Bulgaria Population. bulgaria bulgaria population nationality

Coordinates: 42°39′00″ s. sh. 25°24′00″ E  / 42.65° N sh. 25.4° E etc. ... Wikipedia

Population- Contents: I. Statistics: 1) The number of inhabitants of the Earth in general and Europe in particular; 2) Population density; 3) Placement of the population; 4) The composition of the population: a) by sex, b) by age, c) by sex and age, d) by sex, age and marital status; ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

European population- Population distribution in Europe ... Wikipedia

Ethnic composition of the population of Bulgaria- As of February 1, 2011, the population of Bulgaria was 7,364,570, of which 51.3% are women and 48.7% are men. 72.5% live in cities, 27.5% live in villages. In the period 2001 2011, the country's population decreased by 564,331 people, with an average annual ... ... Wikipedia

Migration of the population of Bulgaria- The significance of the subject of the article is called into question. Please show in the article the significance of its subject by adding evidence of significance to it according to particular significance criteria or, in the event that private significance criteria for ... ... Wikipedia

Transport in Bulgaria- is one of the main branches of the Bulgarian economy. In Bulgaria, all types of transport are well developed - land, water, air, pipeline and others. Each of them has its own infrastructure and is regulated by a special ... ... Wikipedia

Census in Bulgaria (2001)- The 2001 census was the first nationwide population census in the post-socialist republic of Bulgaria, as well as the second to record a significant decrease in the number of the country's inhabitants by 6.6% (from 8,487,317 to 7,928,901 people) ... Wikipedia

Varna (city in Bulgaria)- The city of Varna in Bulgaria. Varna Flag Coat of Arms ... Wikipedia

Economy of Bulgaria- Economic indicators Business Park Sofia ... Wikipedia

Totleben (village in Bulgaria)- This term has other meanings, see Totleben. The village of Totleben Totleben Country Bulgaria ... Wikipedia

Books

• The population of the steppe interfluve between the Danube and the Dniester at the end of the 8th - beginning of the 11th centuries A.D. e. Balkan-Danubian culture, V. I. Kozlov. The book summarizes information about the Balkan-Danubian archaeological culture in the steppe interfluve of the Danube and the Dniester, the carriers of which are directly connected with the history of the early medieval Bulgarian ... Buy for 1555 rubles
• Bulgaria. Reference map, E. B. Valev. Reference map of Bulgaria. Scale 1:750000. In addition to the main (physical) map, it includes three large-scale maps: industry, agriculture, and climate (scale…

Bulgaria has been one of the most popular summer destinations for our compatriots for many years. This country is located in the South-East of Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. We offer today to find out what the population of Bulgaria is like.

general information

The population of Bulgaria is about 7.3 million people. At the same time, about one and a half million live in the capital of the country - Sofia. Also the largest are Plovdiv (almost half a million inhabitants), Varna (650 thousand inhabitants), Burgas (300 thousand inhabitants) and Ruse (170 thousand inhabitants).

Population in Bulgaria: demographic indicators and areas of residence

According to statistics, 48 ​​per cent of the population of this country are men and 52 per cent are women. Urban residents account for 71%. The rural population is only 29%.

Turning to history, it can be noted that the number of urban residents in Bulgaria until the middle of the last century grew very slowly. So, at the end of the 19th century, the urban population was no more than 19%. However, the situation has since changed significantly.

Dynamics of population growth

At the beginning of the last century, the birth rate in this country was one of the highest in all of Europe. However, after World War II, Bulgaria's population declined. Also, this event could not but affect the birth rate. By the 60s of the last century, the demographic situation returned to normal, and later this figure began to increase.

However, since the 90s of the XX century, the birth rate began to decline again. In this regard, and also because of Bulgaria, there was a decrease of almost a million people. Today, the country is observed A is negative. This suggests that more people die in Bulgaria than are born.

As for the average life expectancy in this country, it is 72 years for men and 82 years for women.

Ethnic composition of the population of Bulgaria

Almost 85% of the inhabitants of this country are Bulgarians. This figure also includes a small number of Macedonians who are considered ethnic Bulgarians. In addition to representatives of the indigenous nationality, a significant number of Turks (about 10% of the total population) and gypsies (4.7%) live in this country. In addition, the population of Bulgaria includes Armenians, Russians, Greeks, Romanians, Ukrainians, Jews and Karakachans. However, representatives of these data make up no more than 0.5% of the total number of inhabitants of the country.

