Bulgarians

Infobox Ethnic group
group=Българи
"Bulgarians"


caption = The holy seven · Boris I
Vasil Levski · Hristo Botev Hristo Stambolski . Georgi Rakovski
Anna-Maria Ravnopolska-Dean . Veselin Topalov
population = over 8 million
region1 =flagcountry|Bulgaria
pop1 =6 655 210 (2001)
ref1 =
region2 = flagcountry|Turkey
pop2 = 480,000
ref2 = lower| [cite web
url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/26/42/39332415.xls
title=Foreign Born populations of OECD countries
publisher=OECD
accessdate=2008-05-01
last=
first=]
region3 = flagcountry|USA
pop3 = 92,841 - 300,000
ref3 = lower| [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-state=dt&-context=dt&-reg=DEC_2000_SF4_U_PCT001:001&-ds_name=ACS_2006_EST_G00_&-mt_name=ACS_2006_EST_G2000_B04003&-redoLog=false&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=01000US&-geo_id=NBSP&-format= US census] ] [cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14393&Itemid=389
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in the US according to the consulate in Washington D.C.
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-29
last=
first=]
region4 = flagcountry|Ukraine
pop4 = 204,600
ref4 = lower| [cite web
url=http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality
title=General results of the 2001 Ukrainian census by nationality
publisher=www.ukrcensus.gov.ua
accessdate=2008-04-28
last=
first=]
region5 = flagcountry|Spain
pop5 = 91,265 - 95,752
ref5 = lower| [cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14718&Itemid=382
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Spain with an address registration
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-29
last=
first=] [ [http://www.ine.es/prodyser/pubweb/anuario06/anu06_02demog.pdf 2005 figures] ]
region6 = flagcountry|Moldova
pop6 = 65,662 - 90,000
ref6 = lower| [cite web
url=http://www.statistica.md/recensamint.php?lang=ro
title=National Statistical Bureau of Moldova ro icon
publisher=www.statistica.md
accessdate=2008-04-28
last=
first=] [cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14876&Itemid=382
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-28
last=
first=(2006)]
region7 = flagcountry|Germany
pop7 = 39,053 - 90,000
ref7 = lower| [cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14599&Itemid=382
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Germany bg icon
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-29
last=
first=] [ [http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/portal/cms/Sites/destatis/Internet/DE/Content/Statistiken/Bevoelkerung/AuslaendischeBevoelkerung/Tabellen/Content100/AlterAufenthaltsdauer,property=file.xls 2006 figures] ]
region8 = flagcountry|UK
pop8 = 5,356 - 80,000
ref8 = lower| [cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14754&Itemid=382
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in the UK bg icon
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-29
last=
first=] [http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/extraction/retrieve/en/theme3/cens/cens_nscbirth?OutputDir=EJOutputDir_49&user=unknown&clientsessionid=43820756C6114AC37056183CD332EA49.extraction-worker-1&OutputFile=cens_nscbirth.htm&OutputMode=U&NumberOfCells=60&Language=en&OutputMime=text%2Fhtml&]
region8 = flagcountry|Greece
pop8 = 78,981
ref8 = lower| [ [http://www.statistics.gr/eng_tables/S201_SPO_2_TB_AN_06_7_Y_EN.pdf Migrants in Greece -2006] also [http://www.hri.org/MFA/foreign/musmingr.htm Greek MFA Census Data on Thrace Minorities] ]
region9 = flagcountry|Argentina
pop9 = 70,000
ref9 = lower| [cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14306&Itemid=390
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Argentina bg icon
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-29
last=
first=]
region10 = flagcountry|Italy
pop10 = 19,924 - 70,000
ref10 = lower| [cite web
url=http://demo.istat.it/str2006/query.php?lingua=eng&Rip=S0&paese=A12&submit=Tavola
title=Foreign citizens in Italy
publisher=demo.istat.it
accessdate=2008-05-09
last=
first=] [cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13758&Itemid=382
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Italy
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-05-09
last=
first=]
region11 = flagcountry|Russia
pop11 = 31,965
ref11 = lower| [cite web
url=http://www.perepis2002.ru/index.html?id=17
title=Russian census 2002
publisher=Russia
accessdate=2008-05-12
last=
first=]
