(50 stotinki; 1, 2 and 5 leva). A gold coinage was struck in 1893 with pieces corresponding to those of the Latin Union. The Turkish pound and foreign gold coins are also in general circulation. The National Bank issues notes for 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 leva, payable in gold. Notes payable in silver are also issued.
Finance.—It is only possible here to deal with Bulgarian finance prior to the declaration of independence in 1908. At the outset of its career the principality was practically unencumbered with any debt, external or internal. The stipulations of the Berlin Treaty (Art. ix.) with regard to the payment of a tribute to the sultan and the assumption of an “equitable proportion” of the Ottoman Debt were never carried into effect. In 1883 the claim of Russia for the expenses of the occupation (under Art. xx. of the treaty) was fixed at 26,545,625 fr. (£1,061,820) payable in annual instalments of 2,100,000 fr. (£84,000). The union with Eastern Rumelia in 1885 entailed liability for the obligations of that province consisting of an annual tribute to Turkey of 2,951,000 fr. (£118,040) and a loan of 3,375,000 fr. (£135,000) contracted with the Imperial Ottoman Bank. In 1888 the purchase of the Varna-Rustchuk railway was effected by the issue of treasury bonds at 6% to the vendors. In 1889 a loan of 30,000,000 fr. (£1,200,000) bearing 6% interest was contracted with the Vienna Länderbank and Bankverein at 8512. In 1892 a further 6% loan of 142,780,000 fr. (£5,711,200) was contracted with the Länderbank at 83, 86 and 89. In 1902 a 5% loan of 106,000,000 fr. (£4,240,000), secured on the tobacco dues and the stamp-tax, was contracted with the Banque de l’État de Russie and the Banque de Paris et des Pays Bas at 8112, for the purpose of consolidating the floating debt, and in 1904 a 5% loan of 99,980,000 fr. (£3,999,200) at 82, with the same guarantees, was contracted with the last-named bank mainly for the purchase of war material in France and the construction of railways. In January 1906 the national debt stood as follows:—Outstanding amount of the consolidated loans, 363,070,500 fr. (£14,522,820); internal debt, 15,603,774 fr. (£624,151); Eastern Rumelian debt, 1,910,208 (£76,408). In February 1907 a 412% loan of 145,000,000 fr. at 85, secured on the surplus proceeds of the revenues already pledged to the loans of 1902 and 1904, was contracted with the Banque de Paris et des Pays Bas associated with some German and Austrian banks for the conversion of the loans of 1888 and 1889 (requiring about 53,000,000 fr.) and for railway construction and other purposes. The total external debt was thus raised to upwards of 450,000,000 fr. The Eastern Rumelian tribute and the rent of the Sarambey-Belovo railway, if capitalized at 6%, would represent a further sum of 50,919,100 fr. (£2,036,765). The national debt was not disproportionately great in comparison with annual revenue. After the union with Eastern Rumelia the budget receipts increased from 40,803,262 leva (£1,635,730) in 1886 to 119,655,507 leva (£4,786,220) in 1904; the estimated revenue for 1905 was 111,920,000 leva (£4,476,800), of which 41,179,000 (£1,647,160) were derived from direct and 38,610,000 (£1,544,400) from indirect taxation; the estimated expenditure was 111,903,281 leva (£4,476,131), the principal items being: public debt, 31,317,346 (£1,252,693); army, 26,540,720 (£1,061,628); education, 10,402,470 (£416,098); public works, 14,461,171 (£578,446); interior, 7,559,517 (£302,380). The actual receipts in 1905 were 127,011,393 leva. In 1895 direct taxation, which pressed heavily on the agricultural class, was diminished and indirect taxation (import duties and excise) considerably increased. In 1906 direct taxation amounted to 9 fr. 92 c., indirect to 8 fr. 58 c., per head of the population. The financial difficulties in which the country was involved at the close of the 19th century were attributable not to excessive indebtedness but to heavy outlay on public works, the army, and education, and to the maintenance of an unnecessary number of officials, the economic situation being aggravated by a succession of bad harvests. The war budget during ten years (1888–1897) absorbed the large sum of 275,822,017 leva (£11,033,300) or 35.77% of the whole national income within that period. In subsequent years military expenditure continued to increase; the total during the period since the union with Eastern Rumelia amounting to 599,520,698 leva (£23,980,800).