85% of the population consider Bulgarian as their native language, 9.6% - Turkish, and 4.1% - Roma. Orthodoxy is the main religion in Bulgaria. So, about 83% of the inhabitants of the state profess it. 12.2% identify themselves as Muslims, 0.6% as Catholics, and 0.5% as Protestants.

population of Bulgaria

The population of this European country is about five million people. The number of pensioners is estimated at 1.7 million and children at 1.2 million.

Most of the population of the Bulgarian Republic is employed in the service sector (more than 60%). The number of employees in the industrial sector (engineering, metallurgy, construction, food industry) is 30%. Only 10% of the country's population is employed in agriculture.

Bulgarian diaspora abroad

Today, about 600 thousand ethnic Bulgarians live outside the Bulgarian Republic. A significant part of them is concentrated in the southwestern regions of Ukraine, as well as in the south of Moldova. There are also smaller Bulgarian diasporas in Romania and Hungary. There are also about 700 Bulgarian communities in the United States of America.

According to the census as of February 1, 2018, the population of Bulgaria was 7,050,034 people, of which 51.3% are women and 48.7% are men. 72.5% live in cities, 27.5% live in villages.

Since 1989, the population has dropped by almost 1 million as many young Bulgarians have left for Western Europe in search of fortune. Recently, however, the situation has been improving due to an increase in living standards.

The use of the name "Bulgaria" is in some way wrong, because modern Bulgarians are descendants of several peoples: Slavs, Greeks and Macedonians, as well as ancient Bulgarians. England takes its name from the Angles, who were not even the most numerous in their day; so the Bulgarians are only one of the many peoples who formed the Bulgarian state. Nevertheless, they pursued the most ingenious policy, pitting different tribes against each other, and soon began to rule those who came to the Balkans from the region now known as "old Bulgaria", between the Black and Caspian Seas.

Language

Bulgarian is the official language and is spoken by more than 85% of the country's population. Another 2.5% speak Macedonian, but this language is considered a dialect here. The written alphabet, Cyrillic, was created in the 9th century. monks from Thessaloniki Cyril and Methodius and finalized by their followers. Bulgarians are so proud of their alphabet that they dedicated a national holiday to it (Slavic Writing Day, May 24). Other national minority languages ​​include Turkish, which is spoken by 9% of the population, as well as Gagauz, Tatar and Albanian. Small Romanian-speaking (Wallachian) enclaves exist on the east bank of the Danube.

Bulgarian is closely related to Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian, and is also similar to Russian due to the use of the same alphabet. It will not be difficult for a Russian to find a common language with a Bulgarian, and some linguistic differences will not be an obstacle to normal orientation in the area.

On the Black Sea coast and in the ski resorts, almost everyone can speak English to some extent. In cities (even in Sofia), things are worse with knowledge of English, and in the rural outback it’s not worth even trying. Oddly enough, there are more chances to reach mutual understanding if you speak German.

Religion and culture

The majority of the population (about 90%) belongs to the Orthodox faith. There is also a significant Catholic minority, and Western Protestantism in the form of the Baptist and Methodist churches has been gaining popularity since the 1990s; it is the fastest growing denomination. The majority of Bulgarian Turks remain Muslims, although over 250,000 of them left Bulgaria in the summer of 1989 during the Great Exodus and settled mainly in Turkey.

Probably the Orthodox Church has had the greatest influence on Bulgarian culture. But what exactly can be called Bulgarian, and what is “Balkan” in the broadest sense of the word? The countries of this region have so much in common (language, music, folklore and even food) that although the Bulgarians are clearly different from the Serbs, it is difficult to determine what exactly this difference is. However, there are cultural achievements that Bulgaria is rightfully proud of. The Thracians, who appeared in the II millennium BC. e., were unsurpassed metalworkers; the best examples can be seen in the exposition of the treasure from Panagyurishte. The frescoes of the Boyana Church in Sofia are masterpieces of the 13th century, anticipating the painting of the Renaissance. This cultural heritage has stood the test of the country's long and turbulent history.

