Total Population:
7,973,673 (data from a representative study
of the National Institute of Statistics as of March 1, 2001)

Largest city populations:
Sofia 1,096,389
Plovdiv 340,638
Varna 314,539
Bourgas 193,316
Rousse 162,128
Stara Zagora 143,989

Location of population as average across age groups (2001)
Urban: 69%
Rural: 31%

Net population growth: minus 5.1% (2001)
Birth Rate: 8.07 births/1,000 population
Death Rate: 13.8 deaths/1,000 population
Migration Rate: 4.8 migrants/1,000 population
Infant mortality rate: 15.13 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.13 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Age breakdown: (2001 est.)
0-10 years: 8.8%
10-19 years: 13%
20-29 years: 14.4%
40-49 years: 14.1%
50-59 years: 13.9%
60 years and over: 25.5%

Sex breakdown: (2001 est.)
Male: 48.8%
Female: 51.2%

Life expectancy at birth: (2000 est.)
Total population: 70.91 years
male: 67.45 years
female: 74.56 years

Ethnic groupings (2001 est.)
Bulgarian 83.6%
Turkish 9.5%
Roma 4.6%
Other 1.5%

Religious groupings
Orthodox Christian 83.8%
Muslim 12.1%
Also Roman Catholic, Jewish, Gregorian-Armenian, Protestant, Lutheran, other Catholic

Official language: Bulgarian
Also spoken: Turkish, Romani, Armenian, Hebrew, etc. - roughly corresponds to ethnic breakdowns

Literacy: (percentage of age 15 and over that can read and write - 1999)
total population: 98%
male: 99%
female: 98%

Public holidays:
January 1: New Year
March 3: National Day
April or May (variable): Orthodox Easter Monday
May 1: Labour Day
May 6: Bulgarian Army Day
May 24: Day of Bulgarian Literature & Cyrillic Writing (for Saints Cyril and Methodius)
September 6: Day of Unification of Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia
September 22: Independence Day (from Ottoman Turkish Empire)
November 1: Day of Leaders of the Bulgarian National Revival
December 24-26: Christmas