Communications.—In 1878 the only railway in Bulgaria was the Rustchuk-Varna line (137 m.), constructed by an English company in 1867. In Eastern Rumelia the line from Sarambey to Philippopolis and the Turkish frontier (122 m.), with a branch to Yamboli (66 m.), had been built by Baron Hirsch in 1873, and leased by the Turkish government to the Oriental Railways Company until 1958. It was taken over by the Bulgarian government in 1908 (see History, below). The construction of a railway from the Servian frontier at Tzaribrod to the Eastern Rumelian frontier at Vakarel was imposed on the principality by the Berlin Treaty, but political difficulties intervened, and the line, which touches Sofia, was not completed till 1888. In that year the Bulgarian government seized the short connecting line Belovo-Sarambey belonging to Turkey, and railway communication between Constantinople and the western capitals was established. Since that time great progress has been made in railway construction. In 1888, 240 m. of state railways were open to traffic; in 1899, 777 m.; in 1902, 880 m. Up to October 1908 all these lines were worked by the state, and, with the exception of the Belovo-Sarambey line (29 m.), which was worked under a convention with Turkey, were its property. The completion of the important line Radomir-Sofia-Shumen (November 1899) opened up the rich agricultural district between the Balkans and the Danube and connected Varna with the capital. Branches to Samovit and Rustchuk establish connexion with the Rumanian railway system on the opposite side of the river. It was hoped, with the consent of the Turkish government, to extend the line Sofia-Radomir-Kiustendil to Uskub, and thus to secure a direct route to Salonica and the Aegean. Road communication is still in an unsatisfactory condition. Roads are divided into three classes: “state roads,” or main highways, maintained by the government; “district roads” maintained by the district councils; and “inter-village roads” (mezhduselski shosseta), maintained by the communes. Repairs are effected by the corvée system with requisitions of material. There are no canals, and inland navigation is confined to the Danube. The Austrian Donaudampschiffahrtsgesellschaft and the Russian Gagarine steamship company compete for the river traffic; the grain trade is largely served by steamers belonging to Greek merchants. The coasting trade on the Black Sea is carried on by a Bulgarian steamship company; the steamers of the Austrian Lloyd, and other foreign companies call at Varna, and occasionally at Burgas.
The development of postal and telegraphic communication has been rapid. In 1886, 1,468,494 letters were posted, in 1903, 29,063,043. Receipts of posts and telegraphs in 1886 were £40,975, in 1903 £134,942. In 1903 there were 3261 m. of telegraph lines and 531 m. of telephones.
Towns.—The principal towns of Bulgaria are Sofia, the capital (Bulgarian Sredetz, a name now little used), pop. in January 1906, 82,187; Philippopolis, the capital of Eastern Rumelia (Bulg. Plovdiv), pop. 45,572; Varna, 37,155; Rustchuk (Bulg. Russé), 33,552; Sliven, 25,049; Shumla (Bulg. Shumen), 22,290; Plevna (Bulg. Pleven), 21,208; Stara-Zagora, 20,647; Tatar-Pazarjik, 17,549; Vidin, 16,168; Yamboli (Greek Hyampolis), 15,708; Dobritch (Turkish Hajiolu-Pazarjik), 15,369; Haskovo, 15,061; Vratza, 14,832; Stanimaka (Greek Stenimachos), 14,120; Razgrad, 13,783; Sistova (Bulg. Svishtov), 13,408; Burgas, 12,846; Kiustendil, 12,353; Trnovo, the ancient capital, 12,171. All these are described in separate articles.
Population.—The area of northern Bulgaria is 24,535 sq. m.; of Eastern Rumelia 12,705 sq. m.; of united Bulgaria, 37,240 sq. m. According to the census of the 12th of January 1906, the population of northern Bulgaria was 2,853,704; of Eastern Rumelia, 1,174,535; of united Bulgaria, 4,028,239 or 88 per sq. m. Bulgaria thus ranks between Rumania and Portugal in regard to area; between the Netherlands and Switzerland in regard to population: in density of population it may be compared with Spain and Greece.
The first census of united Bulgaria was taken in 1888: it gave the total population as 3,154,375. In January 1893 the population was 3,310,713; in January 1901, 3,744,283.
The movement of the population at intervals of five years has been as follows:—
| Year. | Marriages. | Births (living). |
Still- born. |
Deaths. | Natural Increase.[1] |
| 1882 | 19,795 | 74,642 | 300 | 38,884 | 35,758 |
| 1887 | 20,089 | 83,179 | 144 | 39,396 | 43,783 |
| 1892 | 27,553 | 117,883 | 321 | 103,550 | 14,333 |
| 1897 | 29,227 | 149,631 | 858 | 90,134 | 59,497 |
| 1902 | 36,041 | 149,542 | 823 | 91,093 | 58,449 |
- ↑ Excess of births over deaths.