As of 2011, the population of Bulgaria was about 7.3 million people, and the largest cities were Sofia (1.3 million), Plovdiv (376 thousand) and Varna (344 thousand). Bulgarians are the main ethnic group of the country and make up 85% of the population. In addition to them, Turks, Gypsies, Armenians, Greeks and Macedonians also live here. And the only official language of the state is Bulgarian.

During the first half of the twentieth century Bulgaria had a good population growth, but after the Second World War this figure began to decline. Therefore, until now, the government continues to stimulate young citizens in every possible way in terms of increasing the birth rate. Abortions are limited, and various benefits are provided to large families.

The number of inhabitants in the country is gradually decreasing

However, as of 2010, the birth rate in Bulgaria was 10 ppm, which is 0.7 ppm less than the European average. And the death rate that year reached 14.6 ppm, which is 4.9 ppm more than the European average.

The life expectancy of the population is 76.5 years. At the same time, for men, this figure is 70 years, and for women - 77.2. It is also noted that the number of inhabitants in cities is increasing faster than in villages. Therefore, it is not surprising that more than 70 percent of the population of Bulgaria is concentrated in cities.

Bulgarians are part of the Slavic people

Scientists attribute modern Bulgarians to the southern Slavs and believe that the Turks, who came from Central Asia, had a significant influence on their formation. In those days they were called Bulgars. Back in the 5th century AD, this people founded several states at once on the territory between the Volga and the Urals. And in the 7th century, Great Bulgaria became a strong power, which was located in the Azov and Black Sea steppes.

For some reason, this country soon fell apart, and after three hundred years, according to their ethnic basis, the Bulgarians could be classified as Slavs. In the same period, Christianity became the official religion of the state. And the national unity of the Bulgarians was promoted by Cyril and Methodius, who introduced the Cyrillic alphabet in Bulgaria. Therefore, Slavic culture began to dominate and replaced the influence of Byzantium.

Despite the gradual decline in the population of Bulgaria, its modern society is quite homogeneous both in terms of ethnic and religious composition. Now the Turks are the largest national minority (about 9% of the population), and, in addition, there are gypsy areas in many cities.

In 1878, after the liberation of Bulgaria from Turkish rule, many ethnic Bulgarians moved to the new independent state from neighboring areas, especially from Thrace, Macedonia and Dobruja, and from 1880 to 1945 numbered about 698,000 people.

Human. Large migration flows were directed both to Bulgaria and after it after the First World War. About 250,000 Bulgarians moved from the traction part of Greece to Bulgaria, and 40,000 Greeks moved from Bulgaria to Greece. 200 thousand Turks moved to Turkey.

Almost 30 thousand Turks moved from Bulgaria to Turkey in 1939-1945 and approx. 160,000 in 1949-1951 were forcibly deported to their ethnic homeland under the communist regime.

Romanian territory of Southern Dobruja with a population of approx. In September 1940, 300 thousand people left Bulgaria. 45,000 Jews moved from Bulgaria to Israel between 1948 and 1954. In 1947-1951. 1800 refugees were in Yugoslavia (Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia), 1946-1947. 5,000 Soviets were returned to the Soviet Union.

In the early 1970s there were over 35,000 of them.

The Turks moved to Turkey in accordance with the 1968 bilateral agreement. In the summer of 1989, in response to the forced assimilation policy that the communist regime sought to destroy the ethnic identity of the Turks in 1984-1985, they forced them to take Slavic names and suppressed every desire to maintain ethnic and religious independence, another 360 thousand.

The Bulgarian Turks left the country. By the end of the 90s, about half of them returned to Bulgaria.

The size of the internal migration of the population in Bulgaria after the Second World War was greater than in other countries of Eastern Europe, apparently due to rapid urbanism. From 1965 to 1975, the number of migrants per 1,000 people increased from 14 to 24, and in subsequent years it began to decrease. The average population density in Bulgaria is 80 people per 1 sq. km. Km.

km. Higher (100-: 120 people per square kilometer) in the lower part of the Upper Thrac. Danube plain, as well as in some intermountain caves (Sofia, Pernik).

Much rarer are inhabited mountainous areas, where the population density is below 30 people per square.

Population in Bulgaria in numbers

km. In total, according to experts, there are at least 580,000 ethnic Bulgarians living outside the country, with more than half of them in southwestern Ukraine and southern Moldova, where they settled in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

There are small Bulgarian communities in Romania and Hungary. The number of Bulgarian immigrants in the US is small, with about 700 Bulgarian settlements, especially in the industrial cities of the northeastern state and around the Great Lakes.

