Bulgarians: Difference between revisions

Bulgarians
българи
(*balgari*)
Total population
	Between 9 and 10 million
Regions with significant populations
Bulgaria	5,664,624 (incomplete 2011 census data)[a]; 6,000,000 (2011 estimate)
United States	300,000
Greece	300,000
Turkey	270,000
Ukraine	204,574- 500,000
Spain	176,216- 300,000
United Kingdom	100,000- 150,000
Germany	93,889
Moldova	79,520- 230,000
Canada	70,000-150,000
Argentina	70,000
Brazil	65,000
Italy	51,134- 130,000
Austria	35,000
France	34,000
Russia	24,038
Serbia	18,543
Cyprus	19,197- 35,000
South Africa	15,000- 20,000
Belgium	18,000
Netherlands	12,340
Romania	8,092
Kosovo	8,000
Czech Republic	7,387
Portugal	8,606- 15,000
Kazakhstan	6,915- 30,000
Australia	4,898- 100,000
Macedonia	1,417
Languages
	Bulgarian
Religion
	Orthodox Christianity (mainly Bulgarian Orthodox Church) ~70%; irreligious ~25% • Muslim, Catholic and Protestant minorities ~5%
Related ethnic groups
	Indo-European peoples • Slavic peoples • South Slavic peoples • Macedonians

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The Bulgarians (Bulgarian: българи, IPA: [bɤ̞ɫɡɐri]), are a South Slavic^[37]^[38]^[39]^[40] ethnic group, inhabiting mainly the Balkans in Southeastern Europe.

History

Ethnogenesis

The Bulgarians have descended from three main tribal groups, which mixed themselves and formed a Slavic-speaking ethnicity in the First Bulgarian Empire:

the 'indigenous' late Roman provincial peoples: Thraco-Romans and Thraco-Byzantines, from whom certain cultural elements were taken.^[41]^[42]
the Early Slavs, who gave their language to the Bulgarians;
the Bulgars, from whom the ethnonym and the early statehood were inherited;

The ancient languages of the local people had gone nearly extinct before the arrival of the Slavs, mostly due to Hellenization since antiquity and to a lesser degree to Romanization during Roman rule, accompanied by Christianisation. Their cultural influence was also highly reduced due to the repeated barbaric invasions on the Balkans during the early Middle Ages by Goths, Celts, Huns and Sarmatians and later slavicisation. However, some of their linguistic and cultural traces are present in modern Bulgarians (and Macedonians).

The Early Slavs emerged from their original homeland 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 Byzantines grouped the numerous Slavic tribes into two groups: the Sklavenoi and Antes.^[43] Some Bulgarian scholars suggest that the Antes became one of the ancestors of the modern Bulgarians.^[43]

The Bulgars are first mentioned in the 4th century in the vicinity of the North Caucasian steppe, although scholars speculate that their history may go back to the Central Asian nomadic confederations.^[44]^[45]^[46]^[47] Many scholars posit the origins of the Bulgars as a Turkic tribe of Central Asia (perhaps with Iranian elements).^[48]^[49] In the late 7th century, some Bulgar tribes, led by Asparukh and others, led by Kouber, permanently settled in the Balkans. It is assumed that because Balkan Bulgars were not numerous,^[50] low genetic influence was brought into the region, since the background of the local populations was not detectably modified.^[51]

During the time of the early Byzantine Empire, the lands of present-day Bulgaria had population of Romanised Getae and Hellenised Thracians. When reaching the Danube in the early 5th century, the Early Slavs commenced raiding the Byzantinum. In the middle of the 6th century, some Thraco-Romans and Thraco-Byzantines, south of the Danube River, achieved a prolonged contact with the invading Slavs and were later eventually slavicised.^[52] Subsecuently, after the Bulgars' arrival, between the 8th and the 10th centuries, the remainder of the native population and the Bulgars, who were outnumbered by the Slavs^[53]^[54]^[55] gradually became absorbed by them, adopting a South Slav language.^[56]

Genetic origins

Bulgarian DNA profile is congruent with those described for most European populations. Almost the entire Bulgarian mtDNA pool is made up of West Eurasian lineages, with just 0.9% of Eastern Asian lineages.^[57] It is a similar picture from Y-chromosome haplogroups. About 80% of the total genetic variation in Bulgarians falls within haplogroups E-M35, I-M170, J-M172, R-M17 and R-M269, all found elsewhere in Europe.

Two Y-DNA haplogroups are common in Slavic populations: R1a1a and I2a1b1 (M359.2/P41.2). Similar to the rest of their South Slavic neighbours, the Bulgarians do not have the high density of R1a1a1g1 (M458) typical for Western and Eastern Slavs. They have more of a mixture of R1a1a types.^[58] The high density of I2a1b1 which is typical of the South Slavic populations is shared by the Bulgarians.^[59]

Bulgarians are located in an intermediate position between Eastern European and Mediterranean populations, which is in agreement with historical events. Genetically, modern Bulgarians are more closely related to other neighbouring Balkan populations (Macedonians, Serbs, Romanians, Greeks and Albanians) than to the rest of the Europeans.^[60]^[61]^[62]^[63]^[64] Bulgarians are distant from Turks despite geographical proximity.^[65]