region12 = flagcountry|Russia
pop12 = 31,965
ref12 = lower| [cite web
url=http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/html/TOM_14_24.htm
title=National census of Russia (2002) ru icon
publisher=www.perepis2002.ru
accessdate=2008-04-28
last=
first=]
region12 = flagcountry|Canada
pop12 = 15,195 - 30,000
ref12 = lower| [cite web
url=http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/standard/themes/RetrieveProductTable.cfm?Temporal=2001&PID=62911&APATH=3&GID=431515&METH=1&PTYPE=55440&THEME=44&FOCUS=0&AID=0&PLACENAME=0&PROVINCE=0&SEARCH=0&GC=0&GK=0&VID=0&FL=0&RL=0&FREE=0
title=Results of the 2001 Canadian census
publisher=www12.statcan.ca
accessdate=2008-04-28
last=
first=] [cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14880&Itemid=389
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Canada
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=]
region14 = flagcountry|Serbia
pop14 = 20,497
ref14 = lower| [ [http://www.statserb.sr.gov.yu/zip/esn31.pdf Serbia and Montenegro 2002 census] (assumed that most of them live in nowadays Serbia after the split with Montenegro and discounting Kosovo's Gorani population)]
region15 = flagcountry|France
pop15 = 7,460 - 20,000
ref15 = lower
[cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14564&Itemid=382
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in France
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=] [ [http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/extraction/retrieve/en/theme3/cens/cens_nscbirth?OutputDir=EJOutputDir_49&user=unknown&clientsessionid=43820756C6114AC37056183CD332EA49.extraction-worker-1&OutputFile=cens_nscbirth.htm&OutputMode=U&NumberOfCells=60&Language=en&OutputMime=text%2Fhtml& Countries of the Eu by Birth] ]
region16 = flagcountry|South Africa
pop16 = 15,000 - 20,000
ref16 = lower
[cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14874&Itemid=392
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in South Africa
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=]
region17 = flagcountry|Romania
pop17 = 8,092 - 12,000
ref17 = lower| [ [http://www.recensamant.ro/ Recensamant 2002 ] ]
region18 = flagcountry|Israel
pop18 = 8,000 - 50,000
ref18 = lower
[cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15398&Itemid=391
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Israel
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=The first number indicates people that have Bulgarian citizenship and the second represent those coming from Bulgaria in the 1940s and 1950s who are members of Associations of Bulgarian jews]
region19 = flagcountry|Kazakhstan
pop19 = 6,915 - 30,000
ref19 = lower| [ [http://www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Mes/pdf/51_cap1_2.pdf Population of Kazakhstan as of 1989 and 1999] ] [cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15273&Itemid=393
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Kazakhstan
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=According to members of the Bulgarian community in Kazakhstan their number is between 30,000 and 50,000]
region20 = flagcountry|Austria
pop20 = 5,388
ref20 = lower| [ [ftp://www.statistik.at/pub/neuerscheinungen/vzaustriaweb.pdf New Title ] ]
region21 = flagcountry|Hungary
pop21 = 2,316 - 5,000
ref21 = lower
[cite web
url=http://www.nepszamlalas.hu/eng/volumes/06/00/tabeng/1/load01_10_0.html
title=2001 Hungarian Census, Ethnic group tables
publisher=www.nepszamlalas.hu
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=] [cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15260&Itemid=382
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Hungary
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=]
region22 = flagcountry|Czech Republic
pop22 = 4,383 - 5,000
ref22 = lower
[cite web
url=http://www.vlada.cz/files/rvk/rnm/zprava_mensiny_2001_en.pdf
title=Government of the Czech Republic: Report on the Situation of National Minorities in the Czech Republic in 2001
publisher=Government of the Czech Republic
accessdate=2008-05-01
last=
first=]
region23 = flagcountry|United Arab Emirates
pop23 = 5,000
ref23 = lower
[cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15768&Itemid=391
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in UAE
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=]
region24 = flagcountry|Australia
pop24 = 4,902 - 8,000
ref24 = lower| [cite web