The industrialization of Bulgaria unfolded after the Second World War, followed by a rapid growth of the urban population: 25% in 1946 to 68%, according to the 1992 census, the largest cities in Bulgaria are relatively small; in 1978

Of the 214 cities, only 10 had more than 100,000 inhabitants. All these cities are the main economic and cultural centers of the regions. Among them is its size and variety of functions for the capital Sofia (more than 1 million inhabitants), the shopping center of the Marita lowland (350 thousand), Plovdiv, the main seaports of Varna (300 thousand) and Burgas (200 thousand). industrial center and main port on the Danube Ruse (170 thousand inhabitants).

During the years of human power, many new cities appeared in the country - on the site of large villages, railway stations, in connection with the construction of mining companies (Rudozem, Lucky, Bobov Dol, etc.), industrial enterprises (Dmitrovgrad, Devnya) and the creation of places (Velingrad.

Hisarya and others).

Urbanization has rapidly increased the urban population, which was 46.5% in 1965 and 69.3% in 2002. In Bulgaria, retirement is gradually increasing. In 2003, the number of women was 57 and for men it was 62.

Level of education of the population: 52% over the age of 7 have higher and secondary education (2001).

With industrialization, it is closely related to the rapid process of urbanization, as can be seen from the increase in the post-war period, the share of urban residents per inhabitant by 2.5 times (from 24% in 1945 to 60% in 1979). During this period, the number of inhabitants in Bulgaria increased by 2 million people.

people and cities are "absorbing" not only all this increase, but also so many people from rural areas. The density of the rural population in the country has decreased (with the exception of the Rhodope region). This process affected the distribution of the population: it led to the movement of part of the population from some of the northern agrarian regions and from the mountainous regions south to more industrialized regions.

More about the topic:

In 1965-85. There was a trend towards an increase in the population (from 8.2 to 8.9 million people), which was the case in the 1990s. changed places. At first. In 2002, the number of inhabitants decreased by 11% compared to 1985.

The ethnic composition of the population is dominated by Bulgarians (about 84%, 2001). Other ethnic groups include the majority of Turks (9.5%) and Roma (4.6%). According to the 2001 census, 84.5% of the population is Bulgarian, 9.6% Turkish, and 4% Roma.

The relationship between fertility and mortality in the XX century. caused a downward trend in natural population growth, which is to end. The 1980s were positive. In 2001, the birth rate was 8.6%, mortality - 14.1%, infant mortality - 14.4%.

for 1000 newborns. In the nineties. natural growth turned negative: -5.5% (2001). Average life expectancy (1998-2000) - 71.7 years, incl. men - 68.2, women - 75.3 years.

There is an aging population. The age structure of the share of young people (under 20) decreased from 51.1% in 1900 to 21.8% in 2001, while the elderly (60 years and older) increased from 8.4 to 22.5% in 1956. With an excess of the female population, the escape is growing.

National composition of Bulgaria

In 2002, men made up 48.7% of the population, women 51.3% and 1,053 women per 1,000 people. Urbanization has rapidly increased the urban population, which was 46.5% in 1965 and 69.3% in 2002.

Gradually, retirement increases in the Pensioner. In 2003 it was 57 for women and 62 for men. Level of education of the population: 52% over the age of 7 have higher and secondary education (2001).

The dominant religion is Orthodox with about 82.6% of the population, 12.2% Muslim, 0.6% Catholic, 0.5% Protestant, 3.6% do not define themselves (2001).

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The Information Portal of the World is a guide to the world in which people of different religious beliefs and traditions live in 257 countries.

All information about the country of Bulgaria is freely available. Based on the materials of the site, you can learn about the culture, history, geography and economy of the country. You never know which part of the world you are in, it is better to familiarize yourself with the specifics of a particular country in advance. You can find an interesting and inexpensive study of the Population of Bulgaria report.

Population of Bulgaria

Demography.

As a result of territorial changes and natural growth, the population of Bulgaria increased from 3.155 million in 1880 to 7.54 million. person in 2003.

