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People
Cultural Demography
Ethnic Bulgarians comprise about 83 percent of an estimated total population just under eight million. Approximately nine percent of Bulgarians are ethnic Turks; there are also small groups of Roma (also referred to as Gypsies, although some Roma find the term pejorative), Macedonians, Armenians and Russians.
Although Bulgarian is the predominant language, several other languages, closely corresponding to Bulgaria's ethnic composition, are also spoken.
In terms of religious affiliation, over 83 percent of the populace is Bulgarian Orthodox; 13 percent is Muslim. There are also small Jewish, Roman Catholic, Uniate Catholic, Protestant and Gregorian-Armenian groups.
Human Development
According to recent estimates, Bulgarians have an average life expectancy at birth of 73.35 years (69.7 years for males, 77.2 years for females). The infant mortality rate is 17.3 deaths per 1,000 live births. The population has an estimated average literacy rate of 98.2 percent. About 4.1 percent of GDP is spent in the country on educational expenditures. About 7.4 percent of GDP is spent on health expenditures. Access to sanitation, water, and health care is considered to be generally excellent.
One notable measure used to determine a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which has been compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a recent ranking of 169 countries and territories, the HDI placed Bulgaria in the high human development category, at 58th place. Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.
Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief, www.countrywatch.com; see Bibliography for research sources.
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