Ancient DNA has been retrieved from Thracian populations from the south-East of Romania, which might be helpful in suggesting the genetic make-up of pre-Slavic Bulgaria. A few mtDNA matches were found with modern Bulgarians. However this study was done in 2004, before the present sequencing methods were available and consequently full mitochondrial genomes could not be obtained.^[66]

National identity

The First Bulgarian Empire was founded in 681. After the adoption of Orthodox Christianity in 864 it became the one of the cultural centers of Slavic Europe. Its leading cultural position was consolidated with the invention of the Cyrillic script in its capital Preslav at the eve of the 10th century.^[67] The development of Old Church Slavonic literacy in the country had the effect of preventing the assimilation of the South Slavs into neighboring cultures and it stimulated also the development of distinct ethnic identity.^[68] A symbiosis was carried out between the numerically weak Bulgars and the numerous Slavic tribes in that broad area from the Danube to the north, to the Aegean Sea to the south, and from the Adriatic Sea to the west, to the Black Sea to the east, who accepted the common ethnonym "Bulgarians".^[69] During the 10th century the Bulgarians established a form of national identity, which despite was far from the modern nationalism, helped them to survive as distinct entity through the centuries.^[70]^[71]

In 1018 Bulgaria lost its independence and remained subject to Byzantium until 1185, when the Second Bulgarian Empire was created.^[72] Nevertheless, at the end of the 14th century, the Ottomans conquered the whole of Bulgaria.^[73] Under the Ottomans, Bulgarians were considered an lower class of people and Bulgarian Christian culture was suppressed. The nobility and the clergy were eliminated and the peasantry was enserfed. A process of partial Islamization took place in the course of the centuries, determined by the specific conditions of each locality.^[74] The Bulgarians, as the rest of the Orthodox Christians were included in a specific ethno-religious community under Greco-Byzantine domination, called Rum Millet. The belonging to this Orthodox commonwealth became more important to the common people, then their ethnic origins.^[75] This community became both, basic form of social organization and source of identity for all the ethnic groups inside it.^[76] In this way, ethnonyms were rarely used and between the 15th and 19th centuries, most of the local people gradually began to identify themselves simply as Christians.^[77]^[78] However, the public-spirited clergy in some isolated monasteries still kept the distinct Bulgarian identity alive,^[79] and this helped it to survive in some rural, remote areas.^[80] Despite the process of ethno-religious fusion among the Orthodox Christians, strong nationalist sentiments persisted into the Catholic community in the northwestern part of the country.^[81] At that time, a process of partial hellenisation occurred among the intelligentsia and the urban population, as result of the higher status of the Greek culture and the Greek Orthodox Church among the Balkan Christians. During the second half of the 18th century, the Enlightenment in Western Europe provided influence for the initiation of the National awakening of Bulgaria in 1762.^[82]

When during the middle of the 18th century, the Russian Army was crossing the Danube, some Bulgarians supported it. Russia worked to convince them to settle in areas recently conquered by it, especially in Bessarabia. As a consequence, many Bulgarian colonists settled there, and later they formed two military regiments, as part of the Russian military colonization of the area in 1759-1763.^[83]

Bulgarian national movement

During the Russo-Turkish Wars from (1806–1812) and (1828–1829) Bulgarian emigrants formed the Bulgarian Countrymen's Army and joined the Russian army, hoping Russia would bring Bulgarian liberation, but its imperial interests were focused then on Greece and Valachia.^[84] The rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire led to a struggle for cultural and religious autonomy of the Bulgarian people. The Bulgarians wanted to have their own schools and liturgy in Bulgarian, and they needed an independent ecclesiastical organisation. Discontent with the supremacy of the Greek Orthodox clergy, the struggle started to flare up in several Bulgarian dioceses in the 1820s.

It was not until the 1850 when the Bulgarians initiated a purposeful struggle against the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The struggle between the Bulgarians and the pro-Greek Phanariotes intensified throughout the 1860s. In 1861 the Vatican and the Ottoman government recognized a separate Bulgarian Uniat Church. As the Greek clerics were ousted from most Bulgarian bishoprics at the end of the decade, significant areas had been seceded from the Patriarchate's control. This movement restored the distinct Bulgarian national consciousness among the common people and led to the recognition of the Bulgarian Exarchate in 1870 by the Ottomans. As result, two armed struggle movements started to develop as late as the beginning of the 1870s: the Internal Revolutionary Organisation and the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee. Their armed struggle reached its peak with the April Uprising which broke out in 1876. It resulted into the Russo-Turkish War from 1877–1878, and led to the foundation of the third Bulgarian state after the Treaty of San Stefano. The issue of Bulgarian nationalism gained greater significance, following the Congress of Berlin which took back the regions of Macedonia and Adrianople area, returning them under the control of the Ottoman Empire. Also an autonomous Ottoman province, called Eastern Rumelia was created in northern Thrace. Аs a consequence, the Bulgarian national movement proclaimed as its aim the inclusion of most of Macedonia, Thrace and Moesia under Greater Bulgaria.

Eastern Rumelia was annexed to Bulgaria in 1885 through bloodless revolution. During the early 1890s, two pro-Bulgarian revolutionary organizations were founded: the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization and the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee. In 1903 they participated in the unsuccessful Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottomans in Macedonia and the Adrianople vilayet. Macedonian Slavs were identified then predominantly as Bulgarians, and significant Bulgarophile sentiments endured up among them until the end of the Second World War.^[85]^[86]^[87]^[88]^[89]

In the early 20th century the control over Macedonia became a key point of contention between Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia, who fought the First Balkan War of 1912 and the Second Balkan War of 1913. The area was further fought over during the World War I (1915–1918) and the World War II (1941–1944).