The birth rate, formerly one of the highest in Europe (36.6 per 1,000 inhabitants in 1920–1924), fell sharply after the Second World War. In the decade after 1966, it grew slightly as the state, changing its previous population policy, began to encourage large families and restrict abortions.

However, this policy did not change the demographic situation. In 1980, the birth rate was 15.5 per 1,000 inhabitants, and the death rate was 10.5; in 1989 these figures were 12.9 and 12.0 respectively, in 1994 - 9.4 and 13.2, and in 2003 - 8.02 and 14.34.

The natural increase in population in 1989 was 0.1, and since 1990 there has been a trend towards depopulation. In 1990, the population of the country decreased by 0.4%, in 1994 - by 3.8%, and in 2003 - up to 1.09%. According to official Bulgarian statistics, between 1966 and 2003 the infant mortality rate dropped from 25 to 13.7 per 1,000 newborns. Life expectancy in July 2003 was 68.26 years for men and 75.56 years for women and was one of the lowest in Europe.

The rapid growth of the urban population has led to a change in the country's traditional rural lifestyle. In 1976 the proportion of the urban population was 59%, in 1996 it reached 70%.

ethnic roots.

Bulgarians belong to the southern group of Slavs. During the period of their ethnic formation, an important component was the Bulgars (Bolgars) - a Turkic people of Asian origin, who in the 5th century.

AD created his own states between the Volga and the Ural mountains. Arising in the 7th century AD a fairly strong state union on the territory between the Don and the Kuban was called the Great Bulgaria, which was ruled by Khan Kubrat.

Under pressure from other Asian tribes moving westward, chiefly the Khazars, this alliance collapsed. One group of Bulgars, led by Kotrag, was pushed to the north - to the Middle Volga region. Here in the 14th-15th centuries. the feudal state of Volga-Kama Bulgaria was formed with the capital Bulgar (or Bolgar) - a large trading center that existed until the appearance in the 15th century. Kazan Khanate.

The second group, led by Asparukh, the son of Kurbat, moved westward along the Black Sea coast, and then up the Danube.

They crossed this river and, together with the Slavic tribes in 681 AD. created the Bulgarian state in Moesia and Dacia (now it is the north-eastern part of Bulgaria). The nomadic Bulgars soon assimilated with the local Slavic population; they adopted their language and to a large extent the way of life of the rural Slavs. The local Thracian tribes also assimilated with the Bulgars.

Bulgarians in their ethnic basis have become clearly Slavs. They retained the self-definition "Bulgarians", perhaps because in the 7th-8th centuries.

the political life was dominated by the Bulgar aristocracy. The adoption of Christianity as the official religion in 864 and the introduction and spread of the Slavic alphabet (Cyrillic) contributed to the process of national consolidation.

The early Bulgarian society developed under the influence of two main cultures - Byzantine and Turkish.

Bulgarian belongs to the South Slavic group of the Indo-European family and is the oldest of the Slavic written languages.

In 862 or 863, the brothers Cyril and Methodius from the Greek city of Thessaloniki created the Old Bulgarian alphabet (Glagolitic). The Russian version of the Old Bulgarian alphabet (Church Slavonic) contributed to the spread of literacy in Eastern Europe. The Cyrillic alphabet is now used, named after the Slavic enlightener Cyril.

The modern Bulgarian language was formed during the period of national revival (18-19 centuries), mainly on the basis of the folk dialect spoken by the population of the Stara Planin and Sredna Gora mountains.

In 1945, the alphabet was simplified by eliminating some letters that were not of phonetic value.

Prior to industrialization, the urban population grew very slowly (18.8% in 1887 and only 21.4% in 1934). In the 1950s, 1/3 of the country's population lived in cities, and by 1989 the number of urban residents had doubled. As of December 1995, there were 9 cities in Bulgaria with a population of over 100,000.

people (in 1989 there were 10): Sofia - 1114 thousand (the population of the capital decreased by about 200 thousand compared to 1989), Plovdiv - 341.4 thousand, Varna - 308.6 thousand, Burgas - 196 thousand, Ruse - 170 thousand, Stara Zagora - 150.5 thousand, Pleven - 130.8 thousand, Dobrich - 104.5 thousand, Sliven - 106.2 thousand. The population of each of the listed cities decreased by 10-20 thousand people compared to 1989. 93.3 thousand people lived in Shumen in 1995 (in 1989 - 110.8 thousand).

