Bulgarians in Hungary

Bulgarians ( _hu. bolgárok) are one of the thirteen officially recognized ethnic minorities in Hungary ( _bg. Унгария, "Ungariya"; old name Маджарско, "Madzharsko") since the "Rights of National and Ethnic Minorities Act" was enacted by the National Assembly of Hungary on 7 July 1993.cite web |url=http://www.per-usa.org/self_gov.htm |title=Self-government in Hungary: the Romani/Gypsy experience and prospects for the future |accessdate=2007-02-18 |work=Project on ethnic relations ] They number 2,316 and amount to 0.02% of the country's total population according to the 2001 census,cite web |url=http://www.nepszamlalas.hu/eng/volumes/24/tables/load1_1.html |title=1.1 Factors influencing the ethnic affiliation of the population, 2001 |publisher=Hungarian Central Statistical Office |accessdate=2007-02-17 ] but are estimated between 2,000 and 7,000 according to different authors.cite book |url=http://www.slovo.bg/showwork.php3?AuID=54&WorkID=1021&Level=1 |chapterurl=http://www.slovo.bg/showwork.php3?AuID=54&WorkID=1021&Level=3 |title=Корените и короната |chapter=Няколко опорни исторически факта |publisher=Словото |language=Bulgarian |last=Ватова |first=Пенка |accessdate=2007-02-17 ]

In the Early Middle Ages, much of modern Hungary was often under the rule of the First Bulgarian Empire. The popular Bulgarian ruler Krum may have been born in Pannonia,cite book |last=Fine |first=John Van Antwerp |title =The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth century |publisher=University of Michigan Press |date =1983 |pages=p. 94 |isbn =0472081497 ] and Bulgarian dukes like Salan, Glad, Ahtum, Sermon and Menumorut are mentioned as the lords of Syrmia, Banat, Bačka and parts of Transylvania proper in the 9th-11th centuries according to the "Gesta Hungarorum".

The northern Hungarian town of Szentendre and the surrounding villages were inhabited by Bulgarians since the Middle Ages. In the 18th century, Szentendre had a Bulgarian neighbourhood of settlers from Chiprovtsi and a "Chiprovtsi church", indicating refugees from the time of the Chiprovtsi Uprising. A village near Visegrád was called "Bolgár falu" ("Bulgarian village") in the 16th century; Bulgarian refugees fleeing the Ottoman rule are first mentioned as inhabitants of this area on 30 December 1428. Gradually, however, these Bulgarians were assimilated into the Magyar population. [cite book |title=Die Čiprovecer in Ungarn |language=German |year=2002 |last=Király |first=Péter |publisher=ELTE Szláv Intézet |location=Budapest ]

A number of Roman Catholic Banat Bulgarians settled in what is today Hungary as a secondary migration,cite web |url=http://www.bolgarok.hu/index.php?id=364&L=1 |title=Първите |last=Ченгова-Менхарт |first=Пенка |language=Bulgarian |accessdate=2007-02-17 |publisher=Website of the Bulgarian community in Hungary ] establishing an early and small Banat Bulgarian community in Hungary. In Bulgarian interwar publications, their number is rounded and possibly overestimated at 10,000. [cite book |title=Банатските българи |last=Нягулов |first=Благовест |year=1999 |location=Sofia |publisher=Paradigma |language=Bulgarian |chapter=Българите в Банат под властта на държавите-наследнички |isbn=954-9536-13-0 |pages=p. 82 ]

However, the Bulgarian ethnic community is largely descended from gardeners and other professionals who migrated to Austria-Hungary in large groups in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, prior to World War I. In 1857, Bulgarians in Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun (not counting Pest, Buda and Kecskemét) numbered 2,815, and their population had not changed significantly in 1870.

The oldest Bulgarian organization in Hungary, the Association of Bulgarians in Hungary, was founded in 1914 on the initiative of Lazar Ivanov from Teteven. The Bulgarian Church Community was founded in 1916 and the first Bulgarian school in 1918.cite web |url=http://www.bolgarok.hu/index.php?id=20&L=1 |title=Дружеството на българите в Унгария |language=Bulgarian |accessdate=2007-02-17 |publisher=Website of the Bulgarian community in Hungary ] Since then, the Bulgarian community has diversified to a great extent.

The Bulgarian Orthodox church of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Ferencváros, Budapest was constructed in 1932.cite web |url=http://www.bolgarok.hu/index.php?id=17&L=1 |title=Българска православна църква |language=Bulgarian |accessdate=2007-02-17 |publisher=Website of the Bulgarian community in Hungary ] A Bulgarian newspaper, "Balgarski vesti", and a Bulgarian magazine, "Hemus", are published by the Bulgarian community, as well as various books. There exist a number of folk dance groups, a theatre, several orchestras, a Bulgarian school for the native language and a Bulgarian-Hungarian secondary school for languages named after Hristo Botev.

References

External links

* [http://www.bolgarok.hu/ Website of the Bulgarian community in Hungary] hu icon bg icon
* [http://www.bolgarforum.hu/ Bulgarian cultural forum] bg icon hu icon
* [http://www.aba.government.bg/obshtnosti.php?cid=37 State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad: Hungary] bg icon