Demographics

Most Bulgarians live in Bulgaria, where they are around 6 million,^[4] constituting 85% of the population. There are significant Bulgarian minorities in the Serbia, Turkey, Albania, Romania (Banat Bulgarians), as well as in Ukraine and Moldova (see Bessarabian Bulgarians). 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 2,470,000 ^{[citation needed]} 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 970,000 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, Illinois. 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. Most Bulgarians living in Canada can be found in Toronto, Ontario, and the provinces with most Bulgarians in Canada are Ontario and Quebec. Around 1.2 million Bulgarians live in the city of Sofia, over 300,000 in Plovdiv and Varna and below 200,000 in Burgas. The total number of Bulgarians stood at over 9 million.^[1]^[2]

Related ethnic groups

Until the early 20th century, the ethnic Macedonians, Torlaks and Slavic-speakers of Greek Macedonia were usually self-identifying as Bulgarians.

Bulgarians are considered most closely related to the neighboring Macedonians, indeed it is sometimes said there is no discernible ethnic difference between them.^[37] The ethnic Macedonians were considered Macedonian Bulgarians by the most ethnographers until the early 20th century and beyond with a big portion of them evidently self-identifying as such.^[90]^[91] The Slavic-speakers of Greek Macedonia and most among the Torlaks in Serbia have also had a history of identifying as Bulgarians and many were members of the Bulgarian Exarchate, which included most of the territory regarded as Torlak. Greater part of these people were also considered Bulgarians by most of the ethnographers until the early 20th century and beyond.^[92]^[93]^[94]^[95]

The Macedonian language is seen to be a comparatively newly emergent and is regarded by some linguists as a variety or a dialect of Bulgarian,^[96]^[97]^[98] just as the most linguists, outsiders and locals regarded it prior to the 20th century and the Yugoslav conquest of Macedonia. The nowadays Torlakian dialect on the same way was thought as Bulgarian, for example the first known literary document influenced by Torlakian^[99] dialects is the Manuscript from Temska Monastery from 1762, in which its author, the Monk Kiril Zhivkovich from Pirot, today in Serbia, considered his language as: "simple Bulgarian".^[100]

Culture

Language

Bulgarians speak a Southern Slavic language which is mutually intelligible with the Macedonian and with the Torlak dialect. 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 some linguistic developments that set it apart from other Slavic languages. These are shared with Romanian, Albanian and Greek (see Balkan language area) with which it is not in any case mutually intelligible. Until 1878 Bulgarian was influenced lexically by medieval and modern Greek and by Turkish. More recently, the language has borrowed many words from Russian, German, French and English. In the Middle Ages, Bulgarain influenced the Russian, Albanian, Serbian and Romanian language, because the Bulgarian Empire was an European cultutral hub and it is interesting to note 14% of the Romanian vocabulary is of Slavic origin.

The Bulgarian language is written in the Cyrillic script, currently an widely used international alphabet, developed by the Bulgarians in the Middle Ages.

Cyrillic alphabet

In the first half of the 10th century, the Cyrillic script was devised in the Preslav Literary School, Bulgaria, based on the Glagolitic, the Greek and Latin 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. Medieval Bulgaria was the most important cultural centre of the Slavic peoples 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. Bulgaria exerted similar influence on her neighbouring countries in the mid- to late 14th century, at the time of the Tarnovo Literary School, with the work of Patriarch Evtimiy, Gregory Tsamblak, Constantine of Kostenets (Konstantin Kostenechki). Bulgarian cultural influence was especially strong in Wallachia and Moldova where the Cyrillic script was used until 1860, while Church Slavonic was the official language of the princely chancellery and of the church until the end of 17th century.

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, British politician Boris Johnson, and German tennis player Boris Becker being three of the examples of its use.

Most Bulgarian male surnames have an -ov surname suffix (Cyrillic: -ов). This is sometimes transcribed as -off or "-of" (John Atanasov—John Atanasoff), but more often as -ov (e.g. Boyko Borisov). The -ov suffix is the Slavic gender-agreeing suffix, thus Ivanov (Bulgarian: Иванов) literally means "Ivan's". Bulgarian middle names are patronymic and 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 (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 (Стоеви).

Another typical Bulgarian surname suffix, though 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 (Bulgarian: Смирненски).

The ending –in (female -ina) also appears rarely. 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 suffix -ich can be found only occasionally, primarily among the Roman Catholic Bulgarians. 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 the Orthodox communion and is considered an inseparable^{[citation needed]} element of Bulgarian national consciousness. The church was abolished once, during the period of Ottoman rule (1396—1878), in 1873 it was revived as Bulgarian Exarchate and soon after raised again to Bulgarian Patriarchate. In 2001, the Orthodox Church at least nominally had a total of 6,552,000 members in Bulgaria (82.6% of the population), 6,300,000 of which were Bulgarians, and between one and two million members in the diaspora. The Orthodox Bulgarian minorities in the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Greece, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova nowadays hold allegiance to the respective national Orthodox churches.