The main ports of the country are Burgas on the Black Sea and Ruse on the Danube.

The main world famous resort area is located on the Black Sea coast around Varna. Stara Zagora is the main railway junction in Bulgaria.

Ethnic and religious groups.

The vast majority of the population is Bulgarian (85.67%), including a small percentage of "Macedonians" who are officially considered ethnic Bulgarians. The largest national minority, the Turks, numbered, according to the 1992 census, 800,000.

or 9.43% of the total population. These are mainly peasants who settled during the reign of the Ottoman Turks. At present, they gravitate towards the northeastern and southern regions of Bulgaria. Small groups of gypsies are also represented (3.69%, according to various sources, their number ranges from 300 thousand to 300 thousand people).

up to 800 thousand people), Armenians (0.16%), Romanians, Jews, Greeks and others (total approx. 1%). In 1998, a program for the integration of ethnic minorities was adopted, supported by the EU countries, as well as Turkey.

Migrations.

The size of the internal migration of the population in Bulgaria after the Second World War was larger than in other countries of Eastern Europe, apparently due to the rapid pace of urbanization.

From 1965 to 1975, the number of migrants per 1,000 inhabitants increased from 14 to 24; in subsequent years, it began to decline.

After the liberation of Bulgaria from Turkish rule in 1878, many ethnic Bulgarians moved to the new independent state from neighboring regions, especially from Thrace, Macedonia and Dobruja, and during the period from 1880 to 1945 their total number was approximately 698 thousand people. Large migration flows went both to Bulgaria and beyond its borders after the First World War.

About 250 thousand Bulgarians moved from the Thracian part of Greece to Bulgaria, and 40 thousand Greeks moved from Bulgaria to Greece. 200 thousand Turks emigrated to Turkey. Nearly 30,000 more

Turks moved from Bulgaria to Turkey in 1939–1945 and c. 160 thousand in 1949-1951 were forcibly deported to their ethnic homeland under the communist regime. Romanian territory Southern Dobruja with a population of approx.

300 thousand people in September 1940 went to Bulgaria. 45 thousand Jews in 1948-1954 moved from Bulgaria to Israel. In 1947–1951 ca. 1800 refugees ended up in Yugoslavia, in 1946-1947 approx. 5 thousand Armenians were repatriated to Soviet Armenia. In the early 1970s, more than 35 thousand Turks emigrated to Turkey in accordance with the 1968 bilateral agreement.

Bulgaria Population

In the summer of 1989, another 360,000 Bulgarian Turks left the country. This was a response to the violent assimilation policy pursued by the communist regime, which tried in 1984-1985 to completely destroy the ethnic identity of the Turks, forcing them to adopt Slavic surnames and suppressing any desire to preserve national and religious independence; by the end of the 1990s, about half of them had returned to Bulgaria.

In general, according to experts, at least 580,000

ethnic Bulgarians live outside the country, and more than half of them live in the south-west of Ukraine and the south of Moldova, where they settled in the late 18th - early 19th centuries. Small Bulgarian communities exist in Romania and Hungary. The number of Bulgarian immigrants in the United States is small: approximately 700 Bulgarian settlements, mainly in industrial urban areas in the northeast of the country and around the Great Lakes.

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Bulgaria >> Population and features of social development

The population and features of social development undoubtedly have an impact on the economic and political situation of the country, therefore it is also important to consider such aspects of the Republic of Bulgaria as demographic, ethnic, features of internal and external migrations, population density and the location of cities and major ports.

Demography .

As a result of territorial changes and natural growth, the population of Bulgaria increased from 3.155 million in 1880 to 7.54 million. people in 2003. The birth rate, formerly one of the highest in Europe (36.6 per 1,000 inhabitants in 1920–1924), fell sharply after World War II.

In the decade after 1966, it grew slightly as the state, changing its previous population policy, began to encourage large families and restrict abortions.

However, this policy did not change the demographic situation. In 1980, the birth rate was 15.5 per 1,000 inhabitants, and the death rate was 10.5; in 1989 these figures were 12.9 and 12.0 respectively, in 1994 - 9.4 and 13.2, and in 2003 - 8.02 and 14.34. The natural increase in population in 1989 was 0.1, and since 1990 there has been a trend towards depopulation. In 1990, the population of the country decreased by 0.4%, in 1994 - by 3.8%, and in 2003 - up to 1.09%.