url=http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/ViewData?action=404&documentproductno=0&documenttype=Details&order=1&tabname=Details&areacode=0&issue=2006&producttype=Census%20Tables&javascript=true&textversion=false&navmapdisplayed=true&breadcrumb=TLPD&&collection=Census&period=2006&productlabel=Ancestry%20(full%20classification%20list)%20by%20Sex&producttype=Census%20Tables&method=Place%20of%20Usual%20Residence&topic=Ancestry&
title=2006 Census Table : Australia
publisher=www.censusdata.abs.gov.au
accessdate=2008-04-28
last=
first=The second number shows people that have indicated Bulgarian descent. ]
region25 = flagcountry|Sweden
pop25 = 3,508 - 4,000
ref25 = lower
[cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15225&Itemid=382
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Sweden
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=] [ [http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/extraction/retrieve/en/theme3/cens/cens_nscbirth?OutputDir=EJOutputDir_49&user=unknown&clientsessionid=43820756C6114AC37056183CD332EA49.extraction-worker-1&OutputFile=cens_nscbirth.htm&OutputMode=U&NumberOfCells=60&Language=en&OutputMime=text%2Fhtml& Country of Birth] ]
region26 = flagcountry|Portugal
pop26 = 628 - 4,000
ref26 = lower
[cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14835&Itemid=382
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Portugal
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=] [ [http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/extraction/retrieve/en/theme3/cens/cens_nscbirth?OutputDir=EJOutputDir_49&user=unknown&clientsessionid=43820756C6114AC37056183CD332EA49.extraction-worker-1&OutputFile=cens_nscbirth.htm&OutputMode=U&NumberOfCells=60&Language=en&OutputMime=text%2Fhtml& Eurostat] ]
region27 = flagcountry|Netherlands
pop27 = 2,076 - 2,202
ref27 = lower
[cite web
url=http://statline.cbs.nl/StatWeb/publication/?DM=SLEN&PA=03743ENG&D1=0&D2=35,201&D3=0&D4=0-10&LA=EN&HDR=T&STB=G1,G2,G3&VW=T
title=Statistics Netherlands, Population Tables
publisher=http://statline.cbs.nl
accessdate=2008-04-31
last=
first=] [cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14659&Itemid=382
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Netherlands
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=]
region28 = flagcountry|Ireland
pop28 = 2,000
ref28 = lower
[cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14867&Itemid=382
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Ireland
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=]
region29 = flagcountry|New Zealand
pop29 = 816 - 2,000
ref29 = lower
[cite web
url=http://www.stats.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/1C81F07B-28C6-4DDD-8EBA-80C592E8022A/0/20languagespokentotalresponse.xls
title=Statistical Service of New Zealand, New Zealanders by Ancestry
publisher=www.stats.gov.nz
accessdate=2008-04-31
last=
first=] [cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15478&Itemid=393
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in New Zealand
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=]
region30 = flagcountry|Norway
pop30 = 1,500
ref30 = lower| [cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14842&Itemid=382
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Norway
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=]
region31 = flagcountry|Slovakia
pop31 = 1,700
ref31 = lower
[cite web
url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/26/42/39332415.xls
title=Population by Country of Birth
publisher=OECD
accessdate=2008-05-01
last=
first=]
region32 = flagcountry|Republic of Macedonia
pop32 = 1,300,000
ref32 = lower| [ [http://www.stat.gov.mk/english/glavna_eng.asp?br=18 Results of the 2002 census] ]
region33 = flagcountry|Syria
pop33 = 1,200
ref33 = lower
[cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15241&Itemid=391
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Syria
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=]
region34 = flagcountry|Poland
pop34 = 1,112
ref34 = lower
[cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14809&Itemid=382
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Poland
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=]
region35 = flagcountry Macedonia
pop35 = 1,400,000
ref35 = lower
[cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15524&Itemid=391
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Jordan
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-30
last=
first=]

