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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Bulgaria
Index
Before the National Revival of the mid-nineteenth century,
education usually took the form of memorization of the liturgy and
other religious material. Supporters of the National Revival
movement were instrumental in establishing and supporting Bulgarian
schools in the cities--first for boys, and later for girls as well.
These activists also introduced the chitalishta. Often
located next to a school, the chitalishta served as
community cultural centers as well as reading rooms. The first
schools, which began opening in the early nineteenth century, often
did not go beyond a basic education; students wishing to continue
their education had to go abroad.
The educational system established after Bulgaria gained its
independence retained the same basic structure through 1989. The
1878 Temporary Law on National Schools established free compulsory
education in primary school for both sexes. The schools were
designed to teach reading, writing, and basic arithmetic. In
practice, not everyone received that education, but the law gave
the villages an incentive to open new schools. By the turn of the
century, one-third of all Bulgarian villages had primary schools.
In the early days, the immediate demand for a large number of
teachers meant that many new teachers had little more education
than their students. Later reforms specified a seven-year standard
education with a curriculum based on a West European model. Some
peasants, especially uneducated ones, withdrew their children from
school because they believed the classes were unrelated to peasant
life. This led to the offering of textbooks and prizes as an
incentive for students from poorer families.
Communist rule in Bulgaria brought forth a new approach to
education as a means of indoctrinating Marxist theory and communist
values. Literacy was promoted so that the communist-controlled
press could be disseminated throughout society. New classes for
both adults and children aimed at providing as many as possible
with a high-school education and abolishing illiteracy. Schools
switched their focus from liberal arts to technical training and
introduced a curriculum modeled on that of the Soviet Union.
Russian language study was introduced for all, from kindergartners
to adults who had already completed their education. Copies of
Pravda, the primary newspaper of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union, were distributed even in isolated villages. After the
overthrow of Zhivkov, however, English became the most studied
foreign language in Bulgaria, and the study of Russian declined
dramatically.
In 1979 Zhivkov introduced a sweeping educational reform,
claiming that Marxist teachings on educating youth were still not
being applied completely. Zhivkov therefore created Unified
Secondary Polytechnical Schools (Edinna sredna politekhnicheska
uchilishta, ESPU), in which all students would receive the same
general education. The system united previously separate
specialized middle schools in a single, twelve-grade program
heavily emphasizing technical subjects. In 1981 a national program
introduced computers to most of the ESPUs. The change produced a
chaotic situation in which teaching plans and programs had to be
completely overhauled and new textbooks issued to reflect the new
educational emphasis. This project proved unworkable, and by 1985
new specialized schools again were being established (see
table 10,
Appendix).
The fall of Zhivkov resulted in a complete restructuring of the
country's educational system. In retrospect Bulgarian educators
recognized that the socialist way of educating was not only
bureaucratic, boring, and impersonal. It also led to disregard for
the rights of the individual, intolerance of the opinions of
others, and aggressive behavior. The centralized system with its
regional hierarchies was therefore scrapped in favor of a system of
educational councils in which every 400 teachers could elect a
delegate to the National Council of Teachers. The first goal of the
new organization was to depoliticize the schools in cooperation
with the Ministry of Public Education.
In 1991 the Bulgarian educational system consisted of three
types of schools: state, municipal, and private (including
religious). The grade levels were primary (first to fourth grade),
basic (fifth to seventh grade), and secondary (eighth to twelfth
grade). Children began first grade at age six or seven and were
required to attended school until age sixteen. Parents also had the
option of enrolling their children in kindergarten at age five.
Secondary school students had the choice of studying for three
years at professional-vocational schools or for four years at
technical schools or general high schools. Religious schools
operated only on the high-school level. Specialized high schools
taught foreign languages, mathematics, and music; admittance to
them was by special entrance exams. Special programs for gifted and
talented children began as early as the fifth grade. Special
schools also operated for handicapped children. Children suffering
from chronic illnesses could receive their schooling in a hospital
or sanatorium.
Prior to the postcommunist reform era, about 25,000 students
dropped out every year before reaching their sixteenth birthday;
another 25,000 failed to advance to the next grade. Under the new
system, parents could be fined 500 to 1,000 leva if their children
failed to attend school; fines also were levied for pupils retained
in grade for an extra year.
