rld War II
than they did in Adolph Hitler's Germany or in most of the countries
overrun by the Germans, have nonetheless emigrated to Israel in large
numbers. Before that war there were about 50,000 of them in the country,
but 90 percent or more of them emigrated during the early postwar years.

All of the major emigrations were completed before 1960. There appear to
be no reasons why others of similar proportions should occur in the
foreseeable future.

Working Force

In mid-1972 there were 5.8 million people in the working-age group
(fifteen to sixty-four years), although the legal retirement age in most
employment situations is sixty or sixty-five for males and five years
younger for females. About 4.4 million--just over one-half of the total
population and three-quarters of those of working age--constituted the
labor force. Population projections indicate that in the ten-year period
after 1972 the working-age group will increase by 0.3 million, but a
large percentage of the increase will be in the segment of the group
aged fifty to sixty-four.

About 95 percent of the males between twenty-five and sixty-four years
of age are economically active. The percentage of economically active
females is lower, but they have constituted over 40 percent of the labor
force. About 36.5 percent of the economically active are employed in
agricultural fields; of the remaining 63.5 percent, about one-half are
employed in industry. The others are in various service, administrative,
or other miscellaneous activities.

Because the country was late in emerging from a predominantly
agricultural economy, its working force has had little technological
experience. Since World War II, however, schools have been increasingly
oriented to train young people to become technologically competent, and
some success in this direction has been achieved. Whether or not the
working force is being used as effectively as is possible under the
circumstances is being debated, but the government finds a decrease in
the birthrate and its possible limiting effect on industrial production
a cause for considerable concern.

TRANSPORTATION

Railroads

The first railroad built in the country was constructed by the British
in 1866 and connected Ruse on the Danube River with Varna on the Black
Sea. The famous and romantic Orient Express and the Berlin-to-Baghdad
route have used a common line through Bulgaria, entering the country
from Belgrade. The rou