According to official Bulgarian statistics, between 1966 and 2003 the infant mortality rate dropped from 25 to 13.7 per 1,000 newborns. Life expectancy in July 2003 was 68.26 years for men and 75.56 years for women and was one of the lowest in Europe. The rapid growth of the urban population has led to a change in the country's traditional rural lifestyle.

In 1976 the proportion of the urban population was 59%, in 1996 it reached 70%.

ethnic roots . Bulgarians belong to the southern group of Slavs. During the period of their ethnic formation, an important component was the Bulgars (Bolgars) - a Turkic people of Asian origin, who in the 5th century. AD created his own states between the Volga and the Ural mountains. Arising in the 7th century AD a fairly strong state union on the territory between the Don and the Kuban was called the Great Bulgaria, which was ruled by Khan Kubrat.

Under pressure from other Asian tribes moving westward, chiefly the Khazars, this alliance collapsed. One group of Bulgars, led by Kotrag, was pushed to the north - to the Middle Volga region. Here in the 14th-15th centuries. the feudal state of Volga-Kama Bulgaria was formed with the capital Bulgar (or Bolgar) - a large trading center that existed until the appearance in the 15th century.

Kazan Khanate. The second group, led by Asparukh, the son of Kurbat, moved westward along the Black Sea coast, and then up the Danube.

They crossed this river and, together with the Slavic tribes in 681 AD. created the Bulgarian state in Moesia and Dacia (now it is the north-eastern part of Bulgaria). The nomadic Bulgars soon assimilated with the local Slavic population; they adopted their language and to a large extent the way of life of the rural Slavs.

The local Thracian tribes also assimilated with the Bulgars. By the 10th c. Bulgarians in their ethnic basis have become clearly Slavs.

They retained the self-definition "Bulgarians", perhaps because in the 7th-8th centuries. the political life was dominated by the Bulgar aristocracy. The adoption of Christianity as the official religion in 864 and the introduction and spread of the Slavic alphabet (Cyrillic) contributed to the process of national consolidation. The early Bulgarian society developed under the influence of two main cultures - Byzantine and Turkish.

Both of them had a serious impact on the formation of the population of Bulgaria.

Language . Bulgarian belongs to the South Slavic group of the Indo-European family and is the oldest of the Slavic written languages. In 862 or 863, the brothers Cyril and Methodius from the Greek city of Thessaloniki created the Old Bulgarian alphabet (Glagolitic).

The Russian version of the Old Bulgarian alphabet (Church Slavonic) contributed to the spread of literacy in Eastern Europe. The Cyrillic alphabet is now used, named after the Slavic enlightener Cyril. The modern Bulgarian language was formed during the period of national revival (18-19 centuries), mainly on the basis of the folk dialect spoken by the population of the Stara Planin and Sredna Gora mountains.

In 1945, the alphabet was simplified by eliminating some letters that were not of phonetic value. Cities. Prior to industrialization, the urban population grew very slowly (18.8% in 1887 and only 21.4% in 1934). In the 1950s, 1/3 of the country's population lived in cities, and by 1989 the number of urban residents had doubled. As of December 1995, there were 9 cities in Bulgaria with a population of over 100,000.

people (in 1989 there were 10): Sofia - 1114 thousand (the population of the capital decreased by about 200 thousand compared to 1989), Plovdiv - 341.4 thousand, Varna - 308.6 thousand, Burgas - 196 thousand, Ruse - 170 thousand, Stara Zagora - 150.5 thousand, Pleven - 130.8 thousand, Dobrich - 104.5 thousand, Sliven - 106.2 thousand. The population of each of the listed cities decreased by 10-20 thousand people compared to 1989. In 1995, 93.3 thousand people lived in Shumen.

people (in 1989 - 110.8 thousand). The main ports of the country are Burgas on the Black Sea and Ruse on the Danube. The main world famous resort area is located on the Black Sea coast around Varna. Stara Zagora is the main railway junction in Bulgaria.

Ethnic and religious groups .

Bulgaria, a rather homogeneous country in terms of ethnic and religious composition, became even more homogeneous as a result of emigration processes after the Second World War.

