Greeks in Bulgaria - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Greeks in Bulgaria ( Gǎrci) constitute the eighth-largest ethnic minority

Minority group

A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...

in Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

( Voulgaria). They number 1,356 according to the 2011 census, but are estimated at around 25,000 by Greek organizations and around 28,500, including the Sarakatsani

Sarakatsani

The Sarakatsani are a group of Greek transhumant shepherds inhabiting chiefly Greece, with a smaller presence in neighbouring Bulgaria, southern Albania and the Republic of Macedonia. Historically centered around the Pindus mountains, they have been currently urbanised to a significant degree...

, officially by Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. Today, Greeks mostly live in the large urban centres like Sofia

Sofia

Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

and Plovdiv

Plovdiv

Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...

, but also in the costal zone.

History

Historically, the presence of a Greek population in what is today Bulgaria dates to the 7th century BC, when Milesians

Milesians (Greek)

The Milesians of Hellenic civilization were the inhabitants of Miletus, a city in the Anatolia province of modern-day Turkey, near the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and at the mouth of the Meander River. Settlers from Crete moved to Miletus sometime in 16th century BC...

and Dorians founded thriving Greek colonies on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast

Bulgarian Black Sea Coast

The Bulgarian Black Sea Coast covers the entire eastern bound of Bulgaria stretching from the Romanian Black Sea resorts in the north to European Turkey in the south, along 378 km of coastline. White and golden sandy beaches occupy approximately 130 km of the 378 km long coast...

, often on the site of earlier Thracian

Thracians

The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas including Thrace in Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family...

settlements. Maritime poleis
Polis
Polis , plural poleis , literally means city in Greek. It could also mean citizenship and body of citizens. In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, so polis is often translated as "city-state."The...

like Nesebar

Nesebar

Nesebar is an ancient town and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Nesebar Municipality...

(Μεσημβρία Mesimvria), Sozopol

Sozopol

Sozopol is an ancient seaside town located 35 km south of Burgas on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Today it is one of the major seaside resorts in the country, known for the Apollonia art and film festival that is named after one of the town's ancient names.The busiest times of the year...

(Απολλωνία Apollonia), Pomorie

Pomorie

Pomorie is a town and seaside resort in southeastern Bulgaria, located on a narrow rocky peninsula in Burgas Bay on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is situated in Burgas Province, 20 km away from the city of Burgas and 18 km from the Sunny Beach resort. The ultrasaline lagoon...

(Αγχίαλος Ankhialos) and Varna

Varna

Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...

(Οδησσός Odissos) controlled the trade routes in the western part of the Black Sea

Black Sea

The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

and often waged wars between each other.

Prior to the early 20th century, there was a small Greek minority in Southeastern Bulgaria, living largely between Varna to the north, Topolovgrad

Topolovgrad

Topolovgrad is a town in south-central Bulgaria, part of Haskovo Province, situated at the northern foot of the Sakar Mountain. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Topolovgrad Municipality...

to the west and the Black Sea to the east, with a scattered rural population in the inland regions of the Strandzha

Strandzha

Strandzha is a mountain massif in southeastern Bulgaria and the European part of Turkey, in the southeastern part of the Balkans between the plains of Thrace to the west, the lowlands near Burgas to the north and the Black Sea to the east. Its highest peak is Mahya Dağı in Turkey, while the...

and Sakar

Sakar

Sakar is a mountain in southeastern Bulgaria, between the rivers Maritsa, Tundzha, Sokolitsa and Sazliyka and close to the borders with Greece and Turkey. The mountain's highest peak is Vishegrad at 856 m....

mountains.. The Greek-inhabited places in Strandzha

Strandzha

and Sakar

Sakar

were the town of Topolovgrad

Topolovgrad

and 9 villages: Oreshnik

Oreshnik

Oreshnik is a village in the municipality of Topolovgrad, in Haskovo Province, in southern Bulgaria.-External links:...

, Kapitan Petko Voyvoda

Kapitan Petko voyvoda

Kapitan Petko voyvoda is a village in the municipality of Topolovgrad, in Haskovo Province, in southern Bulgaria....

