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:—

The death-rate shows a tendency to rise. In the five years 1882-1886 the mean death-rate was 18.0 per 1000; in 1887-1891, 20.4; in 1892-1896, 27.0; in 1897-1902, 23.92. Infant mortality is high, especially among the peasants. As the less healthy infants rarely survive, the adult population is in general robust, hardy and long-lived. The census of January 1901 gives 2719 persons of 100 years and upwards. Young men, as a rule, marry betore the age of twenty-five, girls before eighteen. The number of illegitimate births is inconsiderable, averaging only 0.12 of the total. The population according to sex in 1901 is given as 1,909,567 males and 1,834,716 females, or 51 males to 49 females. A somewhat similar disparity may be observed in the other countries of the Peninsula. Classified according to occupation, 2,802,603 persons, or 74.85% of the population, are engaged in agriculture; 360,834 in various productive industries; 118,824 in the service of the government or the exercise of liberal professions, and 148,899 in commerce. The population according to race cannot be stated with absolute accuracy, but it is approximately shown by the census of 1901, which gives the various nationalities according to language as follows:—Bulgars, 2,888,219; Turks, 531,240; Rumans, 71,063; Greeks, 66,635; Gipsies (Tziganes), 89,549; Jews (Spanish speaking), 33,661; Tatars,

[v.04 p.0777]18,884; Armenians, 14,581; other nationalities, 30,451. The Bulgarian inhabitants of the Peninsula beyond the limits of the principality may, perhaps, be estimated at 1,500,000 or 1,600,000, and the grand total of the race possibly reaches 5,500,000.

Ethnology.—The Bulgarians, who constitute 77.14% of the inhabitants of the kingdom, are found in their purest type in the mountain districts, the Ottoman conquest and subsequent colonization having introduced a mixed population into the plains.

The devastation of the country which followed the Turkish invasion resulted in the extirpation or flight of a large proportion of the Bulgarian inhabitants of the lowlands, who were replaced by Turkish colonists. The mountainous districts, however, retained their original population and sheltered large numbers of the fugitives. The passage of the Turkish armies during the wars with Austria, Poland and Russia led to further Bulgarian emigrations. The flight to the Banat, where 22,000 Bulgarians still remain, took place in 1730. At the beginning of the 19th century the majority of the population of the Eastern Rumelian plain was Turkish. The Turkish colony, however, declined, partly in consequence of the drain caused by military service, while the Bulgarian remnant increased, notwithstanding a considerable emigration to Bessarabia before and after the Russo-Turkish campaign of 1828. Efforts were made by the Porte to strengthen the Moslem element by planting colonies of Tatars in 1861 and Circassians in 1864. The advance of the Russian army in 1877-1878 caused an enormous exodus of the Turkish population, of which only a small proportion returned to settle permanently. The emigration continued after the conclusion of peace, and is still in progress, notwithstanding the efforts of the Bulgarian government to arrest it. In twenty years (1879-1899), at least 150,000 Turkish peasants left Bulgaria. Much of the land thus abandoned still remains unoccupied. On the other hand, a considerable influx of Bulgarians from Macedonia, the vilayet of Adrianople, Bessarabia, and the Dobrudja took place within the same period, and the inhabitants of the mountain villages show a tendency to migrate into the richer districts of the plains.

The northern slopes of the Balkans from Belogradchik to Elena are inhabited almost exclusively by Bulgarians; in Eastern Rumelia the national element is strongest in the Sredna Gora and Rhodope. Possibly the most genuine representatives of the race are the Pomaks or Mahommedan Bulgarians, whose conversion to Islam preserved their women from the licence of the Turkish conqueror; they inhabit the highlands of Rhodope and certain districts in the neighbourhood of Lovtcha (Lovetch) and Plevna. Retaining their Bulgarian speech and many ancient national usages, they may be compared with the indigenous Cretan, Bosnian and Albanian Moslems. The Pomaks in the principality are estimated at 26,000, but their numbers are declining. In the north-eastern district between the Yantra and the Black Sea the Bulgarian race is as yet thinly represented; most of the inhabitants are Turks, a quiet, submissive, agricultural population, which unfortunately shows a tendency to emigrate. The Black Sea coast is inhabited by a variety of races. The Greek element is strong in the maritime towns, and displays its natural aptitude for navigation and commerce. The Gagäuzi, a peculiar race of Turkish-speaking Christians, inhabit the littoral from Cape Eminé to Cape Kaliakra: they are of Turanian origin and descend from the ancient Kumani. The valleys of the Maritza and Arda are occupied by a mixed population consisting of Bulgarians, Greeks and Turks; the principal Greek colonies are in Stanimaka, Kavakly and Philippopolis. The origin of the peculiar Shôp tribe which inhabits the mountain tracts of Sofia, Breznik and Radomir is a mystery. The Shôps are conceivably a remnant of the aboriginal race which remained undisturbed in its mountain home during the Slavonic and Bulgarian incursions: they cling with much tenacity to their distinctive customs, apparel and dialect. The considerable Vlach or Ruman colony in the Danubian districts dates from the 18th century, when large numbers of Walachian peasants sought a refuge on Turkish soil from the tyranny of the boyars or nobles: the department of Vidin alone contains 36 Ruman villages with a population of 30,550. Especially interesting is the race of nomad shepherds from the Macedonian and the Aegean coast who come in thousands every summer to pasture their flocks on the Bulgarian mountains; they are divided into two tribes—the Kutzovlachs, or "lame Vlachs," who speak Rumanian, and the Hellenized Karakatchans or "black shepherds" (compare the Morlachs, or Mavro-vlachs, μαῦροι βλάχες, of Dalmatia), who speak Greek. The Tatars, a peaceable, industrious race, are chiefly found in the neighbourhood of Varna and Silistria; they were introduced as colonists by the Turkish government in 1861. They may be reckoned at 12,000. The gipsies, who are scattered in considerable numbers throughout the country, came into Bulgaria in the 14th century. They are for the most part Moslems, and retain their ancient Indian speech. They live in the utmost poverty, occupy separate cantonments in the villages, and are treated as outcasts by the rest of the population. The Bulgarians, being of mixed origin, possess few salient physical characteristics. The Slavonic type is far less pronounced than among the kindred races; the Ugrian or Finnish cast of features occasionally asserts itself in the central Balkans. The face is generally oval, the nose straight, the jaw somewhat heavy. The men, as a rule, are rather below middle height, compactly built, and, among the peasantry, very muscular; the women are generally deficient in beauty and rapidly grow old. The upper class, the so-called intelligenzia, is physically very inferior to the rural population.

National Character.—The character of the Bulgarians presents a singular contrast to that of the neighbouring nations. Less quick-witted than the Greeks, less prone to idealism than the Servians, less apt to assimilate the externals of