Romanians in Bulgaria
The Romanian minority in Bulgaria ([români or rumâni] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), Bulgarian: румънци/rumantsi), known as "Vlachs" (Bulgarian: власи/vlasi) is concentrated in the northwestern part of the country, in the Provinces of: Vidin, Vratsa and Pleven. They speak the Oltenian variety of the Romanian language. The Romanians from the Vidin Province are separated into 2 main groups: the "Dunăreni" (who live around the Danube river) and the "Pădureni" (who lived in the higher placed regions with many woods). In southwestern Bulgaria lives also a very small Aromanian population, such as in the village Peshtera.[1] Most of this people declare themselves "vlasi" (= Vlachs) when asked in Bulgarian (e.g. on the census), though they use the self-designation "rumân" (= Rumanian) in their language.[2] The Romanians in Bulgaria are not recognized as a national minority, but as an ethnic group and they don't enjoy ethnic rights in schools and churches since the Interwar period.[3]
Census figures
Year |
Vlachs | Romanians |
---|---|---|
1881 | 49,063[4]a | |
2001 | 10,566 b | 1,088 |
2011 | 3,684 [5] | 891 |
^a This number shows those who identified their native language as Vlach; the 1881 census did not have a question about ethnicity.
^b The 2001 census shows 10,566 Vlachs. Most of the Vlachs (Romanians) are Romanian-speakers, but the figure includes some Aromanian-speakers as well.
See also
- Bulgaria-Romania relations
- Bulgarians in Romania
- Bulgarisation
- Romanians in Serbia
- Thraco-Roman
- Eastern Romance substratum
- Romanian language
- Origin of the Romanians
- Legacy of the Roman Empire
Notes
- ^ Aromanians
- ^ Interview with Ivo Gheorghiev
- ^ Romanii Din Bulgaria
- ^ General results of the population census of 1 January 1881, Statistics of the Principality of Bulgaria, p.11 Template:Bg icon Template:Fr icon
- ^ Census Bulgaria 2011
References
- Gheorghe Zbuchea, Cezar Dobre, "Românii timoceni", Bucharest, 2005 ISBN 973-86782-2-6
External links
- History of the Romanians living on the South of the Danube (Romanian/Bulgarian textbook for Romanians from Bulgaria)
in Romanian
- Românii din Bulgaria
- 35 de sate de români de "mâna a doua"
- Romana, limba de circulaţie internaţională
- Limba română moare pe malul bulgăresc
- "Oltenii" din Bulgaria
- Interviu cu Ivo Gheorghiev, preşedintele Uniunii Etnicilor Români din Bulgaria
- Coloniştii români timoceni din Cadrilater
- Articol despre mănăstirea Bacikovo
- Zilele folclorului românesc în Bulgaria
- Etnicii românii din Bulgaria cer sprijinul Consiliului Europei