Public opinion on the educational reform focused mainly on
depolitization. By the 1990-91 school year, new textbooks had been
introduced in many subjects, but many of them were not completely
free of socialist rhetoric. A first-grade mathematics textbook
published in 1990 contained the following exercise: "Count how many
words there are in this sentence: 'I am grateful to the Party, for
it leads my country to beautiful, radiant life and vigilantly
protects us from war.'" A newly published music book contained
songs about the party, a communist youth organization, and Lenin.
Many teachers likewise continued to espouse the communist rhetoric
in which their profession had been long and firmly indoctrinated.
In late 1990, about 50,000 Sofia University students demonstrated
against poor education and against continued requirements to attend
courses in Marxism. Their protest caused the university to
eliminate compulsory political indoctrination courses. The 1991 Law
on Public Education declared that "no political activity is allowed
in the system of public education."
Depolitization was expected to be a slow process because of the
extent to which the schools had been politicized before 1990. At
the end of 1990, over 90 percent of all teachers were still members
of the Bulgarian Socialist (formerly Communist) Party. For this
reason, the Law on Public Education prohibited teachers from
becoming members of political parties for a period of three years,
beginning in 1991. Because the Zhivkov regime had tinkered often
with Bulgaria's educational system, longtime teachers had developed
a cynicism toward reform of any type. This attitude hampered the
removal of the old socialist structures from the educational
system.
Some students married and began families while they were still
in school, and two-student families were not uncommon. Such
families often depended on help from parents because of their low
income and because of a shortage of student family housing. By 1990
most Bulgarian students worked in their free time, unlike their
predecessors in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Reform also reached higher education. In 1990 a new law on
academic freedom emphasized the concept of an intellectual market
in which universities, teachers, and students must maintain high
performance levels to stay competitive. The law gave every
institution of higher learning the right to manage its teaching and
research activities without government interference. This right
included control over curriculum, number of students, standards for
student admissions and teacher hirings, training and organization
of faculty, and the level of contact with other institutions of
higher learning in Bulgaria and abroad. Students received the right
to choose their own professors. The higher education law was
criticized for withholding students' rights and because the
legislature had failed to consult students in the law's
formulation.
In 1991 experts evaluated the state university system as weak
in critically needed technical fields of study. The availability of
interested students was also questioned. In the 1990-91 school
year, no graduate students with enterprise scholarships majored in
subjects such as computer systems, artificial intelligence systems,
or ecology and environmental protection. Graduate programs in
critical nontechnical fields such as management economics,
marketing, production management, and finance also had no students.
After the overthrow of Zhivkov, France and Germany made early
commitments to help Bulgaria carry out educational reforms. In 1991
the United States began planning a new American college in
Blagoevgrad, where students would be taught in English using
American educational methods. The first 200 students were to
include 160 Bulgarians, 20 students from neighboring European
countries, and 20 Americans majoring in Balkan studies. The
University of Maine was to supply the teachers. Plans called for
business and economics to be the major areas of concentration.
Affordability was a potential barrier to participation in this plan
by Bulgarian students; the cost was low by American standards, but
far above the average Bulgarian's price range. And the tuition-free
Bulgarian university system was expected to lure many qualified
students from the new university. Nevertheless, Western education
assistance was an important symbolic step in moving the social
institutions of Bulgaria into the European mainstream, from which
they had been isolated for forty-five years.
* * *
Because the societal change stimulated in Bulgaria by the
process of democratization is likely to continue through the 1990s,
translations of the Bulgarian press are an invaluable source of
current information. A wide variety of articles and broadcasts on
social topics, as well as government documents and laws, are
translated in the Foreign Broadcast Information Service's Daily
Report: East Europe and the Joint Publication Research
Service's JPRS Report: East Europe. Amnesty International's
Bulgaria: Imprisonment of Ethnic Turks is an impartial
source of information on the Turks and other minorities during the
assimilation campaign of the 1980s. Hugh Poulton's The Balkans:
Minorities and States in Conflict includes material on ethnic
policy and regional issues after the overthrow of Zhivkov. Kak
Zhiveem (How We Live) is a new Bulgarian-language sociological
magazine that includes Western-style surveys on topics such as
housing and the standard of living. Bulgarien, volume six in
the German series of southeast European handbooks, offers chapter-
length treatment of most aspects of society, including education,
minorities, population, and religion; some articles are in English,
most are in German. (For further information and complete
citations,
see
Bibliography.)
Data as of June 1992
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Background | | The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Turks. Northern Bulgaria attained autonomy in 1878 and all of Bulgaria became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1908. Having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, Bulgaria fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990, when Bulgaria held its first multiparty election since World War II and began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy while combating inflation, unemployment, corruption, and crime. The country joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007.