, Sinapovo

Sinapovo

Sinapovo is a village in the municipality of Topolovgrad, in Haskovo Province, in southern Bulgaria.-References:...

, Chukarovo

Chukarovo

Chukarovo is a village in the municipality of Topolovgrad, in Haskovo Province, in southern Bulgaria.-References:...

, Golyam Manastir, Malak Manastir, Sharkovo, Malko Sharkovo, and Mamarchevo. However, a large part of this population, the so-called Kariots, is regarded by ethnographers (including Konstantin Josef Jireček

Konstantin Josef Jirecek

Konstantin Josef Jireček , son of Josef Jireček, was a Czech historian, diplomat and slavist.He entered the Bulgarian service in 1879, and in 1881 became minister of education at Sofia...

) as having been only Greek-identifying, but of Bulgarian origin; (see Grecomans

Grecomans

The term Grecomans is a pejorative used in Bulgaria, Republic of Macedonia, Romania and Albania to characterize Arvanitic, Aromanian, and Slavic-speaking Greeks. The term generally means "pretending to be a Greek" and implies a non-Greek origin...

). Greek communities also existed in Plovdiv, Sofia, Asenovgrad

Asenovgrad

Asenovgrad is a town in central southern Bulgaria, part of Plovdiv Province.-History:Asenovgrad was founded by the Thracians as Stenímachos around 300–400 BC. In 72 BC the city was captured by the troops of the Roman Empire as part of the Roman expansion towards the Black Sea. After a long period...

, Haskovo

Haskovo

Haskovo , is a city, an administrative centre of the homonymous Haskovo Province in southern Bulgaria, not far from the borders with Greece and Turkey. As of February 2011, it has a population of 74,843 inhabitants....

and Rousse

Rousse

Ruse is the fifth-largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is situated in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, from the capital Sofia and from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast...

, among others. In 1900, the Greeks in Bulgaria numbered 33,650.

Following the anti-Greek tensions in Bulgaria in 1906 and the population exchange

Population transfer

Population transfer is the movement of a large group of people from one region to another by state policy or international authority, most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion...

agreements Kalfov-Politis and Mollov-Kafandaris after World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the bulk of the Greek-speaking population in Bulgaria was forced to leave for Greece and was substituted by Bulgarians

Bulgarians

The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...

from Western Thrace

Western Thrace

Western Thrace or simply Thrace is a geographic and historical region of Greece, located between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country. Together with the regions of Macedonia and Epirus, it is often referred to informally as northern Greece...

and Greek Macedonia

Macedonia (Greece)

Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...

. Among the few exceptions were some of the Sarakatsani, estimated at 4107 in 2006 and a small group of Greek speakers with Bulgarian self-consciousness. This group, living in Suvorovo

Suvorovo

Suvorovo is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, part of Varna Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Suvorovo Municipality, which lies in the northwestern part of the Province...

and two nearby villages, according to the ethnographer Anastas Angleov: "...They themselves used to say [to their Bulgarian-speaking neighbours]: We are Bulgarians, but we speak Greek...".

Culture

From the 19th century the Greek communities on the coastal areas were thriving as they financed and maintained several religious and cultural buildings and institutions: churches, schools of all grades, libraries and press. Until the early 20th century, there were a total of 117 churches and 8 monasteries maintained by Greeks in Bulgarian territory, while a number of Greek dioceses were located in coastal cities and in particular in Pomorie

Pomorie

, Varna

Varna

, Nesebar

Nesebar

Nesebar is an ancient town and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Nesebar Municipality...

and Sozopol

Sozopol

. The most prosperous communities were that of Varna, with seven Greek schools that hosted ca. 1,200–1,500 students in 1907, and of Plovdiv, with a total of eight schools. Among them, the Zariphios

Zariphios School

The Zariphios School was a Greek educational institution established in 1875 in Plovdiv , then in the Ottoman Empire and now in Bulgaria. It became one of the most significant Greek educational centres in the region of Thrace, attracting teachers from Greece and Western Europe and existed until 1906...

in Plovdiv, established at 1875, became one of the most well known Greek educational institutions of the region.