flagcountry|Georgia: 680 (1989) [cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14815&Itemid=382
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Georgia according to the 1989 census bg icon
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-29
last=
first=]
flagcountry|Denmark: 650 [
cite web
url=http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14613&Itemid=382
title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Denmark bg icon
publisher=www.mfa.bg
accessdate=2008-04-28
last=
first=]
flagcountry|Slovenia: 138 [cite web
url=http://www.stat.si/popis2002/si/rezultati/rezultati_red.asp?ter=SLO&st=7
title=2002 Slovenian census
publisher=www.stat.si
accessdate=2008-04-28
last=
first=] (2002)
langs=Bulgarian
rels=Predominantly Bulgarian Orthodox and Muslim including Atheist minorities.The Bulgarians ( _bg. българи, "balgari") are a South Slavic people generally associated with the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian language. Emigration has resulted in Bulgarian minorities or immigrant communities in a number of other countries.

Origin

Geographically Bulgaria is situated on the bridgehead between Europe and Asia. The Bulgarian DNA data suggest that a human demographic expansion occurred sequentially in the Middle East, through Anatolia, to the rest of Europe (Bulgaria included). The rate estimates date of this expansion in times ranging around 50,000 years ago, corresponding to the arrival of anatomically modern humans in Europe. [From Asia to Europe: mitochondrial DNA sequence variability in Bulgarians and Turks. Ann Hum Gen.1996.Jan;60 (Pt 1):35-49. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8835097&dopt=AbstractPlus] ] From a historical angle, Bulgarians have descended from three main ethnic groups which mixed on the Balkans during the 6th - 10th century: local tribes, including the Thracians; Slavic invaders, who gave their language to the modern Bulgarians; and the ancient Bulgars, from whom the ethnonym and the early statehood were inherited. In physical appearance, the Bulgarian population is characterized by the features of the southern European anthropological type [ [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8851725&dopt=Citation HLA-DRB1, DQA1, DQB1 DNA polymorphism in the Bulgarian population.Division of Clinical and Transplantation Immunology, Medical University, Sofia, Bulgaria.] ] with some additional influences. Genetically, modern Bulgarians are more closely related to other Balkan populations (Macedonians, Greeks, Romanians) than to the rest of the Europeans. [ [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12542743&dopt=Abstract HLA polymorphism in Bulgarians defined by high-resolution typing methods in comparison with other populations.] ] [ [http://evolutsioon.ut.ee/publications/Rosser2000.pdf Y-chromosomal diversity in Europe is clinal and influenced primarily by geography, rather than by language] ] The Bulgarians also have some similarities with other Mediterranean populations such as Armenians, Italians, Anatolians, Cretans and Sardinians. [Distributions of HLA class I alleles and haplotypes in Bulgarians – contribution to understanding the origin of the population. M. Ivanova, P. Spassova, A. Michailova, E. Naumova. Division of Clinical and Transplantation Immunology, Medical University, Sofia, Bulgaria. [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1034/j.1399-0039.2001.057003208.x] ] [Bulgarian Bone Marrow Donors Registry—past and future directions - Asen Zlatev, Milena Ivanova, Snejina Michailova, Anastasia Mihaylova and Elissaveta Naumova, Central Laboratory of Clinical Immunology, University Hospital “Alexandrovska”, Sofia, Bulgaria, Published online: 2 June 2007 [http://www.springerlink.com/content/8300nn2q37527183/] ]

The ethnic contribution of the indigenous Thracian and Daco-Getic population, who had lived on the territory of modern Bulgaria and established here the Odrysian kingdom has been long debated among the scientists during the 20th century. Some recent genetic studies reveal that these peoples have indeed made a significant contribution to the genes of the modern Bulgarian population, which is however comparable, or even less than, to the contribution to other Balkan (Albanians, Greeks, Romanians) and Italian groups. [ [http://www.legmed.ro/files/revista/2004-4/02-Cardos-%20MtDNA.pdf Paleo-MtDNA Analysis and population genetic aspects of old Thracian population from South-Eastern Romania] ] The ancient languages of the local people had already gone extinct before the arrival of the Slavs, and their cultural influence was highly reduced due to the repeated barbaric invasions on the Balkans during the early Middle Ages by Goths, Celts, Huns, and Sarmatians, accompanied by persistent hellenization, romanisation and later slavicisation. The Celts also expanded down the Danube river and its tributaries in 3rd century BC. They had established a state on part of the territory of modern Bulgaria with capital Tylis, which they ruled for over a century.

The Slavs emerged from their original homeland (most commonly thought to have been in Eastern Europe) in the early 6th century, and spread to most of the eastern Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, thus forming three main branches - the West Slavs, the East Slavs and the South Slavs. The easternmost South Slavs became part of the ancestors of the modern Bulgarians, which however, are genetically clearly separated from the tight DNA cluster of the most Slavic peoples. This phenomenon is explained by “the genetic contribution of the people who lived in the region before the Slavic expansion” [ [http://dienekes.angeltowns.net/articles/fallmerayer Anthropological Evidence and the Fallmerayer Thesis] ] . The frequency of the proposed "Slavic" Haplogroup R1a1 ranges to 14.7% in Bulgaria.