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Location | | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey
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Area(sq km) | | total: 110,879 sq km
land: 108,489 sq km
water: 2,390 sq km
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Geographic coordinates | | 43 00 N, 25 00 E
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Land boundaries(km) | | total: 1,808 km
border countries: Greece 494 km, Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia 318 km, Turkey 240 km
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Coastline(km) | | 354 km
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Climate | | temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers
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Elevation extremes(m) | | lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Musala 2,925 m
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Natural resources | | bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land
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Land use(%) | | arable land: 29.94%
permanent crops: 1.9%
other: 68.16% (2005)
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Irrigated land(sq km) | | 5,880 sq km (2003)
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Total renewable water resources(cu km) | | 19.4 cu km (2005)
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Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) | | total: 6.92 cu km/yr (3%/78%/19%)
per capita: 895 cu m/yr (2003)
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Natural hazards | | earthquakes; landslides
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Environment - current issues | | air pollution from industrial emissions; rivers polluted from raw sewage, heavy metals, detergents; deforestation; forest damage from air pollution and resulting acid rain; soil contamination from heavy metals from metallurgical plants and industrial wastes
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Environment - international agreements | | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
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Geography - note | | strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia
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Population | | 7,204,687 (July 2009 est.)
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Age structure(%) | | 0-14 years: 13.8% (male 509,544/female 484,816)
15-64 years: 68.5% (male 2,426,060/female 2,508,772)
65 years and over: 17.7% (male 518,711/female 756,784) (2009 est.)
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Median age(years) | | total: 41.4 years
male: 39.2 years
female: 43.6 years (2009 est.)
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Population growth rate(%) | | -0.79% (2009 est.)
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Birth rate(births/1,000 population) | | 9.51 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
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Death rate(deaths/1,000 population) | | 14.31 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
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Net migration rate(migrant(s)/1,000 population) | | -3.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
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Urbanization(%) | | urban population: 71% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: -0.3% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
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Sex ratio(male(s)/female) | | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female
total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
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Infant mortality rate(deaths/1,000 live births) | | total: 17.87 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.28 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 14.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
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Life expectancy at birth(years) | | total population: 73.09 years
male: 69.48 years
female: 76.91 years (2009 est.)
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Total fertility rate(children born/woman) | | 1.41 children born/woman (2009 est.)
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Nationality | | noun: Bulgarian(s)
adjective: Bulgarian
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Ethnic groups(%) | | Bulgarian 83.9%, Turk 9.4%, Roma 4.7%, other 2% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) (2001 census)
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Religions(%) | | Bulgarian Orthodox 82.6%, Muslim 12.2%, other Christian 1.2%, other 4% (2001 census)
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Languages(%) | | Bulgarian 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)
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Country name | | conventional long form: Republic of Bulgaria
conventional short form: Bulgaria
local long form: Republika Balgariya
local short form: Balgariya
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Government type | | parliamentary democracy
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Capital | | name: Sofia
geographic coordinates: 42 41 N, 23 19 E
time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
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Administrative divisions | | 28 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast); Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Dobrich, Gabrovo, Khaskovo, Kurdzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Ruse, Shumen, Silistra, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofiya, Sofiya-Grad, Stara Zagora, Turgovishte, Varna, Veliko Turnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Yambol
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Constitution | | adopted 12 July 1991
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Legal system | | civil and criminal law based on Roman law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
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Suffrage | | 18 years of age; universal
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Executive branch | | chief of state: President Georgi PARVANOV (since 22 January 2002); Vice President Angel MARIN (since 22 January 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Boyko BORISSOV (since 27 July 2009); Deputy Prime Ministers Simeon DJANKOV and Tsvetan TSVETANOV (since 27 July 2009);
cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister and elected by the National Assembly
elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 22 and 29 October 2006 (next to be held in 2011); chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) elected by the National Assembly; deputy prime ministers nominated by the prime minister and elected by the National Assembly