Despite the position of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church as a unifying symbol for all Bulgarians, small groups of Bulgarians have converted to other faiths through the course of time. In the 16th and the 17th century Roman Catholic missionaries converted a small number of Bulgarian Paulicians in the districts of Plovdiv and Svishtov to Roman Catholicism. Nowadays there are some 40,000 Roman Catholic Bulgarians in Bulgaria, additional 10,000 in the Banat in Romania and up to 100,000 people of Bulgarian ancenstry in South America. The Roman Catholic Bulgarians of the Banat are also descendants of Paulicians who fled there 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. Nowadays there are some 25,000 Protestant Bulgarians in Bulgaria. Between the 15th and the 19th century, during the Ottoman rule, some Orthodox Bulgarians converted to Islam. At 2001 census, 131,000 declared that are ethnic Bulgarians with Islamic denomination (locally called Pomaks) in Bulgaria in the Rhodope region, as well as few villages in the Teteven region in Central North Bulgaria, however nowadays most of the Pomaks live in Turkey where they are at least 270,000.

Art and science

16th century fresco of Baptism of Christ from the Kremikovtsi Monastery

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. According to MENSA International, Bulgaria ranks 2nd in the world in Mensa IQ test-scores and its students rate second in the world in SAT scores.^[101]^[102] Also, international MENSA IQ testing completed in 2004 identified as the world's smartest woman (and one of the smartest people in the world) Daniela Simidchieva of Bulgaria, who has an IQ of 200.^[103]^[104]As of 2007^[update] CERN employed more than 90 Bulgarian scientists, and about 30 of them will actively participate in the Large Hadron Collider experiments.^[105]

Cuisine

Bulgarian Kozunak as prepared for Easter

Famous for its rich salads required at every meal, Bulgarian cuisine is also noted for the diversity and quality of dairy products and the variety of local wines and alcoholic beverages such as rakia, mastika and menta. Bulgarian cuisine features also a variety of hot and cold soups, an example of a cold soup being tarator. There are many different Bulgarian pastries as well such as banitsa.

Most Bulgarian dishes are oven baked, steamed, or in the form of stew. Deep-frying is not very typical, but grilling – especially different kinds of meats – is very common. Pork meat is the most common meat in the Bulgarian cuisine. Oriental dishes do exist in Bulgarian cuisine with most common being moussaka, gyuvetch, and baklava. A very popular ingredient in Bulgarian cuisine is the Bulgarian white brine cheese called "sirene" (сирене). It is the main ingredient in many salads, as well as in a variety of pastries. Fish and chicken are widely eaten and while beef is less common as most cattle are bred for milk production rather than meat, veal is a natural byproduct of this process and it is found in many popular recipes. Bulgaria is a net exporter of lamb and its own consumption of the meat is prevalent during its production time in spring.^[106]

Customs

Bulgarians may wear the martenitsa (мартеница) – an adornment made of white and red yarn and worn on the wrist or pinned on the clothes – from 1 March until the end of the month. Alternatively, one can take off the martenitsa earlier if one sees a stork (considered a harbinger of spring). One can then tie the martenitsa to the blossoming branch of a tree. Family-members and friends in Bulgaria customarily exchange martenitsas, which they regard as symbols of health and longevity. The white thread represents peace and tranquility, while the red one stands for the cycles of life. Bulgarians may also refer to the holiday of 1 March as Baba Marta (Баба Марта), meaning Grandmother March. It preserves an ancient pagan tradition. Many legends exist regarding the birth of this custom, some of them dating back to the 7th-century times of Khan Kubrat, the ruler of Old Great Bulgaria. Other tales relate the martenitsa to Thracian and Zoroastrian beliefs.

The ancient ritual of kukeri (кукери), performed by costumed men, seeks to scare away evil spirits and bring good harvest and health to the community. The costumes, made of animal furs and fleeces, cover the whole of the body. A mask, adorned with horns and decoration, covers the head of each kuker, who also must have bells attached to his waist. The ritual consists of dancing, jumping and shouting in an attempt to banish all evil from the village. Some of the performers impersonate royalty, field-workers and craftsmen. The adornments on the costumes vary from one region to another.

Another characteristic custom called nestinarstvo (нестинарство), or firedancing, distinguishes the Strandzha region. This ancient custom involves dancing into fire or over live embers. Women dance into the fire with their bare feet without suffering any injury or pain.

Sport

As for most European peoples, the football became by far the most popular sport for the Bulgarians. 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. Dimitar Berbatov, currently in Fulham F.C. and formely in Manchester United, the national team and two domestic clubs, is still the most popular Bulgarian football player of the 21st century.

In the beginning of the 20th century Bulgaria was famous for two of the best wrestlers in the world – Dan Kolov and Nikola Petroff. Stefka Kostadinova is the best female high jumper, still holding the world record from 1987, one of the oldest unbroken world records for all kind of athletics. Ivet Lalova along with Irina Privalova is currently the fastest white woman at 100 metres. Kaloyan Mahlyanov has been the first European sumo wrestler to win the Emperor's Cup in Japan. Veselin Topalov won the 2005 World Chess Championship. He was ranked No. 1 in the world from April 2006 to January 2007, and had the second highest Elo rating of all time (2813). He regained the world No. 1 ranking again in October 2008.

Symbols

The national symbols of the Bulgarians are the Flag, the Coat of Arms, the National anthem and the National Guard, as well other unofficial symbols such as the Samara flag.

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. It is generally known that the white represents – the sky, the green – the forest and nature and the red – the blood of the people, referencing the strong bond of the nation through all the wars and revolutions that have shaken the country in the past. 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.