The Bulgars were a seminomadic people, probably of Turkic descent originally from Central Asia, who during the 2nd century migrated from the Northern portions of Central Asia into the North Caucasian steppe. [ [http://www.answers.com/topic/bulgars Columbia Encyclopedia: Eastern Bulgars] ] [ [http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/pp2/pp_1_2_1.htm Образуване на българската държава. проф. Петър Петров (Издателство Наука и изкуство, София, 1981)] ] [ [http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/da/da_2_2.htm Образуване на българската народност.проф. Димитър Ангелов (Издателство Наука и изкуство, “Векове”, София, 1971)] ] [ [http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/en/sr/sr_1_1.htm A history of the First Bulgarian Empire.Prof. Steven Runciman (G. Bell & Sons, London 1930)] ] [ [http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/vz1a/vz1a_a_1.html История на българската държава през средните векове Васил Н. Златарски (I изд. София 1918; II изд., Наука и изкуство, София 1970, под ред. на проф. Петър Хр. Петров)] ] [ [http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/ki/ki_5.htm История на българите с поправки и добавки от самия автор акад. Константин Иречек (Издателство Наука и изкуство, 1978) проф. Петър Хр. Петров] ] [Heinz Siegert: "Osteuropa – Vom Ursprung bis Moskaus Aufstieg", "Panorama der Weltgeschichte", Bd. II, hg. von Dr. Heinrich Pleticha, Gütersloh 1985, p. 46] [P. B. Golden An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples. - Wisbaden, 1992. - p.92-104] [ [René Grousset: "Die Steppenvölker", München 1970, p. 249] ] [Harald Haarmann: Protobulgaren in: "Lexikon der untergegangenen Völker", München 2005, p.225] [ [http://www.kroraina.com/bulgar/rashev.html Rashev, Rasho. 1992. On the origin of the Proto-Bulgarians. p. 23-33 in: Studia protobulgarica et mediaevalia europensia. In honour of Prof. V. Beshevliev, Veliko Tarnovo] ] [Encyclopaedia Britannica Online - [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-80003/Turkic-languages "Bolgar Turkic"] ] [Encyclopaedia Britannica Online - [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9018006/Bulgar "Bulgars"] ] [Sedlar, Jean W. "East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500". University of Washington Press, 1994. [http://books.google.com/books?id=ANdbpi1WAIQC&pg=PA6&dq=bulgars+turkic-speaking+sedlar&sig=eVLo6f9xZ1LiIwY0-Yp3QXpI_do "page 6"] ] [Encyclopaedia Britannica Online - [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9018006/Bulgar "Bulgar"] ] [Bowersock, G. W. & Grabar, Oleg. "Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World". Harvard University Press, 1998. [http://books.google.com/books?id=c788wWR_bLwC&pg=PA354&dq=bulgars%2Bturkic&sig=pY6THUM5ON5u_XTDXIONV6T5HbM "page 354"] ] [Chadwick, Henry. "East and West: The Making of a Rift in the Church : from Apostolic Times". Oxford University Press, 2003. [http://books.google.com/books?id=qRF8EHPMeL0C&pg=PA109&dq=bulgars%2Bturkic&sig=F8PH58NOGC_lP6XmA6ESWDXEyWs "page 109"] ] [Reuter, Timothy. "The New Cambridge Medieval History". Cambridge University Press, 2000. [http://books.google.com/books?id=u-SsbHs5zTAC&pg=RA1-PA492&dq=%22turkic+bulgars%22%2Bpechenegs&sig=prDY9rLNgnMBJ3Pjia9jYFa4bvY "page 492"] ] It has to be mentioned that some Bulgarian scientists allow Iranian descent from the Bulgars. [Добрев, Петър, 1995. "Езикът на Аспаруховите и Куберовите българи" 1995] [Бакалов, Георги. Малко известни факти от историята на древните българи [http://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Bakalov-1.htm Част 1] [http://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Bakalov-2.htm част 2] ] Between 377 and 453 they took part in the Hunnic raids on Central and Western Europe. Anthropological data collected from early Bulgar necropolises from Dobrudja, Crimea and the Ukrainian steppe shows that Bulgars were a high-statured Caucasoid people with a small Mongoloid admixture, and practiced artificial cranial deformation of the round type. [ [http://www.kroraina.com/p_bulgar/index.htm D.Dimitrov,1987, History of the Proto-Bulgarians north and west of the Black Sea.] ] [ [http://www.kroraina.com/bulgar/ea_sarmat.html Сарматски елементи в езическите некрополи от Североизточна България и Северна Добруджа. Елена Ангелова (сп. Археология, 1995, 2, 5-17, София)] ] [М. Б а л а н, П. Б о е в. Антропологични материали от некропола при Нови пазар. — ИАИ, XX, 1955, 347— 371] [Й. Ал. Й о р д а н о в. Антропологично изследване на костния материал от раннобългарски масов гроб при гр. Девня. - ИНМВ, XII (XVII), 1976, 171-194] [Н. К о н д о в а, П. Б о е в, С л. Ч о л а к о в. Изкуствено деформирани черепи от некропола при с. Кюлевча, Шуменски окръг. — Интердисциплинарни изследвания, 1979, 3—4, 129— 138;] [Н. К о н д о в а, С л. Ч о лаков. Антропологични данни за етногенеза на ранносредновековната популация от Североизточна България. — Българска етнография, 1992, 2, 61-68] After Attila's death in 453, and the subsequent disintegration of the Hunnic Empire, the Bulgar tribes dispersed mostly to the eastern and southeastern parts of Europe. In the late 7th century, some Bulgar tribes, led by Asparukh and others, led by Kouber, permanently settled in the Balkans, and formed the ruling classe of First Bulgarian Empire in 680-681. According to their DNA data, the genetic background of the Bulgarians is classical eastern Mediterranean composition. It is possible that only a cultural and low genetic Bulgar influence was brought into the region, without modifying the genetic background of the local population. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3659/is_200306/ai_n9288054/pg_5 HLA genes in the Chuvashian population from European Russia: Admixture of central European and Mediterranean populations - pg. 5] ] The minor portions of Asian genes present within some modern Bulgarians, were likely introduced from the Bulgars and other steppe's peoples who also contributed to the Bulgarian ethnogenesis, as numbers of Kumans, Pechenegs and Avars, which is indicated through the limited presence of some rare alleles and haplotypes. [Five polymorphisms of the apolipoprotein B gene in healthy Bulgarians. Human Biology, Feb 2003. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3659/is_200302/ai_n9188672/pg_1] ] [ [http://www.springerlink.com/content/nt3lj1301228358r/ On the origin of Mongoloid component in the mitochondrial gene pool of Slavs. Russian Journal of Genetics. Volume 44, Number 3 / March, 2008] ]

