ABSTRACT
Bulgaria has had four different governments since 1990, each with its own ideas about reform, and this has without question set back economic transformation. Bulgaria’s national territory stretches over 110, 994 km2. About 32 percent is lowland up to 200 m above sea level, while 36 percent is hills and highlands. Bulgaria is exposed both to continental and maritime climate influences, which give it a typical transition climate. Most of the country has moderately cold winters and warm summers with an early spring warming. A primary goal of agricultural policy since 1991 has been the reinstitution of private property rights governing agricultural land ownership. Northern Bulgaria, with the regions of Montana, Lovec, Ruse and Varna, and the extended lowlands south of the Danube and the mountain foothills, has 64 percent of the national area planted. Southern Bulgaria, with the regions of Burgas, Haskovo, and Plovdiv has a variable topography and only 31 percent of the area planted.
