Population Development in Bulgaria

In 1962, Bulgaria celebrated the birth of its eight millionth inhabitant. I remember that it was a boy, born in the countryside. His parents got presents and their names were in the newspapers. But how was it possible to trace that he was exactly the eight millionth person? The answer is obvious — with very crude approximation. This baby was selected by chance. A case was created to celebrate a growing population in conditions of victorious socialism. In 1985, the population reached 8.5 million, but there were no celebrations. They were postponed for the 9 millionth person. Some were impatient waiting for the appearance of the 10 millionth Bulgarian citizen. After the population reached its maximum of 8,992 thousand in 1989, one would expect that the 9 million mark would be reached in 1990, but by then nobody was thinking of such solemnities. Instead, in the 1990s the demographic change has been often described as a “catastrophe”.