Population

Most Bulgarians live in the Republic of Bulgaria. There are significant Bulgarian minorities in Moldova and Ukraine (Bessarabian Bulgarians), as well as in Romania (Banat Bulgarians), Serbia (the Western Outlands), Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Albania, and Hungary. Many Bulgarians also live in the diaspora, which is formed by representatives and descendants of the old (before 1989) and new (after 1989) emigration. The old emigration was made up of some 160,000 economic and several tens of thousands of political emigrants, and was directed for the most part to the U.S., Canada, Argentina, Brazil 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 U.S., Canada, Austria, and Germany and labour emigration at the end of the 1990s, directed for the most part to Greece, Italy, the UK and Spain. Migrations to the West have been quite steady even in the late 1990s and early 21st century, as people continue moving to countries like the US, Canada and Australia. Most Bulgarians living in the US can be found in Chicago, IL. However, according to the 2000 US census most Bulgarians live in the cities of New York and Los Angeles, and the state with most Bulgarians in the US is California.The largest urban populations of Bulgarians are to be found in Sofia (1,241,000), Plovdiv (378,000), and Varna (352,000) [ [http://www.grao.bg/tna.html Главна Дирекция Гражданска Регистрация и Административно Обслужване] ] . The total number of Bulgarians thus ranges anywhere from 17 to 18 million, depending solely on the estimation used for the diaspora.On the other hand today the neighboring Macedonians are altogether culturally, [http://original.britannica.com/eb/article-42725/Bulgaria] [http://original.britannica.com/ebc/article-9373972] [http://original.britannica.com/eb/article-9018013/Bulgarian-Orthodox-Church] genetically [http://whitegreenred.free.bg/geni.jpg] [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12542743?dopt=Abstract] [http://www.springerlink.com/content/8300nn2q37527183/] and linguistically [http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/92/1992-004-68F607FE.gif] [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/548460/Slavic-languages/74889/South-Slavic#ref=ref604057&tab=active~checked%2Citems~checked&title=Slavic%20languages%20%3A%3A%20South%20Slavic%20--%20Britannica%20Online%20Encyclopedia] [http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:Wol_g_KbyykJ:original.britannica.com/eb/article-9018011/Bulgarian-language+slavic+cultures+bulgarians+macedonians&hl=bg&ct=clnk&cd=22&gl=bg] closely related to Bulgarians, with both of their languages being mutually intelligible. The Slav-speaking Macedonians were considered Bulgarians by themselves and by the most of the ethnographers until the early 20th century and beyond. The reasons for this were manifold, particularly so because of the late emergence of a separate Macedonian national consciousness, as well as the Bulgarian cinsciousness among the Slav-speaking part of Macedonians. During the period of Bulgarian National Revival many Bulgarians from different parts of Macedonia supported the struggle for creation of Bulgarian cultural educational and religious institutions, including Bulgarian Exarchate. [ [http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/en/ban/#II Macedonia.Documents and Materials, Sofia 1978, p.125-338] , Vacalopulos, Konstandinos A. Modern history of Macedonia, Thessaloniki 1988, p. 52, 57, 64] A minuscule proportion of 1,417 citizens of the Republic of Macedonia continue to identify as ethnic Bulgarians, and composed about 0.5% of the population at the last census. Lately Bulgaria has maintained a policy of making the procedure as easy as possible for ethnic Macedonians who claim Bulgarian origin to claim citizenship. [ [http://iwpr.gn.apc.org/?s=f&o=242497&apc_state=henibcr2005 Shkodrova, Albena, 2005. Bulgaria's Warm Embrace. Institute for War and Peace Reporting] ] . During the last few years in which Bulgaria saw rising economic prosperity and admission to the EU, around 60,000 citizens of Republic of Macedonia have applied for Bulgarian citizenship in this way. Another 14,000 have already received Bulgarian passports. [ [http://dnes.dir.bg/2008/09/10/news3365842.html 60 000 чакат да станат българи, 10 септември 2008 / News.dir.bg] ]

Culture

What was done in the past

Cyrillic alphabet

Medieval Bulgaria was the most important cultural centre of the Slavic people at the end of the 9th and throughout the 10th century. The two literary schools of Preslav and Ohrid developed a rich literary and cultural activity with authors of the rank of Constantine of Preslav, John Exarch, Chernorizets Hrabar, Clement and Naum of Ohrid. In the first half of the 10th century, the Cyrillic alphabet was devised in the Preslav Literary School based on the Glagolitic and the Greek alphabets. Modern versions of the alphabet are now used to write five more Slavic languages such as Belarusian, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian and Ukrainian as well as Mongolian and some other 60 languages spoken in the former Soviet Union.

