Eurozone in 2011.
• Reducing unemployment, down to 7.25% in 2008.
• Enhancing judicial reform
• Annual Economic Growth (6% - 8% in 2007)
• Rise in personal incomes and quality of life. The country boasts the second highest standard of living in Southeastern Europe in terms of GDP per capita.
• Guaranteed and accessible Healthcare system.
• Encouragement of privatization and competition.
• Regional development and its' disparities.
• Abolition of compulsory military service 2008 / 09
• Measures against organized crime and corruption.

Economy

In 2006 the GDP structure was Agriculture 8%, Industry 26.1%, Services 65.9%.

The property industry has benefited over the last two years from foreigners, mostly from UK, seeking holiday homes at economic prices and from the increase in tourism through the advent of heavy advertising and cheap air travel.

The Agriculture industry has increased mechanization and production, but needs to be urgently modernized to benefit the predominant wheat, sunflower and maize volumes.
The wine industry will benefit even more with modernization and increase the vineyards' exports which have begun to make small inroads into western markets.

Nuclear power plants and metal refineries have contributed to growth, but electronics and electric equipment production have taken over from heavy engineering, producing good quality household appliances, computers, CD's, telephones, medical and scientific equipment.

The High Tech and Telecommunications systems industry have taken advantage of a strong education system producing a highly qualified workforce, encouraging major world multi-nationals to build their bases in Bulgaria, the most noticeable of the new centres being that of Hewlett Packard in Sofia.

Telecommunications growth has been phenomenal, with over 6 million mobile users.
Internet is available in all towns and even in the smaller villages, with fast connectivity. There are approximately 185,000 internet hosts.

The strongest growth has been in transport with the construction of six new motorways already now under way and five planned including the Sofia ring road, in addition to many of the old roads being re-constructed.

More than 60% of the countrys' railways are electrified and E.U. funding has been earmarked for further development.

The new Sofia Metro with have three lines and 52 stations, but a great deal of effort and funding needs to be put into other public transport, in 20 cities.

At this major crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa, it is not surprising airport development is at a pace, starting with the newly opened international airport at Sofia, to be followed by Varna and Plovdiv.

The major sea ports of Varna and Burgas will benefit from funding and develop alongside this new found wealth.

Demographics
The estimate dpopulation for 2008 is 7.1Million with the capital Sofia housing 1.3 Million.

Ethnic Bulgarians make up 83.9% of the population, with two sizeable minorities, Turks(9.4%) and Roma(4.7%), smaller minorities include, Russians, Armenians, Vlachs, Jews, Crimean Tartars and Karakachans.

96.3% of the population speak Bulgarian, and the major religions are Bulgarian Orthodox (82.6%) and Islam (12.2%) Protestant and Roman Catholic together represent 1.3%.

There was a marked ‘ brain drain' from the country between 1988 and 2001 coupled with a negative population growth, and there will have to be an increase in fertility rate of 0.8 children per woman in the country to correct the imbalance, and some incentives probably from the multi national companies to bring skilled workers back to the country, to avoid a demographic crisis.

Tourism
This sector attracts over 7 million visitors to the country annually, from most western countries and Russia, through a combination of major ski resorts and coastal playgrounds, quality and prices.
This sector is also contributing a massive 6.5% to the countrys' annual economic growth.
2008 could see the biggest contribution ever.