election results: Georgi PARVANOV reelected president; percent of vote - Georgi PARVANOV 77.3%, Volen SIDEROV 22.7%; Boyko BORISSOV elected prime minister, result of legislative vote - 162 to 77 with 1 abstension
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Legislative branch | | unicameral National Assembly or Narodno Sabranie (240 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 5 July 2009 (next to be held mid-2013)
election results: percent of vote by party - GERB 39.7%, BSP 17.7%, MRF 14.4%, ATAKA 9.4%, Blue Coalition 6.8%, RZS 4.1%, other 7.9%; seats by party - GERB 116, BSP 40, MRF 38, ATAKA 21, Blue Coalition 15, RZS 10
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Judicial branch | | independent judiciary comprised of judges, prosecutors and investigating magistrates who are appointed, promoted, demoted, and dismissed by a 25-member Supreme Judicial Council (consists of the chairmen of the two Supreme Courts, the Chief Prosecutor, and 22 members, half of whom are elected by the National Assembly and the other half by the bodies of the judiciary for a 5-year term in office); three levels of case review; 182 courts of which two Supreme Courts act as the last instance on civil and criminal cases (the Supreme Court of Cassation) and appeals of government decisions (the Supreme Administrative Court)
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Political pressure groups and leaders | | Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria or CITUB; Podkrepa Labor Confederation
other: numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest groups with various agendas
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International organization participation | | ACCT, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU, FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OIF, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate affiliate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
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Flag description | | three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red; the pan-Slavic white-blue-red colors were modified by substituting a green band (representing freedom) for the blue
note: the national emblem, formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe, has been removed
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Economy - overview | | Bulgaria, a former Communist country that entered the EU on 1 January 2007, has experienced strong growth since a major economic downturn in 1996. Successive governments have demonstrated a commitment to economic reforms and responsible fiscal planning, but have failed so far to rein in rising inflation and large current account deficits. Bulgaria has averaged more than 6% growth since 2004, attracting significant amounts of foreign direct investment, but corruption in the public administration, a weak judiciary, and the presence of organized crime remain significant challenges.
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GDP (purchasing power parity) | | $93.98 billion (2008 est.)
$88.66 billion (2007 est.)
$83.48 billion (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars
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GDP (official exchange rate) | | $49.9 billion (2008)
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GDP - real growth rate(%) | | 6% (2008 est.)
6.2% (2007 est.)
6.3% (2006 est.)
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GDP - per capita (PPP) | | $12,900 (2008 est.)
$12,100 (2007 est.)
$11,300 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars
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GDP - composition by sector(%) | | agriculture: 7.3%
industry: 30.5%
services: 62.2% (2008 est.)
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Labor force | | 2.67 million (2008 est.)
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Labor force - by occupation(%) | | agriculture: 7.5%
industry: 35.5%
services: 57% (2007 est.)
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Unemployment rate(%) | | 6.3% (2008 est.)
7.7% (2007 est.)
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Population below poverty line(%) | | 14.1% (2003 est.)
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Household income or consumption by percentage share(%) | | lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 25.5% (2007)
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Distribution of family income - Gini index | | 30.7 (2007)
26.4 (2001)
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Investment (gross fixed)(% of GDP) | | 33.4% of GDP (2008 est.)
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Budget | | revenues: $22.24 billion
expenditures: $20.74 billion (2008 est.)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices)(%) | | 12.3% (2008 est.)
9.8% (2007 est.)
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Stock of money | | $14.29 billion (31 December 2008)
$15.58 billion (31 December 2007)
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Stock of quasi money | | $19.67 billion (31 December 2008)
$17.03 billion (31 December 2007)
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Stock of domestic credit | | $32.04 billion (31 December 2008)
$25.18 billion (31 December 2007)
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Market value of publicly traded shares | | $8.858 billion (31 December 2008)
$21.79 billion (31 December 2007)
$10.32 billion (31 December 2006)
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Economic aid - recipient | | $742 million (2005-06 est.)
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Public debt(% of GDP) | | 14.1% of GDP (2008 est.)
41.9% of GDP (2004 est.)
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Agriculture - products | | vegetables, fruits, tobacco, wine, wheat, barley, sunflowers, sugar beets; livestock
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Industries | | electricity, gas, water; food, beverages, tobacco; machinery and equipment, base metals, chemical products, coke, refined petroleum, nuclear fuel
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Industrial production growth rate(%) | | 1.5% (2008 est.)
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Current account balance | | -$12.65 billion (2008 est.)
-$8.716 billion (2007 est.)
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Exports | | $22.71 billion (2008 est.)
$18.58 billion (2007 est.)
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Exports - commodities(%) | | clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels
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Exports - partners(%) | | Greece 9.9%, Germany 9.2%, Turkey 8.9%, Italy 8.5%, Romania 7.2%, Belgium 5.9%, France 4.1% (2008)
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Imports | | $35.64 billion (2008 est.)
$28.65 billion (2007 est.)
