ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Bulgaria. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities, life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Bulgaria. Bulgaria was elected by the United Nations General Assembly to a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council and will hold that seat from 2002 to 2003. The constitution guarantees freedom of the press. Journalists of the Bulgarian National Radio protested in February against the nomination of Ivan Borislavov as general director. The involvement of ethnic Turks in the ruling coalition means that many Bulgarians have accepted a multiethnic government, which is a positive development. Efforts started in September 2000 to desegregate Romani schools and integrate Romani children into the national education system in Vidin, Bulgaria, continued in 2001.