Gallery

Group images of Bulgarians

Bulgarian women in 1586.
Officers from Bulgarian hussar regiment in Russia (1776-1783).
Aerial photographers from the Bozhurishte Airfield, 1926
Girls at a college prom, 2008.

Notes and references

Notes:

a.	^ The census figure does not include some 736,981 people undeclared their ethnic group, or 10% of the population of Bulgaria.

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References:

^ ^a ^b "Chairman of Bulgaria's State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad - 3-4 million Bulgarians abroad in 2009 [[:Template:Bg icon]]". 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2011. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ ^a ^b "Bulgarian Minister without Portfolio - 4 million Bulgarians outside Bulgaria in 2010 [[:Template:Bg icon]]". 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2011. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ "Bulgarian 2011 census [[:Template:Bg icon]], p. 25" (PDF). nsi.bg. Retrieved 15 October 2012. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ ^a ^b "Experts for Census 2011 [[:Template:Bg icon]]". {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
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^ "Federal Statistical Office of Germany - Foreigners in 2011 [[:Template:De icon]]" (PDF). destatis.de. Retrieved 8 February 2011. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ "[[Demographics of Moldova#Ethnic groups|Moldovan 2004 census]]". statistica.md. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ ^a ^b "Bulgaria's State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad - [[:Template:Bg icon]]". aba.government.bg. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) Cite error: The named reference "SABA" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ Kolev, Yordan (2005). p. 428. ISBN 954-9942-73-2. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ "Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Argentina [[:Template:Bg icon]]". mfa.bg. Retrieved 29 April 2008. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ IBGE 2006
^ "Bulgarians in Brazil [[:Template:Bg icon]]". stranabg.com. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ "Foreign population resident in Italy [[:Template:It icon]]" (PDF). istat.it. Retrieved 23 April 2012. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ "Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in Italy [[:Template:Bg icon]]". mfa.bg. Retrieved 8 February 2011. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ "Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in France [[:Template:Bg icon]]". mfa.bg. Retrieved 8 February 2011. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ "Russian 2010 census [[:Template:Ru icon]]". perepis2002.ru. Retrieved 12 May 2008. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ "Serbian 2011 census [[:Template:Sr icon]]" (PDF). webrzs.stat.gov.rs. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ "Cypriot 2011 census". cystat.gov.cy.
^ "Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria - Bulgarians in South Africa [[:Template:Bg icon]]". mfa.bg. Retrieved 8 February 2011. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ "Romanian 2002 census [[:Template:Ro icon]]". edrc.ro. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ "Bulgarians in Kosovo are at least 8-10 thousand people [[:Template:Bg icon]]". dnevnik.bg. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ "Czech Statistical Office - Foreigners in 11.2011 [[:Template:Cz icon]]" (PDF). czso.cz. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ "National Institute of Statistics of Portugal - Foreigners in 2011 [[:Template:Pt icon]]" (PDF). sefstat.sef.pt. Retrieved 16 April 2011. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ "Kazakh 1999 census". {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
^ "President of Kazakhstan cited by the agency for Bulgarians abroad [[:Template:Bg icon]]". aba.government.bg. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ "Australian 2006 census" (PDF). abs.gov.au.
^ Kolev, Yordan (2005). p. 430. ISBN 954-9942-73-2. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ "2002 census in Macedonia".
^ ^a ^b Day, Alan John; East, Roger; Thomas, Richard (2002). Political and economic dictionary of Eastern Europe. Routledge. p. 96. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ One Europe, many nations: a historical dictionary of European national groups, James Minahan, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, ISBN 0-313-30984-1, pp. 134–135. Google Books. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ Fine, John Van Antwerp (1991). The early medieval Balkans: a critical survey from the sixth to the late twelfth century. University of Michigan Press. p. 308. ISBN 978-0-472-08149-3.
^ Kopeček, Michal (2007). Balázs Trencsényi (ed.). Discourses of collective identity in Central and Southeast Europe (1770–1945): texts and commentaries. Central European University Press. p. 240. ISBN 978-963-7326-60-8.
^ "The so-called Bulgar inscriptions are, with few exceptions, written in Greek rather than in Turkic runes; they mention officials with late antique titles, and use late Antique terminology and indictional dating.. contemporary Byzantine inscriptions are not obviously similar, implying that this (Bulgar) epigraphic habit was not imported from Constantinople but was a local Bulgar development, or rather, it was an indigenous 'Roman' inheritance." Nicopolis ad Istrium: Backward and Balkan ? M Whittow.
^ "Many Thracian survivals have been detected in the sphere of Bulgarian national costume and folk tradition." The Bulgarians: from pagan times to the Ottoman conquest, David Marshall Lang, Westview Press, 1976, ISBN 0-89158-530-3, p. 27.
^ ^a ^b Hupchick, Dennis P. The Balkans: From Constantinople to Communism. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. ISBN 1-4039-6417-3
^ Образуване на българската държава. проф. Петър Петров (Издателство Наука и изкуство, София, 1981)]
^ "Образуване на българската народност.проф. Димитър Ангелов (Издателство Наука и изкуство, "Векове", София, 1971)". Kroraina.com. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ Runciman, Steven. 1930. A history of the First Bulgarian Empire. London: G. Bell & Sons.: §I.1
^ Vassil Karloukovski. "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)". Kroraina.com. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ "''Encyclopædia Britannica Online''". Britannica.com. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ Rasho Rashev, Die Protobulgaren im 5.-7. Jahrhundert, Orbel, Sofia, 2005. (in Bulgarian, German summary)
^ The history of the Balkan Peninsula, Eastern Europe Collection, Ferdinand Schevill, Ayer Publishing, 1971, ISBN 0-405-02774-5, p. 92.
