# Bulgaria and Türkiye compared

Bulgaria and Türkiye side by side: 42 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 11 events their chronicles record of each other.

Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/bgr-vs-tur
Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates)

Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation.

## Formation

- Bulgaria: 681 — Byzantium acknowledges Bulgaria as an independent state
- Türkiye: c. 1299 — Osman I founds the Ottoman beylik in Bithynia

## Economy

| Metric | Bulgaria | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP | $113 B | 2024 | $1.36 T | 2024 |
| GDP per capita | $17,596 | 2024 | $15,893 | 2024 |
| GDP growth | 3.4% | 2024 | 3.3% | 2024 |
| Inflation | 2.4% | 2024 | 58.5% | 2024 |
| Trade openness | 110.2% | 2024 | 54.6% | 2024 |

## Society

| Metric | Bulgaria | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 6.4 m | 2024 | 86 m | 2024 |
| Life expectancy | 75.8 yrs | 2024 | 77.4 yrs | 2024 |
| Urban population | 73.9% | 2024 | 89.3% | 2024 |
| Fertility rate | 1.7 | 2024 | 1.5 | 2024 |

## Governance

| Metric | Bulgaria | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice & accountability | 60.6 | 2024 | 37.7 | 2024 |
| Political stability | 66.6 | 2024 | 49.3 | 2024 |
| Government effectiveness | 52.2 | 2024 | 50.0 | 2024 |
| Regulatory quality | 59.4 | 2024 | 51.5 | 2024 |
| Rule of law | 56.4 | 2024 | 42.4 | 2024 |
| Control of corruption | 43.0 | 2024 | 36.5 | 2024 |

## Health

| Metric | Bulgaria | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health spending | 7.9% | 2023 | 4.3% | 2023 |
| Physicians | 4.33 | 2022 | 2.24 | 2022 |
| Under-5 mortality | 5.7 | 2024 | 9.6 | 2024 |
| Measles immunisation | 94.0% | 2024 | 95.0% | 2024 |
| Safe drinking water | 96.2% | 2024 | — | — |

## Education

| Metric | Bulgaria | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult literacy | 98.3% | 2011 | 97.3% | 2021 |
| Education spending | 4.5% | 2022 | 3.1% | 2022 |
| Primary enrolment | 95.3% | 2024 | 102.4% | 2023 |
| Secondary enrolment | 94.8% | 2024 | 118.4% | 2023 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 69.5% | 2024 | 105.9% | 2023 |

## Technology

| Metric | Bulgaria | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R&D spending | 0.8% | 2023 | 1.4% | 2023 |
| Researchers (per million) | 2,401 | 2023 | 2,645 | 2023 |
| Internet users | 82.4% | 2024 | 89.8% | 2025 |
| Mobile subscriptions | 118 | 2024 | 108 | 2024 |
| High-tech exports | 13.4% | 2024 | 5.1% | 2024 |

## Geography

| Metric | Bulgaria | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Land area | 108,560 km² | 2023 | 769,630 km² | 2023 |
| Forest area | 36.2% | 2023 | 29.5% | 2023 |
| Agricultural land | 46.1% | 2023 | 50.1% | 2023 |
| CO₂ per capita (t) | 5.3 | 2024 | 5.4 | 2024 |
| Renewable energy | 20.4% | 2021 | 12.0% | 2021 |

## Resources

| Metric | Bulgaria | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resource rents | 0.9% | 2021 | 0.8% | 2021 |
| Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.1% | 2021 |
| Mineral rents | 0.6% | 2021 | 0.6% | 2021 |
| Forest rents | 0.2% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 |
| Electricity access | 100.0% | 2023 | 100.0% | 2023 |
| Iron ore | — | — | 18 Mt | 2025 |
| Cobalt (mined) | — | — | 1,900 t | 2025 |
| Bauxite | — | — | 3.8 Mt | 2025 |
| Phosphate rock | — | — | 1.2 Mt | 2025 |

## Military

| Metric | Bulgaria | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military burden | 2.1% | 2024 | 1.9% | 2024 |
| Defense spending | $2.3 B | 2024 | $25 B | 2024 |
| Armed forces | 37,000 | 2020 | 512,000 | 2020 |

Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/<metric>.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/BGR.md and https://terralore.co/country/TUR.md.

## Entangled histories (11 events)

Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources.

