The founders of modern Bulgarian literature, writing before the end of Turkish rule, were Georgi Rakovski (1821–67), Petko Slaveikov (1827–95), Lyuben Karavelov (1835–79), and Kristo Botev (1848–76), who was one of Bulgaria's greatest poets. The most significant writer after the liberation of 1878 was Ivan Vazov (1850–1921), whose Under the Yoke gives an impressive picture of the struggle against the Turks. Pentcho Slaveikov (1866–1912), the son of Petko, infused Bulgarian literature with philosophical content and subject matter of universal appeal; his epic poem A Song of Blood recalls an insurrection suppressed by the Turks in 1876. In the period between the two world wars, Nikolai Liliyev (1885–1960) and Todor Trayanov (1882–1945) were leaders of a symbolist school of poetry. Elin Pelin (1878–1949) and Iordan Iovkov (1884–1939) wrote popular short stories on regional themes. More recent writers and poets include Nikola Vaptzarov, Christo Shirvenski, Dimiter Dimov, Orlin Vassilev, and Georgi Karaslavov. Elias Canetti (1905–94), Bulgarian born but lived from 1938 until his death in the UK, received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1981. Ivan Mrkvicka (1856–1938), a distinguished Czech painter who took up residence in Bulgaria, founded the Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia.

A prominent Bulgarian statesman was Alexander Stamboliski (1879–1923), Peasant Party leader who was premier and virtual dictator of Bulgaria from 1920 until his assassination. The best known modern Bulgarian, Georgi Dimitrov (1882–1949), was falsely charged in 1933 with burning the Reichstag building in Berlin; he became general secretary of the Comintern until its dissolution and prime minister of Bulgaria in 1946. Traicho Kostov (1897–1949), an early revolutionary leader, was a principal architect of Bulgaria's postwar economic expansion. Caught up in the Tito-Stalin rift, he was expelled from the Politburo and executed in December 1949. Todor Zhivkov (1911–1998) was first secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party between 1954 and 1989, the longest tenure of any Warsaw Pact leader. His was marked by ardent and steadfast support of Soviet policies and ideological positions. Zhivkov's daughter Lyudmila Zhivkova (1942–81), a Politburo member since 1979, was regarded by Western observers as second only to her father in power and influence. Zhivkov was replaced by Dimitar Popov as premier of a coalition government headed by the Socialist Party (formerly the Communist Party).John Vincent Atanasoff (1903-1995) who invented the first computer and initiated the computer revolution was of Bulgarian ancestry. John Atanasoff was a prominent American inventor who took pride in his Bulgarian heritage and maintained strong ties to his ancestral home of Bulgaria.

Bulgaria's important economic organizations include the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (1985) and organizations dedicated to promoting Bulgaria's exports in world markets. There are trade unions representing a wide variety of vocations. The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria was founded in 1901 and taken over by the Communists after World War II. In 1990, it became an independent organization. It has about 75 member federations and four association members. There are also many professional medical organizations.

There are several associations promoting a wide range of sports and leisure activities, including bobsledding, badminton, baseball, chess, yoga, and amateur radio. The National Federation of Sports in Schools was established in 1993 to promote and coordinate sport activities through the schools. The Bulgaria Academy of Science promotes scientific study and advancement, conducts research projects, and maintains a museum. The Institute of Art Studies is cosponsored by the Academy of Science as an organization dedicated to promoting Bulgarian art and culture.

Since 1990, a number of youth organizations have developed throughout the country. The Bulgarian Democratic Youth, with about 90,000 members, became the successor to the Dimitrov Young Communist League. The group serves to advance civic enterprise and control and promote a social environment for enterprising youth. Student groups include the Federation of Independent Student Associations, the Bulgarian Association of University Women, the Independent Student Trade Union, and the Student League of Beliko Turnovo. Scouting organizations are also active.

The St. Cyril and St. Methodius National Library, established in 1878 in Sofia, is the largest in Bulgaria (2.52 million volumes); since 1964, the Elin Pelin Bulgarian Bibliographic Institute has been attached to it. Other important libraries are the Central Library of the Scientific Information Center (with 740,000 volumes), the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences library (1.74 million volumes), the Sofia University Library (1,500,000 volumes), and the Ivan Vazov National Library in Plovdiv (with 1,300,000 volumes). As of 1997, the public library system had over 4,200 branches throughout the country.

Bulgaria has some 200 museums, of which the most important include the National Archaeological Museum (attached to the Academy of Sciences) and the National Art Gallery (with a collection of national and foreign art), both in Sofia. Other museums are devoted to history, science, and the revolutionary movement, and include the Bojana Church Museum in Sofia, the Museum of Wood Carvings and Mural Painting in Trjauna, with an important collection of artifacts from the Bulgarian National Revival Period in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the Open-Air Museum of Ethnography in Gabrovo.

Telecommunications systems are owned and operated by the state. Telex service to the rest of the world improved markedly in 1982, when a new computerized telegraph exchange was put in service. By the mid-1980s, most communities were connected by telephone; telephones numbered 3.18 million in 2001. As of 2001, there were 31 AM and 63 FM radio stations and 39 television stations. In Spring 2000, the government awarded a license for the first privately owned television station with nationwide coverage to the Balkan News Corporation. All other national television stations are state-owned, though there are a number of privately operated regional stations. In 1997 there were 4.5 million radios and 3.3 million television sets.In 2001, there were 200 Internet service providers serving about 585,000 users.