^ Arnaiz-Villena et al. Human Biology, Volume 75, Number 3, June 2003, E-ISSN: 1534-6617, HLA Genes in the Chuvashian Population from European Russia: Admixture of Central European and Mediterranean Populations, pp. 375–392.
^ Regna and gentes: the relationship between late antique and early medieval peoples and kingdoms in the transformation of the Roman world, Hans-Werner Goetz, Jörg Jarnut, Walter Pohl, BRILL, 2003, ISBN 90-04-12524-8, pp. 582–583.
^ An historical geography of Europe, 450 B.C.-A.D.1330, Norman John, CUP Archive, 1977, ISBN 0-521-29126-7, p. 179. Google Books. 28 January 1977. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ The early medieval Balkans: a critical survey from the sixth to the late twelfth century, John Van Antwerp Fine, University of Michigan Press, 1991, ISBN 0-472-08149-7 p. 68. Google Books. 15 May 1991. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ "Formation of the Bulgarian nation: its development in the Middle Ages (9th–14th c.) Academician Dimitŭr Simeonov Angelov, Summary, Sofia-Press, 1978". Kroraina.com. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ L. Ivanov. Essential History of Bulgaria in Seven Pages. Sofia, 2007.
^ "Bulgarians vs the other European populations: a mitochondrial DNA perspective, International journal of legal medicine (2011), [[doi (identifier)|doi]]:[https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs00414-011-0589-y 10.1007/s00414-011-0589-y], Karachanak et al". Google. Retrieved 13 November 2011. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |title= at position 128 (help)
^ P.A. Underhill et al., Separating the post-Glacial coancestry of European and Asian Y chromosomes within haplogroup R1a, European Journal of Human Genetics, vol. 18, no. 4 (2010), 479-84, supplement. Note that the map does not show all of the R1a1a1g1 (M458) actually listed in the supplement, and that this paper uses the "evolutionary effective" mutation rate, which gives a date too old for a Slavic connection. For an interpretation in terms of Slavic populations see M. Woźniak, et al., Similarities and distinctions in Y Chromosome gene pool of Western Slavs, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, vol. 142, no. 4 (2010), pp. 540-548.
^ Pericic et al., High-Resolution Phylogenetic Analysis of Southeastern Europe Traces Major Episodes of Paternal Gene Flow Among Slavic Populations, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Volume 22, Issue 10 (2005) pp. 1964-1975.
^ USA (3 October 2011). "Five polymorphisms of the apolipoprotein B gene in healthy Bulgarians.Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Medical University of Sofia, Bulgaria.PMID 12713147". Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ USA (3 October 2011). "HLA polymorphism in Bulgarians defined by high-resolution typing methods in comparison with other populations". Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ "Y-chromosomal diversity in Europe is clinal and influenced primarily by geography, rather than by language" (PDF). Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ "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". Blackwell-synergy.com. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ "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". Springerlink.com. doi:10.1007/s10561-007-9046-z. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ "Y-Chromosome genetic variation of modern Bulgarians, S. Karachanak et al. European Human Genetics Conference 2011, Amsterdam, May 28–31, 2011". Abstractsonline.com. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ G. Cardos et al., Paleo-MtDNA Analysis and population genetic aspects of old Thracian population from South-Eastern Romania, Rom J Leg Med, 12 (4) 239 – 246 (2004).
^ Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1250, Cambridge Medieval Textbooks, Florin Curta, Cambridge University Press, 2006, ISBN 0521815398, pp. 221-222.
^ Who are the Macedonians? Hugh Poulton, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000, ISBN 1-85065-534-0, pp. 19-20.
^ Средновековни градови и тврдини во Македониjа. Иван Микулчиќ (Скопjе, Македонска цивилизациjа, 1996), ISBN 9989756074, стр. 72.
^ An Introduction to Post-Communist Bulgaria: Political, Economic and Social Transformations, Emil Giatzidis, Manchester University Press, 2002, ISBN 0719060958, p. 11.
^ The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century, John V. A. Fine, Jr. University of Michigan Press, 1991, ISBN 0472081497, p. 165.
^ East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500, Jean W. Sedlar, University of Washington Press, 1994, ISBN 0295972904, p. 364.
^ "Bulgaria – Ottoman rule". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 21 December 2011. With the capture of a rump Bulgarian kingdom centred at Bdin (Vidin) in 1396, the last remnant of Bulgarian independence disappeared. ... The Bulgarian nobility was destroyed—its members either perished, fled, or accepted Islam and Turkicization—and the peasantry was enserfed to Turkish masters.
^ Conversion to Islam in the Balkans: Kisve Bahası - Petitions and Ottoman Social Life, 1670-1730, Anton Minkov, BRILL, 2004, ISBN 9004135766, p. 193.
^ Europe and the Historical Legacies in the Balkans, Raymond Detrez, Barbara Segaert, Peter Lang, 2008, ISBN 9052013748, p. 36.
^ Studies on Ottoman Social and Political History: Selected Articles and Essays, Kemal H. Karpat, BRILL, 2002, ISBN 9004121013, p. 17.
^ "Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity," Disciplinary and Regional Perspectives, Joshua A. Fishman, Ofelia García, Oxford University Press, 2010, ISBN 0195374924, p. 276: "There were almost no remnants of a Bulgarian ethnic identity; the population defined itself as Christians, according to the Ottoman system of millets, that is, communities of religious beliefs. The first attempts to define a Bulgarian ethnicity started at the beginning of the 19-th century."
^ Roudometof, Victor; Robertson, Roland (2001). Nationalism, globalization, and orthodoxy: the social origins of ethnic conflict in the Balkans. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 68–71. ISBN 0313319499.
^ Margins and Marginality: Marginalia and Colophons in South Slavic Manuscripts During the Ottoman Period, 1393-1878, Tatiana Nikolaeva Nikolova-Houston, The University of Texas at Austin, ProQuest, 2008, ISBN 054965075X, pp.202-206.
^ Modern Bulgaria, R. J. Crampton, Cambridge University Press, 1987, ISBN 0521273234, p. 8.
^ Religion and Power in Europe: Conflict and Convergence, Joaquim Carvalho, Edizioni Plus, 2007, ISBN 8884924642, p. 261.
^ A Comparative Study of Post-Ottoman Political Influences on Bulgarian National Identity Construction and Conflict, Spencer S. Stith, University of Kansas, ProQuest, 2008, ISBN 054968395X, pp. 22-23.
^ Two Hussar Regiments with Bulgarian participation in the system of the state military Colonization in Southern Ukraine (1759-1762/63), Historical Review (5-6/2002); Milchev, Vladimir; Issue: 5-6/2002, pp. 154-165.
