Young Bulgarians have universities to attend to obtain and advance a career.

This is the main building to the "University of Forestry" (click here) in Sofia, Bulgaria. It's land is 33 percent forest, some commercail forests which produce harvested fruit crops. There is also a sustainable logging industry that provides nearly all the needs for wood in the country.

The building reminds me of Harvard's ivy covered buildings. But, the fact there are universities for young people shows the country dearly loves them. I have to wonder what the diversity is in the university in maintaining a high number of Bulgarians. The university is accredited with European organizations that monitor educational facilities.

To the right is the Balkan Peninsula.

Bulgaria is situated in the central part of the Balkan peninsula with a total area of 11073350 ha, of which over 33 percent is covered by forests. Most of the forests are situated on mountain slopes and non-arable lands. The highest mountain peak rises to 2925 m. The timber-line reaches 2200 m above sea-level.

Forests in Bulgaria are public property, with 97.3 percent belonging to the state and the rest being owned by agro-industrial complexes and forestry schools for temporary management and use. The concentration of forests is quite uneven, ranging from almost 70 percent of land in the most wooded district to only about 8 percent in the least wooded one.

The variety of species, which depends largely on the altitude, is great. Coniferous forests cover 33.1 percent of the total wooded land; deciduous forests, 66.9 percent. Oak forests cover the zone up to 1200 m altitude; beech forests rise up to 1600 m; and the coniferous zone stretches to the upper forest limits.

Only a few tree species are of economic significance. Important among the coniferous are the white pine (Pinus sylvestris), the black pine (Pinus nigra), the spruce (Picea excelsa), the fir tree (Abies alba) and the Balkan pine (Pinus peuce), while among the deciduous are the beech (Fagus sylvatica), the oak (Quercus spp.), the poplar (Populus spp.) and the ash-tree (Fraxinus spp.). About 86.4 percent of the total forested area is destined for wood-production cover; the remainder has protective or recreational functions....

According to the World Bank foreign investment reached it's maximum in 2010 with $1.843 billion. It has dropped off from then to $1.179 billion. It doesn't seem to correlate with population deterioration which has been occuring steadily since the 1990s.

Population: 7.128 million (2016) World Bank

Life expectancy: 74.47 years (2015) World Bank

Fertility rate: 1.53 births per woman (2015) World Bank

Unemployment rate: 6.2% (Aug 2017) Eurostat

GNI per capita (click here) : 19,020 PPP dollars (click here) (2016) World Bank

Population growth rate: -0.7% annual change (2016) World Bank

Official language: Bulgarian