The Constitution of Bulgaria ensures freedom of speech and of the press, and the government is said to generally respect these rights. However, in September 1996, a media bill was passed that would subject the media to increased political influence by the party in power. In November of that year, the bill was deemed unconstitutional. National television and radio broadcasting remain under supervision of the National Council for Radio and Television (NCRT), a quasi-governmental body that oversees national media and regulates private broadcasters.

There are two main types of housing environments in the country: street district and housing complexes. Most of the street district housing was built before World War II and consists of private lots built to follow a street regulation plan. Beginning in the 1950s, housing complexes were built on public property, though the homes themselves are privately owned. Over 120 complexes have been built in the last fifty years, with a large number of prefab homes.

Although housing construction during 1976–85 averaged about 60,000 units per year, the housing shortage continues, especially in the larger cities, because of the influx into urban areas of new workers and because of the emphasis placed on capital construction. In 1975, to curb urban growth, the government instituted tight restrictions on new permits for residences in major cities. In December 1982, the Communist Party decreed that, in order to halt the growth of Sofia, a number of enterprises in the capital would be closed or moved elsewhere.

Capital investment for housing construction during 1976–80 amounted to Lv3.5 billion. At the end of 1985 there were 3,092,000 dwelling units in the country, 24% more than in 1975; by 1991, this figure had risen to 3,406,000. The number of new houses built plummeted from 62,926 in 1988 to 40,154 in 1989, 26,200 in 1990, and 19,423 in 1991.

Illiteracy has been decreasing steadily. The government claims that literacy is complete, but for the year 2000 Western sources estimate adult illiteracy rates at 1.5% (male, 0.9%; female, 2.0%). Education is free and compulsory for eight years between the ages of 7 and 16. As of 1999, public expenditure on education was estimated at 3.4% of GDP.

As of 1995, 95% of primary-school-age children were enrolled in school, while 86% of those eligible attended secondary school. In 1997 there were 3,170 primary level schools with 25,860 teachers and 431,790 students. Student-to-teacher ratio stood at 17 to 1. At the secondary level in the same year, there were 67,088 teachers and 733,362 students.

There are over 30 higher education institutions, including four universities. The most important is the University of Sofia, founded in 1888. The others include the University of Plovdiv (founded 1961), the University of Veliko Tarnovo (founded 1971), and the American University in Bulgaria (founded 1991). All higher level institutions had a total of 262,757 students and 26,303 teaching staff in 1997.

The Ministry of Health is the controlling and policy-making agency for the health system in Bulgaria. In 1999, an estimated 4% of GDP went to health expenditure. In 1991, the Bulgarian government passed a bill restoring the right of the private sector to practice medicine and permitting the establishment of private pharmacies, dentists, and opticians. Bulgarian citizens resident in the country still have use of the free national health service. Bulgaria is in the process of restructuring its health care system from one based on command and control to one founded on pluralism. Medical care has never been well funded, but the shift from a centrally planned to a private enterprise system has left the medical sector in disarray. Doctors continue to receive low wages and operate inadequate and outdated machinery and patients on the whole receive minimal health services. In 1993, the World Bank assessed the country's problems and recommended numerous changes and improvements. The Ministry of Health sought funding for 19–21 additional health centers and the rehabilitation of 67 secondary centers served by 283 emergency medical teams. Utilization of health care services, including hospitalization, outpatient treatment, and preventive care, declined throughout the 1990s.

In 1999, Bulgaria had 98 municipal hospitals with an average of 227 beds apiece, and 32 general district hospitals with an average of 874 beds. In addition there were 12 university hospitals in Sofia. As of 1999, there were an estimated 3.5 physicians and 8.6 hospital beds per 1,000 people. In 1997 there were a total of 28,655 physicians in the public health sector. Mortality in 1999 was 13 per 1,000 (compared with 8.1 in 1960).

Stroke mortality is among the highest in Europe and circulatory diseases account for more than half of all deaths. Smoking is on the increase; alcohol consumption is high; physical activity is low; and obesity is common. Bulgarians have a high intake of fats, sugars, and salt. One out of eight people has high blood pressure. Improved maternal and child care lowered infant mortality from 108.2 per 1,000 in 1951 to 13 per 1,000 in 2000. In 1999, there were 46 cases of tuberculosis per 100,000 people despite high immunizations for this disease. In the same year Bulgaria immunized children up to one year old as follows: diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, 96%, and measles, 96%. There were 75,221 births in 1999. From 1980 to 1993, an estimated 76% of married women (ages 15 to 49) used contraception. The fertility rate has deceased from 2.2 per woman in 1960 to 1.3 per woman in 2000. Bulgaria's maternal mortality rate is below the average for countries of medium human development. As of 1998, an estimated 15 women died in pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births. In 1990, 99% of the population had access to safe drinking water. Life expectancy in 2000 was 72 years on average. In 1994, there were 39 AIDS cases. As of 1999, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS was estimated at 346 and deaths from AIDS that year were estimated at fewer than 100. HIV prevalence was 0.01 per 100 adults.