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Population
Population: 7.7 million (2001 est.)
Ethnic breakdown: Ethnic Bulgarians represent 83% of the population, while small ethnic minorities of Turkish and Roma Gypsy descent make up 8.5% and 2.6% of the population respectively. Other ethnicities in Bulgaria include Armenian, Tatar, Gagauz, and Circassian peoples.
Religions: Bulgarian Orthodox 83.5%, Muslim 13%, Roman Catholic 1.5%, Uniate Catholic 0.2%, Jewish 0.8%, Protestant, Gegorian-Armenian and others 1% (1998 est.)
Demographics: Due to negative population growth -1.14% (2001 est.), Bulgaria has undergone one of the most clearly noticeable demographic changes in Southeastern Europe. Bulgaria has a declining birth rate of 8.06 per 1,000 (2001 est.) compared to 14.5 per 1,000 in the early 1980s and a death rate of 14.53 per 1,000(2001 est.).
Income depreciation of young families, rising unemployment rates, and pessimistic aspirations for future prosperity have all contributed to the one-child family becoming the norm in Bulgaria. Moreover, the negative migration rate of -4.9 migrants per 1000 (2001 est.), further reduces of the size of the Bulgarian population.
Geography
Political and administrative organization