- 1393: **Fall of Tarnovo to the Ottomans** — The Ottoman army captured the Bulgarian capital of Tarnovo, breaking the heart of the Second Empire as the Ottomans absorbed the Bulgarian lands. (from the Bulgaria chronicle; sources: History of Bulgaria; Bulgaria: Ottoman rule, National Revival and the end of the 19th century)
- 1396–1878: **Nearly five centuries of Ottoman rule** — Bulgaria was governed for almost five hundred years as an Ottoman province, its medieval state destroyed but its language and identity preserved chiefly through the Orthodox Church and its monasteries. (from the Bulgaria chronicle; sources: Bulgaria: Ottoman rule, National Revival and the end of the 19th century; History of Bulgaria)
- 1396: **Ottoman conquest completed** — With the subjection of the last Bulgarian territories by 1396, the Second Bulgarian Empire ended and Bulgaria passed under Ottoman rule that would last nearly five centuries. (from the Bulgaria chronicle; sources: About Bulgaria: History; History of Bulgaria; Bulgaria: Ottoman rule, National Revival and the end of the 19th century)
- 1870: **Creation of the Bulgarian Exarchate** — An Ottoman decree established an autonomous Bulgarian Exarchate, separating the national church from Greek ecclesiastical control and giving institutional form to the awakening nation. (from the Bulgaria chronicle; sources: Bulgaria: Ottoman rule, National Revival and the end of the 19th century)
- Apr 1876: **The April Uprising and the 'Bulgarian Horrors'** — A rising organised by Bulgarian revolutionaries was crushed with massacres of civilians at Batak and elsewhere; reported across Europe as the 'Bulgarian Horrors', it inflamed opinion and helped precipitate the Russo-Turkish War. (from the Bulgaria chronicle; sources: Bulgarian Revolt Against the Ottoman Empire; Treaty of San Stefano)
- 1877–1878: **Russo-Turkish War and liberation** — Russia's war against the Ottoman Empire ended Ottoman rule over Bulgaria; the Treaty of San Stefano of 3 March 1878 restored a Bulgarian state, a date Bulgarians commemorate as Liberation Day. (from the Bulgaria chronicle; sources: Treaty of San Stefano; San Stefano, Treaty of (1878); History of Bulgaria)
- Jul 1878: **Treaty of Berlin dismembers the state** — The Congress of Berlin revised San Stefano, splitting Greater Bulgaria into a small autonomous principality, the separate province of Eastern Rumelia, and Macedonia left under Ottoman rule, the foundational grievance of Bulgarian nationalism. (from the Bulgaria chronicle; sources: Bulgaria: Treaties of San Stefano and Berlin; San Stefano, Treaty of (1878))
- 3 Mar 1878: **Treaty of San Stefano creates 'Greater Bulgaria'** — The Russo-Ottoman treaty created a large autonomous Bulgarian principality reaching from the Danube to the Aegean and embracing most of Macedonia, an expansive state soon known as Greater Bulgaria. (from the Bulgaria chronicle; sources: Treaty of San Stefano; San Stefano, Treaty of (1878); Bulgaria: Treaties of San Stefano and Berlin)
- 22 Sep 1908: **Proclamation of independence** — Prince Ferdinand proclaimed Bulgaria's full independence at Tarnovo and took the title of tsar, ending Ottoman suzerainty; the United States recognised the kingdom's independence in 1909. (from the Bulgaria chronicle; sources: About Bulgaria: History; A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations: Bulgaria)
- 1912: **First Balkan War** — Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro of the Balkan League drove the Ottoman Empire almost entirely out of Europe, with Bulgarian armies bearing the heaviest fighting in Thrace. (from the Bulgaria chronicle; sources: Balkan Wars)
- Jun–Aug 1913: **Second Balkan War and the loss of Macedonia** — Bulgaria attacked its former allies over the division of Macedonia and was crushed by Serbia, Greece, Romania and the Ottomans; the Treaty of Bucharest left most of Macedonia to its rivals and Southern Dobruja to Romania. (from the Bulgaria chronicle; sources: Second Balkan War; Balkan Wars)

## Sources

- World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org
- Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators
- Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho
- Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org
- R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org
- ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics
- Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex
- Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 — U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain (U.S. Government work) · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center

Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/BGR/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/TUR/chronicle.md.

Citation template: Terralore, "Bulgaria and Türkiye compared", terralore.co/compare/bgr-vs-tur, retrieved <YYYY-MM-DD>.