Bulgarians

The Bulgarians (Bulgarian: ???????) are a southern Slavic people generally associated with Bulgaria and the Bulgarian language. The majority of the Bulgarians nowadays live in the Republic of Bulgaria, although there are Bulgarian minorities or immigrant communities in a number of countries.

Population

Most Bulgarians live in the Republic of Bulgaria. There are significant traditional Bulgarian minorities in Moldova and Ukraine, as well as smaller ones in Romania (Banat), Serbia (the Western Outlands), Greece (some 30,000 Muslim Bulgarians in the Xanthi and Rhodope provinces), the Republic of Macedonia, Albania, and Hungary.

Related Topics:
Bulgaria - Moldova - Ukraine - Romania - Banat - Serbia - Western Outlands - Greece - Muslim Bulgarians - Xanthi - Rhodope - Republic of Macedonia - Albania - Hungary

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many Bulgarians also live in the diaspora, which is formed by representatives and descendants of the old (until 1989) and new (after 1989) emigration. The old emigration was made up of some 160,000 economic and several tens of thousands political emigrants and was directed for the most part to the USA, Canada, Argentina and Germany. The new emigration is estimated at some 700,000 people and can be divided into two major subcategories: permanent emigration at the beginning of the 1990s, directed mostly to the USA, Canada, Austria, and Germany and labour emigration at the end of the 1990s, directed for the most part to Greece, Italy, and Spain.

Related Topics:
1989 - USA - Canada - Argentina - Germany - 1990s - Austria - Greece - Italy - Spain

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The largest urban populations of Bulgarians are to be found in Sofia (1,150,000), Plovdiv (300,000), and Varna (290,000). The total number of Bulgarians thus ranges anywhere from 7 to 8 million, depending solely on the estimation used for the diaspora.

Related Topics:
Sofia - Plovdiv - Varna

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~