Bulgaria:
Military & Transnational Issues


Military branches	Bulgarian Armed Forces: Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Bulgarian Air Forces (Bulgarski Voennovazdyshni Sily, BVVS) (2006)
Military service age and obligation	18-27 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 9 months; as of May 2006, 67% of the Bulgarian Army comprised of professional soldiers; conscription into the Army to end as of 1 January 2008; Air and Air Defense Forces and Naval Forces became fully professional at the end of 2006; Bulgarian Armed Forces encountered difficulties meeting conscript quotas in April 2007 (2007)
Manpower available for military service	males age 18-49: 1,661,211 females age 18-49: 1,660,982 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service	males age 18-49: 1,302,037 females age 18-49: 1,365,126 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military age annually	males age 18-49: 51,023 females age 18-49: 48,651 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	2.6% (2005 est.)

Disputes - international	none
Illicit drugs	major European transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and, to a lesser degree, South American cocaine for the European market; limited producer of precursor chemicals; some money laundering of drug-related proceeds through financial institutions