^ Establishment of the Balkan National States: 1804-1918, Charles Jelavich, Barbara Jelavich, University of Washington Press, 1977, ISBN 0295964138, p. 128.
^ During the 20th century, Slavo Macedonian national feeling has shifted. At the beginning of the 20th century, Slavic patriots in Macedonia felt a strong attachment to Macedonia as a multi-ethnic homeland. They imagined a Macedonian community uniting themselves with non-Slavic Macedonians... Most of these Macedonian Slavs also saw themselves as Bulgarians. By the middle of the 20th. century, however Macedonian patriots began to see Macedonian and Bulgarian loyalties as mutually exclusive. Regional Macedonian nationalism had become ethnic Macedonian nationalism... This transformation shows that the content of collective loyalties can shift.Region, Regional Identity and Regionalism in Southeastern Europe, Ethnologia Balkanica Series, Klaus Roth, Ulf Brunnbauer, LIT Verlag Münster, 2010, ISBN 3825813878, p. 127.
^ Up until the early 20th century and beyond, the international community viewed Macedonians as regional variety of Bulgarians, i.e. Western Bulgarians.Nationalism and Territory: Constructing Group Identity in Southeastern Europe, Geographical perspectives on the human past : Europe: Current Events, George W. White, Rowman & Littlefield, 2000, ISBN 0847698092, p. 236.
^ "Most of the Slavophone inhabitants in all parts of divided Macedonia, perhaps a million and a half in all – had a Bulgarian national consciousness at the beginning of the Occupation; and most Bulgarians, whether they supported the Communists, VMRO, or the collaborating government, assumed that all Macedonia would fall to Bulgaria after the WWII. Tito was determined that this should not happen. "The struggle for Greece, 1941-1949, Christopher Montague Woodhouse, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2002, ISBN 1-85065-492-1, p. 67.
^ "At the end of the WWI there were very few historians or ethnographers, who claimed that a separate Macedonian nation existed... Of those Slavs who had developed some sense of national identity, the majority probably considered themselves to be Bulgarians, although they were aware of differences between themselves and the inhabitants of Bulgaria... The question as of whether a Macedonian nation actually existed in the 1940s when a Communist Yugoslavia decided to recognize one is difficult to answer. Some observers argue that even at this time it was doubtful whether the Slavs from Macedonia considered themselves to be a nationality separate from the Bulgarians.The Macedonian conflict: ethnic nationalism in a transnational world, Loring M. Danforth, Princeton University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-691-04356-6, pp. 65-66.
^ Kaufman, Stuart J. (2001). Modern hatreds: the symbolic politics of ethnic war. New York: Cornell University Press. p. 193. ISBN 0-8014-8736-6. The key fact about Macedonian nationalism is that it is new: in the early twentieth century, Macedonian villagers defined their identity religiously—they were either "Bulgarian," "Serbian," or "Greek" depending on the affiliation of the village priest. While Bulgarian was most common affiliation then, mistreatment by occupying Bulgarian troops during WWII cured most Macedonians from their pro-Bulgarian sympathies, leaving them embracing the new Macedonian identity promoted by the Tito regime after the war.
^ Cousinéry, Esprit Marie. Voyage dans la Macédoine: contenant des recherches sur l'histoire, la géographie, les antiquités de ce pay, Paris, 1831, Vol. II, p. 15-17, one of the passages in English – [1], Engin Deniz Tanir, The Mid-Nineteenth century Ottoman Bulgaria from the viewpoints of the French Travelers, A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School of Social Sciences of Middle East Technical University, 2005, p. 99, 142
^ Pulcherius, Receuil des historiens des Croisades. Historiens orientaux. III, p. 331 – a passage in English -http://promacedonia.org/en/ban/nr1.html#4
^ The struggle for Greece, 1941–1949, Christopher Montague Woodhouse, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2002, ISBN 1-85065-492-1, p. 67. Books.google.bg. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ Who are the Macedonians? Hugh Poulton. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 1995, ISBN 1-85065-238-4,p. 109.
^ Felix Philipp Kanitz, (Das Konigreich Serbien und das Serbenvolk von der Romerzeit bis dur Gegenwart, 1904, in two volume) # "In this time (1872) they (the inhabitants of Pirot) did not presume that six years later the often damn Turkish rule in their town will be finished, and at least they did not presume that they will be include in Serbia, because they always feel that they are Bulgarians. ("Србија, земља и становништво од римског доба до краја XIX века", Друга књига, Београд 1986, p. 215)"And today (in the end of the 19th century) among the older generation there are many fondness to Bulgarians, that it led him to collision with Serbian government. Some hesitation can be noticed among the youngs..." ("Србија, земља и становништво од римског доба до краја XIX века", Друга књига, Београд 1986, c. 218; Serbia – its land and inhabitants, Belgrade 1986, p. 218)
^ Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui, „Voyage en Bulgarie pendant l'année 1841" (Жером-Адолф Бланки. Пътуване из България през 1841 година. Прев. от френски Ел. Райчева, предг. Ив. Илчев. София: Колибри, 2005, 219 с. ISBN 978-954-529-367-2.) It describes a population in Nish sandjak as Bulgarian, see: [2]
^ Baker, Colin. Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education. p. 415.
^ R.E.Asher, J.M.Y.Simpson (editors), Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, (1994), vol.1, p.429: "From a strictly linguistic point of view Macedonian can be called a Bulgarian dialect, as structurally it is most similar to Bulgarian."
^ Baker, Colin. Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education. p. 415.
^ Българскиият език през 20-ти век. Василка Радева, Издател Pensoft Publishers, 2001, ISBN 954-642-113-8, стр. 280-281.
^ Василев, В.П. Темският ръкопис – български езиков паметник от 1764 г, Paleobulgarica, IX (1986), кн. 1, с. 49-72
^ "Bulgaria- Eastern Europe's Newest Hot Spot | Offshoring Business Intelligence & Tools | EU Out-Sourcing Specialists Platform | German Market-Entry offshoring Vendor Services". Outsourcingmonitor.eu. 6 August 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
^ [3]^{[dead link]}
^ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/05/clever_job_hunt/
^ Independent Newspapers Online (8 November 2004). "The world's 'smartest woman' can't find a job – Back Page | IOL News". IOL.co.za. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
^ "Bulgarians uncover the birth of the Universe", dir.bg, 21 December 2007
^ (April 2006). "Bulgaria Poultry and Products Meat Market Update." Thepoultrysite.com. Accessed 2011-07-01.