Census data

Year	Greek Population	Percentage of total
1880/1881	54,205	1.92
1887	58,326	1.85
1892	58,518	1.77
1900	70,887	1.89
1905	69,761	1.73
1910	50,886	1.17
1920	46,759	0.96
1926	10,564	0.19
1934	9,601	0.16
1956	7,437	0.10
1965	8.241	0.10
1992	4.930	0.06
2001	3,219	0.04
2011	1,356	0.02

The National Federation of Greeks in Bulgaria claims that according to census figures in 1903 (a year in which no census was held) there were a total of 85,000 Greeks in Bulgaria, distributed as follows:

Locality	"1903 census"
Sofia Sofia Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...	687
Plovdiv Plovdiv Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...	5,000
Burgas Burgas -History:During the rule of the Ancient Romans, near Burgas, Debeltum was established as a military colony for veterans by Vespasian. In the Middle Ages, a small fortress called Pyrgos was erected where Burgas is today and was most probably used as a watchtower...	21,527
Varna Varna Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...	15,249
Rousse Rousse Ruse is the fifth-largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is situated in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, from the capital Sofia and from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast...	780
Kavarna Kavarna Kavarna is a Black Sea coastal town and seaside resort in the Dobruja region of northeastern Bulgaria. It lies 64 km northeast of Varna and 49 km from Dobrich on the international road E87. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 11,397 inhabitants. A little yacht port, a...	9,000
Golyam Manastir	1,800
Pomorie Pomorie Pomorie is a town and seaside resort in southeastern Bulgaria, located on a narrow rocky peninsula in Burgas Bay on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is situated in Burgas Province, 20 km away from the city of Burgas and 18 km from the Sunny Beach resort. The ultrasaline lagoon...	6,170
Nesebar Nesebar Nesebar is an ancient town and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Nesebar Municipality...	1,750
Byala Byala, Varna Province Byala is a small town and seaside resort in Eastern Bulgaria, located on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in Varna Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Byala Municipality and lies in a semi-mountainous region in the easternmost branches of Stara Planina about 50 km south...	1,200
Total (incl. other locations)	85,000

Notable Greeks from Bulgaria

Apostolos Nikolaidis (1896–1980), athlete and Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos is a multi-sport club based in Athens, Greece. It has the shamrock as its official emblem and green and white as its colours...

legend, from Plovdiv
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
Michael III of Anchialus, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Jeremias II Tranos
Patriarch Jeremias II of Constantinople
-External links:**...

, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Parthenius I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Christos Tsigiridis
Christos Tsigiridis
Christos Tsigiridis was a Greek electrical engineer and technological pioneer of his era. He was the first who imported the technology of sound reinforcement systems to Greece and led the installation of the first sound system in the Greek Parliament...

, (1877–1947) electrical engineer and technological pioneer
Christos Tsountas
Christos Tsountas
Christos Tsountas was a Greek classical archaeologist. He was born in Thracian Stenimachos, and attended Zariphios high school in Plovdiv. In 1886, he discovered and identified the Mycenean palace at Tiryns...

(1857–1913), archaeologist, from Asenovgrad
Asenovgrad
Asenovgrad is a town in central southern Bulgaria, part of Plovdiv Province.-History:Asenovgrad was founded by the Thracians as Stenímachos around 300–400 BC. In 72 BC the city was captured by the troops of the Roman Empire as part of the Roman expansion towards the Black Sea. After a long period...
Kostas Varnalis
Kostas Varnalis
Kostas Varnalis was a Greek poet.-Life:Varnalis was born in Burgas, Bulgaria, in 1884. As his name suggests, his family originated from Varna. He completed his elementary studies in the Zariphios Greek high school in Plovdiv and then moved to Athens to study literature at the National and...

(1884–1974), poet, from Burgas
Burgas
-History:During the rule of the Ancient Romans, near Burgas, Debeltum was established as a military colony for veterans by Vespasian. In the Middle Ages, a small fortress called Pyrgos was erected where Burgas is today and was most probably used as a watchtower...

External links

Greek embassy in Bulgaria

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History

Culture

Census data

Notable Greeks from Bulgaria

See also

External links