The vast majority of the population is Bulgarian (85.67%), including a small percentage of "Macedonians" who are officially considered ethnic Bulgarians. The largest national minority, the Turks, according to the 1992 census, numbered 800,000, or 9.43% of the total population. These are mainly peasants who settled during the reign of the Ottoman Turks.

At present, they gravitate towards the northeastern and southern regions of Bulgaria. Small groups of gypsies are also represented (3.69%, according to various sources, their number ranges from 300 thousand to 800 thousand people), Armenians (0.16%), Romanians, Jews, Greeks and others (about 1% in total). In 1998, a program for the integration of ethnic minorities was adopted, supported by the EU countries, as well as Turkey.

Migrations . The size of the internal migration of the population in Bulgaria after the Second World War was larger than in other countries of Eastern Europe, apparently due to the rapid pace of urbanization.

From 1965 to 1975, the number of migrants per 1,000 inhabitants increased from 14 to 24; in subsequent years, it began to decline. After the liberation of Bulgaria from Turkish rule in 1878, many ethnic Bulgarians moved to the new independent state from neighboring regions, especially from Thrace, Macedonia and Dobruja, and during the period from 1880 to 1945 their total number was approximately 698 thousand people.

Human. Large migration flows went both to Bulgaria and beyond its borders after the First World War. About 250 thousand Bulgarians moved from the Thracian part of Greece to Bulgaria, and 40 thousand Greeks moved from Bulgaria to Greece.

200 thousand Turks emigrated to Turkey. Almost 30 thousand more Turks moved from Bulgaria to Turkey in 1939-1945 and approx. 160 thousand in 1949-1951 were forcibly deported to their ethnic homeland under the communist regime.

Romanian territory Southern Dobruja with a population of approx. 300 thousand people in September 1940 went to Bulgaria. 45 thousand Jews in 1948-1954 moved from Bulgaria to Israel. In 1947–1951 ca. 1800 refugees ended up in Yugoslavia, in 1946-1947 approx. 5 thousand Armenians were repatriated to Soviet Armenia.

Population of Bulgaria: size, ethnic composition and demographic dynamics

In the early 1970s, more than 35,000 Turks emigrated to Turkey in accordance with the bilateral agreement of 1968. In the summer of 1989, another 360,000 Bulgarian Turks left the country. This was a response to the violent assimilation policy pursued by the communist regime, which tried in 1984-1985 to completely destroy the ethnic identity of the Turks, forcing them to adopt Slavic surnames and suppressing any desire to preserve national and religious independence; by the end of the 1990s, about half of them had returned to Bulgaria.

In general, according to experts, at least 580,000 ethnic Bulgarians live outside the country, more than half of them in southwestern Ukraine and southern Moldova, where they settled in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Small Bulgarian communities exist in Romania and Hungary. The number of Bulgarian immigrants in the United States is small: approximately 700 Bulgarian settlements, mainly in industrial urban areas in the northeast of the country and around the Great Lakes.

In the process of the country's integration into the world economy, significant internal migrations take place: migration from low-fertility mountainous regions to lowland regions, from agrarian regions to regions that have received industrial development. The urban population is growing rapidly; its share increased (according to censuses) from 24.7% in 1969 to 46.5% in 1985, 51.7% in 2004. There are 171 cities in the country, including 6 with a population of over 100 thousand inhabitants: Sofia (973 thousand inhabitants), Plovdiv (247), Varna (219), Rousse (150), Burgas (132), Stara Zagora (109).

According to comparative data, in Bulgaria the working week is the longest in Europe: in the top three, along with Romania and Poland, in terms of duration and intensity.

The working week in Bulgaria is 43.6 hours. The longest working week in Romania is 45.8 hours; the shortest in the Netherlands - 32.9 hours. The average working time for EU candidate countries is 44.4 hours per week, for EU members 38.2 hours.

The social climate in the country remains tense, primarily due to the dissatisfaction of the majority of the population with their low standard of living: wages average 302 levs (151 Euros, 12.2003), against 115 dollars (12.002), pension - 60 dollars. Unemployment (about 12%), low birth rates, and mass emigration of young people abroad remain acute problems. Making a conclusion about the population and features of social development, the following should be noted: the bulk of the population of the republic are Bulgarians, the population density is low compared to the EU countries, social tension is felt in the country, significant external and internal migrations occur, caused mainly by the nature of the economic development of Bulgaria.