Bulgaria exerted similar influence on her neighbouring countries in the mid to late 14th century, at the time of the Turnovo Literary School, with the work of Patriarch Evtimiy, Grigoriy Tsamblak, Constantine of Kostenets (Konstantin Kostenechki). Bulgarian cultural influence was especially strong in Wallachia and Moldova where the Cyrillic alphabet was used until 1860, while Slavonic was the official language of the princely dn|Chancellery|chancellery and of the church until the end of 17th century.

Art and science

Boris Christoff, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Raina Kabaivanska and Ghena Dimitrova made a precious contribution to opera singing with Ghiaurov and Christoff being two of the greatest bassos in the post-war period.The name of the harpist-Anna-Maria Ravnopolska-Dean is one of the best-known harpists today.Bulgarians have made valuable contributions to world culture in modern times as well. Julia Kristeva and Tzvetan Todorov were among the most influential European philosophers in the second half of the 20th century. The artist Christo is among the most famous representatives of environmental art with projects such as the Wrapped Reichstag.

Bulgarians in the diaspora have also been active. American scientists and inventors of Bulgarian descent include John Atanasoff, Peter Petroff, and Assen Jordanoff. Bulgarian-American Stephane Groueff wrote the celebrated book "Manhattan Project", about the making of the first atomic bomb and also penned "Crown of Thorns", a biography of Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria.

Sport

In the beginning of the 20th century Bulgaria was famous for two of the best wrestlers in the world - Dan Kolov and Nikola Petroff.High-jumper Stefka Kostadinova was one of the top ten female athletes of the last century and holds one of the oldest unbroken world records in athletics.Hristo Stoichkov was one of the best football (soccer) players in the second half of the 20th century, having played with the national team and FC Barcelona. He received a number of awards and was the joint top scorer at the 1994 World Cup.

Language

Bulgarians speak a Southern Slavic language which is to some point similar to Serbo-Croatian and is often (mostly words, not sentences) mutually intelligible with it. The Bulgarian language is also, to some degree, mutually intelligible with Russian on account of the influence which Russia has had on the development of Modern Bulgaria since 1878, as well as the earlier effect of Old Bulgarian on the development of Old Russian. Although related, Bulgarian and the Western and Eastern Slavic languages are not mutually intelligible.

Bulgarian demonstrates several linguistic developments that set it apart from other Slavic languages. These are shared with Romanian, Albanian and Greek (see Balkan linguistic union). Until 1878 Bulgarian was influenced lexically by medieval and modern Greek, and to a much lesser extent, by Turkish. More recently, the language has borrowed many words from Russian, German, French and English.

Some members of the diaspora do not speak the Bulgarian language (mostly representatives of the old emigration in the U.S., Canada and Argentina) but are still considered Bulgarians by ethnic origin or descent.

The majority of the Bulgarian linguists, consider the officialized Macedonian language, since 1944, a local variation of Bulgarian, although the linguistic consensus suggests that a language is a language if its speakers define it as such. The Bulgarian language is written in the Cyrillic alphabet.

Name system

There are several different layers of Bulgarian names. The vast majority of them have either Christian (names like Lazar, Ivan, Anna, Maria, Ekaterina) or Slavic origin (Vladimir, Svetoslav, Velislava). After the Liberation in 1878, the names of historical Bulgar rulers like Asparuh, Krum, Kubrat and Tervel were resurrected. The old Bulgar name Boris has spread from Bulgaria to a number of countries in the world with Russian tsar Boris Godunov and German tennis player Boris Becker being two of the examples of its use.

Most Bulgarian male surnames have an "-ov" surname suffix (Cyrillic: "-ов"). This is sometimes transcribed as "-off" (John Atanasov — John Atanasoff, but more often as "-ov" e.g. Boris Hristov). The "-ov" suffix is the Slavic gender-agreeing suffix, thus "Ivanov" ( _bg. Иванов) literally means "Ivan's". Bulgarian middle names use the gender-agreeing suffix as well, thus the middle name of Nikola's son becomes "Nikolov", and the middle name of Ivan's son becomes "Ivanov". Since names in Bulgarian are gender-based, Bulgarian women have the "-ova" surname suffix (Cyrillic: "-овa"), for example, "Maria Ivanova". The plural form of Bulgarian names ends in "-ovi" (Cyrillic: "-ови"), for example the "Ivanovi" family ( _bg. Иванови).

