BULGARIA Bulgaria has an area of 33,600 square miles, and a population estimated, in 1910, at 4,337,000. The Balkan range divides the country into two parts. To the north of it lies the Bulgarian plateau, which is built up of Secondary material—sandstones and limestones overlaid in places by loess—and is deeply dissected by the rivers which flow northwards from the mountains to the Danube; while to the south there is the region of Eastern Roumelia, which is more irregular in form, and contains much fertile soil in the valleys which separate the Balkans from the Anti-Balkans, and both from the Rilo-Rhodope section of the Thraco-Macedonian massif. Climatic conditions differ in these two divisions of the country, but in both are more or less continental. To the south of the Balkans the region is more sheltered than in the north, and the temperature is higher, especially in the winter months. The rainfall generally varies between 20 and 30 inches.
Agriculture is the chief pursuit of the inhabitants. About 36 per cent. of the total area of the country is cultivated (including meadow land which amounts to about 4 per cent. of the total cul tivated area), over 10 per cent. is pasture land, and nearly 30 per cent. forest land. About 40 per cent. of the land is held as private property and about 24 per cent, as parish property (or, altogether, about 84 per cent. of the area which can be utilised). The bulk of the holdings, which are in the hands of their owners, are of less than 100 acres in extent. Of the land which is cultivated, about three-fourths is devoted to cereals, wheat yielding the largest crop, and maize and barley occupying the second and third places respectively. Rice is confined to the south. The principal in dustrial plants are tobacco, roses, and beetroot. Tobacco is grown mainly in the south, and is used chiefly for home consumption ; roses, which are cultivated entirely for the manufacture of attar of roses, are found exclusively in the provinces of Philippopolis and Stara Zagora in Eastern Roumelia ; beetroot is chiefly cultivated near Sofia. Cattle and sheep are raised in considerable numbers, and
forage ranks next in importance to cereals ; some attention is also now being paid to the improvement of stock. The forest lands are of considerable importance. In the lowlands, and on the lower slopes of the hills, the principal trees are oaks ; above these, to a height of about 4,000 feet, is a belt where the beech flourishes, as well as the ash and the plane ; the higher parts of the hills are covered with pine and spruce. The parishes own over one-half of the forest lands, chiefly on the lower hill slopes in the west and south of the country; and one-third, mainly in the mountainous districts, is in the hands of the State, while the remainder is scattered over the lowlands, and belongs to private individuals.
Within recent years, attempts have been made to improve the economy of the forests. The mineral wealth of the country is as yet but little known, and, though numerous concessions for the working of various minerals have been granted, lignite from a State-owned mine, 16 miles south-east of Pernik, is the most important product at present.
Manufactures are of comparatively little importance. The old handicrafts, which were carried on in the homes of the people, have declined in importance with the admission of foreign goods, while modern manufactures have only been partially established. The weaving of woollen fabrics and a few other industries are chiefly carried on in regions where water-power is obtainable, though electric motors are now being used in places.
The chief exports of the country are wheat and maize, which constitute about one-half of the total exports. With eggs, oats, rye, barley, attar of roses, sheep's and lambs' wool, and silkworm cocoons, they make up over 75 per cent. of the total exports. The imports consist, in the main, of textiles, metals, and machinery.
Austria-Hungary, Germany, and the United Kingdom are the chief importing countries. The bulk of the exports go to Turkey, Belgium, Germany, and Austria.