d runways: total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2001)

Military Bhutan

Military branches: Royal Bhutan Army, Royal Bodyguard, National Militia,
Royal Bhutan Police, Forest Guards

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age (2002 est.)

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 517,470 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 276,303
(2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 21,167
(2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $9.3 million (FY01)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.9% (FY01)

Transnational Issues Bhutan

Disputes - international: approximately 100,000 Bhutanese refugees living
in Nepal, 90% of whom reside in seven UN Office of the High Commissioner
for Refugees camps, place decades-long strains on Nepal

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Bulgaria

Introduction

Bulgaria

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. Bulgaria
regained its independence in 1878, but having fought on the losing side
in both World Wars, it 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. Today, reforms and democratization keep Bulgaria on a path
toward eventual integration into NATO and the EU - with which it began
accession negotiations in 2000.

Geography Bulgaria

Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania
and Turkey

Geographic coordinates: 43 00 N, 25 00 E

Map references: Europe

Area: total: 110,910 sq km water: 360 sq km land: 110,550 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than Tennessee

Land boundaries: total: 1,808 km border countries: Greece 494 km, The
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608