Other common Bulgarian male surnames have the "-ev" surname suffix (Cyrillic: "-ев"), for example Stoev, Ganchev, Peev, and so on. The female surname in this case would have the "-eva" surname suffix (Cyrillic: "-ева"), for example: "Galina Stoeva". The last name of the entire family then would have the plural form of "-evi" (Cyrillic: "-еви"), for example: the "Stoevi" family ( _bg. Стоеви).

Another typical Bulgarian surname suffix, though much less common, is "-ski". This surname ending also gets an "–a" when the bearer of the name is female ("Smirnenski" becomes "Smirnenska"). The plural form of the surname suffix "-ski" is still "-ski", e.g. the "Smirnenski" family ( _bg. Смирненски).

The surname suffix "-ich" can be found sometimes, primarily among Catholic Bulgarians. The ending "–in" (female "-ina") also appears sometimes, though rather seldom. It used to be given to the child of an unmarried woman (for example the son of "Kuna" will get the surname "Kunin" and the son of "Gana" – "Ganin"). The surname ending "–ich" does not get an additional "–a" if the bearer of the name is female.

Religion

Most Bulgarians are at least nominally members of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church founded in 870 AD (autocephalous since 927 AD). The Bulgarian Orthodox Church is the independent national church of Bulgaria like the other national branches of Eastern Orthodoxy and is considered an inseparable element of Bulgarian national consciousness. The church has been abolished twice during the periods of Byzantine (1018—1185) and Ottoman (1396—1878) domination but was revived every time as a symbol of Bulgarian statehood. In 2001, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church had a total of 6,552,000 members in Bulgaria (82.6% of the population) and between one and two million members in the diaspora. The problem with the allegiance of the Orthodox Bulgarian minorities in Serbia, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine has not yet been settled and Bulgarians in those countries still hold allegiance to the respective national orthodox churches.

Despite the position of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church as a unifying symbol for all Bulgarians, smaller or larger groups of Bulgarians have converted to other faiths or denominations through the course of time. In the 16th and the 17th century Roman Catholic missionaries converted the Bulgarian Paulicians in the districts of Plovdiv and Svishtov to Roman Catholicism. Nowadays there are some 40,000 Catholic Bulgarians in Bulgaria and additional 10,000 in Banat in Romania. The Catholic Bulgarians of the Banat are also descendants of Paulicians who fled to Banat at the end of the 17th century after an unsuccessful uprising against the Ottomans.

Protestantism was introduced in Bulgaria by missionaries from the United States in 1857. Missionary work continued throughout the second half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. In 2001, there were some 25,000 Protestant Bulgarians in Bulgaria.

Between 15th and 20th century, during the Ottoman rule, a large number of Orthodox Bulgarians converted to Islam. Their descendants now form the second largest religious congregation in Bulgaria. In 2001, there were 131,000 Muslim Bulgarians or Pomaks in Bulgaria in the Rhodope region, as well as some villages in the Teteven region in Central North Bulgaria. Their origins are obscure, [F. De Jong, "The Muslim Minority in Western Thrace", (1980), p. 95] but they are generally believed to be Bulgarians who converted to Islam during the period of Ottoman rule in the Balkans. ["A Country Study: Bulgaria", [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+bg0085) "Pomaks"] , (1992)]

further|Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Islam in Bulgaria, Roman Catholicism in Bulgaria, Protestantism in Bulgaria.

ymbols

The national symbols of the Bulgarians are the Flag of Bulgaria and the Coat of Arms of Bulgaria.

The national flag of Bulgaria is a rectangle with three colors: white, green, and red, positioned horizontally top to bottom. The color fields are of same form and equal size.

The Coat of Arms of Bulgaria is a state symbol of the sovereignty and independence of the Bulgarian people and state. It represents a crowned rampant golden lion on a dark red background with the shape of a shield. Above the shield there is a crown modeled after the crowns of the emperors of the Second Bulgarian Empire, with five crosses and an additional cross on top. Two crowned rampant golden lions hold the shield from both sides, facing it. They stand upon two crossed oak branches with acorns, which symbolize the power and the longevity of the Bulgarian state. Under the shield, there is a white band lined with the three national colors. The band is placed across the ends of the branches and the phrase "Unity Makes Strength" is inscribed on it.

Both the Bulgarian flag and the Coat of Arms are also used as symbols of various Bulgarian organisations, political parties and institutions.

Bulgarians. Faces through history

References and notes

ee also

*List of Bulgarians
*Banat Bulgarians
*Bessarabian Bulgarians
*Bulgaria
*Bulgars
*History of Bulgaria
*Bulgarian language
*Music of Bulgaria
*Bulgarian cuisine
*Bulgarian-Americans
*Bulgarians in Serbia
*Macedonians (ethnic group)
*Old Great Bulgaria
*Bulgarian months