v t e Slavic ethnic groups
East Slavs	Alaskan Creoles Belarusians Belarusian Latvians Belarusian Lithuanians Belarusian Poles Belarusian Russians Karyms Gurans Molokans Podlashuks Poleshuks Russians Albazinians Cossacks Albazinians Baikal Cossacks Don Cossacks Kuban Cossacks Nekrasov Cossacks Siberian Cossacks Terek Cossacks Greben Cossacks Doukhobors Goryuns Harbin Russians Kamchadals Kamenschiks Lipovans Polekhs Pomors Semeiskie Siberians Starozhily Rus’ people Rusyns Lemkos Boykos Hutsuls Pannonian Rusyns Rusyn Romanians Ukrainians Zaporozhian Cossacks → Kuban Cossacks Hutsuls Boykos Podolyans Volga Bulgarians Litvins
West Slavs	Chodové Czechs Gorals Silesian Gorals Kashubians Gochans Krubans Slovincians Lechites Masurians Moravians Poles Bambers Borderlands Poles Bug River Poles Greater Poland people Kaliszans Taśtaks Kociewians Kurpies Lasovians Łęczycans Lesser Poland people Masovians Łowiczans Międzyrzec Boyars Poborzans Polish Uplanders Russian Poles Sącz Lachs Sieradzans Warmians Obotrites Ruhrpolen Silesians Cieszyn Vlachs Slovaks Sorbs Lower Sorbs Wends Texas Wends Upper Sorbs
South Slavs	Bosniaks Bosniak Albanians Bosniak Croatians Bosniak Kosovars Bosniak Montenegrins Bosniak Serbians Bulgarians Anatolian Bulgarians Banat Bulgarians Bessarabian Bulgarians Bulgarian Albanians Bulgarian Croatians Bulgarian Hungarians Bulgarian Italians Macedonian Bulgarians Pomaks Thracian Bulgarians Croats Bunjevci Burgenland Croats Croat Muslims Janjevci Krashovani Molise Croats Šokci Gorani Macedonians Albanian Macedonians Bulgarian Macedonians Mijaks Torbeši Montenegrins Ethnic Muslims Resians Serbs Bosnian and Herzegovinian Serbs Kosovo Serbs Macedonian Serbs Montenegrin Serbs Croatian Serbs Vojvodina Serbs Serb Muslims Shopi Slavic speakers of Greek Macedonia Slovenes Carinthian Slovenes Croatian Slovenes Hungarian Slovenes Italian Slovenes Prekmurje Slovenes Venetian Slavs Yugoslavs