A modern topographic map series of Bulgaria at 1:25,000 scale on the Gauss─Krϋger projection was initiated in the 1930s, and continued after the socialist revolution in 1944 to be completed in 1952. Some derived mapping was published at 1:50,000 and 1:100,000 scales. In 1951, the General Board of Geodesy and Cartography (GUGKK) was established, and during the 1950s and 1960s, military mapping was brought into conformity with the Soviet 1942-system specifications. Large-scale mapping of the country was also undertaken at a scale of 1:5,000 for the more settled areas and 1:10,000 for high mountain areas.
Soviet military topographic mapping of Bulgaria is available at the following scales: 1:1,000,000 (4 sheets, complete coverage, published 1981-1990); 1:500,000 (9 sheets, complete coverage, published 1978-1989); 1:200,000 (36 sheets, complete coverage, published 1977-1987); 1:100,000 (109 sheets, complete coverage, published 1976-1989); 1:50,000 (354 sheets, complete coverage, published 1978-1993) and city (1:10,000) topographic mapping of 21 major cities from Blagoevgrad to Yambol published between 1963 and 1988. These products are available in print, digital raster and digital vector GIS formats from East View Geospatial.
The present civilian mapping authority is the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction, Sofia. Mapping of the whole territory is complete at 1:25,000 and smaller scales, and there is also complete cover at either 1:5,000 or 1:10,000 scale, with over 1,000 sheets published. The projection is Gauss─Krϋger, Krassovsky ellipsoid. Urban maps have been produced at 1:1,000 and 1:5,000 scales.
In 1991, a joint Canadian-Bulgarian company was established, DataMap Europe Ltd., with an office in Sofia, and this desktop mapping consultancy has produced digital vector data in MapInfo and ARC/INFO format for government clients in Bulgaria. These include data sets of the country as a whole at 1:500,000 or 1:300,000 scale resolution, and detailed digital data (1:5,000 and 1:2,000) for Sofia and a number of other cities. The latter include subsets of streets, buildings, water features, land use zones, municipal boundaries and postal codes.
Earth science mapping has been published by the former Committee of Geology and Mineral Resources and the Geological Institute ‘Strashimir Dimitrov’, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS). Several small-scale geological maps, some of recent origin and in English, are available, and a new 1:100,000 scale geological series in 86 sheets was completed in 1998. This series is digital and plotted in color on demand. Digital mapping of some areas has also been undertaken at 1:25,000 scale. There are many private mining companies in Bulgaria, some of which, for example, Geology and Geophysics Inc., also undertake geological mapping.
A good source of thematic data, which is still available although now very dated, is the national atlas ─ Atlas narodna Republika Balgarija ─ produced jointly by BAS and GUGKK. This atlas was started in 1964 and published in 1973. It is in bound form and contains more than 250 maps at scales mainly of 1:1,000,000 or 1:500,000. These cover a broad range of themes including physical, resource, economic and social aspects of the country. The descriptions are in Bulgarian only.
The principal commercial map publisher in Bulgaria is Cartographia Ltd., Sofia, which provides a wide range of maps and atlases for the tourist market and the general public. It also publishes maps for educational use, including wall maps, historical school maps and globes. City maps are published for almost all significant towns, and there is a street atlas of Greater Sofia. Other maps include a series of recently-published tourist maps of mountain areas, including three 1:100,000 scale map sets of long-distance European footpaths, and tourist maps of Black Sea resorts.
Many of the tourist, road and city maps of Bulgaria are in Cyrillic script, but a growing number of externally produced maps are becoming available in latin script including those from Cartographia, Hungary (also badged by HarperCollins), Karto+Grafik (K+G) and Panstowe Przedsiebiorstwo Wydanictw Kartograficznch (PPWK), Poland.
The National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria collects and disseminates statistical information about the Bulgarian population and economy.
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