GOVERNMENT. Tn accordance with the treaty adopted by the European Powers at the Berlin Congress of 1878, Bulgaria was constituted an hereditary and constitutional monarchy under the suzerainty of and tributary to the Turkish Government. Eastern Rumelia, prior to 1885 an autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire and administered by a Christian Governor. ap pointed by the Turkish Government, was put, in 1556, under the direct supervision of the Prince of Bulgaria, and is at present practically a part of Bulgaria. The Constitution of Bulgaria, adopt ed in 1s79. and amended in 15113, places theexecu tive power in the hands of the Prince, while the legislative power is shared by him with the National Assembly, or Sobranje, which consists of a number of deputies—one for every 20,000 of populatiim—•lected by universal manhood suf frage. .111 legislative measures passed by the As sembly must receive the sanction of the Prince to become The initiative may be taken both by the Prince and by the Assembly. In extraordinary eases the Grand Assembly (Great Sobranje) is convened, consisting of double the number of deputies of the ordinary Assembly. and elected in the same manlier. The .Nlinistry is responsilile both to the Prince and the Assembly, and is di vided into eight departments. The 1 Ittornan E'in pire is represented by a eonunissioner. For ad ministrative purposes Bulgaria is divided into 22 districts or o•ruys, subdivided into 85 okotic,,•. All of them are administered by local councils elected by the people. Vor the administ ration of justice there are district courts and justies of the peace, which have been instituted following Rus sian occupation. There are also three courts of appeal and a Supreme Court in sotia, the capital.
Education is and compulsory between the ages of 8 and 12. The cost of maintaining the schools is covered by the State and by the muni cipalities and village communities. There are some 4700 With S000 teachers and nearly 350.000 pupils; 16 gymnasia. 120 middle schools, and 21 special and tech nical schools. The university at Sofia has three
faculties and is attended by over 350 students. The annual budget at the beginning of this cen tury exceeded the sum of $18,000,000. The reve nue is derived chiefly from direct and indirect taxes and from taxes rn commerce and industries. The public debt of Bulgaria amounted at the end of 1900 to over $43.500,000, mostly at 6 per cent. in 1S99 the Bulgarian Government was authorized to convert the entire debt into one 5 per cent. loan of a nominal amount of $50.180. 000. Military service is obligatory for every able-bodied male resident, while those unfit for active service are obliged to pay an annual tax ranging from 10 to 200 francs for ten years. The period of actual service is only two years in infantry regiments and three years in other arms. and the yearly number of recruits is esti mated at 16,000. The armed strength of Bul garia is estimated at nearly 210,000 men. includ ing, 6 regiments of cavalry, 6 regiments of field artillery, and 3 battalions of garrison artillery. The navy of Bulgaria consists of a few steam ships of from 400 to SOO tons, one torpedo gun boat, two armored gunboats used for the defense of the Danube. and several small steamboats. See ARMIES and NAVIES.
The Bulgarians. who constitute the bulk of the population of Bulgaria, are a different people from the ancient Bulgars who settled in the region twelve centuries ago (see paragraph on Hisrouv). Linguistically. they constitute a branch of the South Slavic stock (see BULGARIAN LANGVAI;E) . They may now be termed an ethnic group, made up of Slavic (Teuto-Slavic), Gothic (Teutonic). and Mongoloid (Einno-Tatar) ele ments, to which Mussulman and Greek have addcd a considerable percentage. The Bulgarian nationality numbers about 4.000.01)0 souls. of whom about three-eighths live outside of Bul garia—in Turkey, Russia. Rumania, and Austria flumtry. The hulk of them belong to die Greek Church; but there are several hundred thousand Mohammedan Bulgarians, called Pomaks, who are found mainly in the Rhodope in Turkish territory.