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Imports - commodities(%) | | machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; fuels, minerals, and raw materials
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Imports - partners(%) | | Russia 14.6%, Germany 11.8%, Italy 7.9%, Ukraine 7.3%, Romania 5.6%, Turkey 5.5%, Greece 5.4%, Austria 4.1% (2008)
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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | | $17.93 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
$17.54 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
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Debt - external | | $51.46 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
$42.62 billion (31 December 2007)
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Stock of direct foreign investment - at home | | $42.91 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
$33.91 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
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Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad | | $1.292 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
$559 million (31 December 2007 est.)
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Exchange rates | | leva (BGN) per US dollar - 1.3171 (2008 est.), 1.4366 (2007), 1.5576 (2006), 1.5741 (2005), 1.5751 (2004)
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Currency (code) | | lev (BGN)
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Telephones - main lines in use | | 2.258 million (2008)
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Telephones - mobile cellular | | 10.633 million (2008)
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Telephone system | | general assessment: an extensive but antiquated telecommunications network inherited from the Soviet era; quality has improved; the Bulgaria Telecommunications Company's fixed-line monopoly terminated in 2005 when alternative fixed-line operators were given access to its network; a drop in fixed-line connections in recent years has been more than offset by a sharp increase in mobile-cellular telephone use fostered by multiple service providers; the number of cellular telephone subscriptions now greatly exceeds the population
domestic: a fairly modern digital cable trunk line now connects switching centers in most of the regions; the others are connected by digital microwave radio relay
international: country code - 359; submarine cable provides connectivity to Ukraine and Russia; a combination submarine cable and land fiber-optic system provides connectivity to Italy, Albania, and Macedonia; satellite earth stations - 3 (1 Intersputnik in the Atlantic Ocean region, 2 Intelsat in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions) (2008)
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Internet country code | | .bg
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Internet users | | 2.647 million (2008)
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Airports | | 212 (2009)
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Pipelines(km) | | gas 2,926 km; oil 339 km; refined products 156 km (2008)
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Roadways(km) | | total: 40,231 km
paved: 39,587 km (includes 331 km of expressways)
unpaved: 644 km (2005)
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Ports and terminals | | Burgas, Varna
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Military branches | | Bulgarian Armed Forces: Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Bulgarian Air Forces (Bulgarski Voennovazdyshni Sily, BVVS) (2009)
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Military service age and obligation(years of age) | | 18-27 years of age for voluntary military service; as of May 2006, 67% of the Bulgarian Army comprised of professional soldiers; conscription ended January 2008; Air Forces and Naval Forces became fully professional at the end of 2006 (2008)
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Manpower available for military service | | males age 16-49: 1,701,979
females age 16-49: 1,691,092 (2008 est.)
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Manpower fit for military service | | males age 16-49: 1,351,312
females age 16-49: 1,381,017 (2009 est.)
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Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually | | male: 38,263
female: 36,374 (2009 est.)
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Military expenditures(% of GDP) | | 2.6% of GDP (2005 est.)
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Disputes - international | | none
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Electricity - production(kWh) | | 40.25 billion kWh (2007 est.)
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Electricity - production by source(%) | | fossil fuel: 47.8%
hydro: 8.1%
nuclear: 44.1%
other: 0% (2001)
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Electricity - consumption(kWh) | | 31.08 billion kWh (2007 est.)
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Electricity - exports(kWh) | | 8.441 billion kWh (2008 est.)
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Electricity - imports(kWh) | | 3.097 billion kWh (2008 est.)
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Oil - production(bbl/day) | | 3,357 bbl/day (2008 est.)
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Oil - consumption(bbl/day) | | 124,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
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Oil - exports(bbl/day) | | 76,570 bbl/day (2007 est.)
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Oil - imports(bbl/day) | | 189,000 bbl/day (2007 est.)
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Oil - proved reserves(bbl) | | 15 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
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Natural gas - production(cu m) | | 300 million cu m (2008 est.)
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Natural gas - consumption(cu m) | | 3.4 billion cu m (2008 est.)
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Natural gas - exports(cu m) | | 0 cu m (2008)
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Natural gas - proved reserves(cu m) | | 5.663 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate(%) | | less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | | 346 (2001 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - deaths | | 100 (2001 est.)
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Literacy(%) | | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.2%
male: 98.7%
female: 97.7% (2001 census)
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School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)(years) | | total: 14 years
male: 13 years
female: 14 years (2006)
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Education expenditures(% of GDP) | | 4.5% of GDP (2005)
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