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Bulgarian
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A language of
Bulgaria
Also spoken in:
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Australia
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
2,680 in Australia (2016 census).
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Austria
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
5,390 in Austria (2003 UNSD).
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Belgium
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
46,900 in Belgium (2020 census), based on nationality.
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
4,100 in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2014 J. Leclerc).
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Canada
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
20,000 in Canada (2016 census).
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Cyprus
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
18,400 in Cyprus (2013 UNSD).
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Czechia
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
5,410 in Czechia (2011 census).
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Denmark
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
9,900 in Denmark (2020 census), based on nationality.
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Finland
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
2,840 in Finland (2018 census).
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Germany
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
389,000 in Germany (2020 census), based on nationality.
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Greece
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
75,900 in Greece (2011 census), based on nationality.
Location
Eastern Macedonia and Thrace region: Xanthi and 2 other departments.
Dialects
Pomak (Pomakci, Pomakika).
Language Status
5* (Dispersed).
Language Use
Spoken by Muslim Pomaks. Home. Also use Greek [ell]. Also use Turkish [tur].
Other Comments
Also referred to locally as Macedonian and Vlach. Vlach refers variously to varieties of Bulgarian, Romani, and Romanian in Romania, Greece, Albania, and Serbia. Many Greek [ell] loanwords from ancient Thracean and Illyrian. Viewed as Turks in Greece. Muslim.
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Hungary
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
2,900 in Hungary (2011 census). Ethnic population: 3,560 (2011 census).
Location
Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and Budapest counties; Miskolc area.
Dialects
Palityan.
Language Status
5* (Dispersed).
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Kazakhstan
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
7,200 in Kazakhstan (Leclerc 2017e).
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Libya
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
3,600 in Libya (2020).
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Moldova
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
41,800 in Moldova (2014 census). Ethnic population: 51,900 (2014 census).
Location
Cahul, Cantemir, Chisinau city, Gagauzia, Leova, and Taraclia districts.
Language Status
5* (Dispersed). Recognized language (2001, National Minority Law, Article 6(1)).
Language Use
68% speak it as L1.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous. Christian.
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Norway
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
8,430 in Norway (2021 census), based on nationality.
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Poland
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
1,700 in Poland (2013 UNSD).
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Portugal
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
5,030 in Portugal (2007 J. Leclerc).
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Romania
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
6,520 in Romania (2011 census). Ethnic population: 7,340 (2011 census).
Location
Arad and Timis counties: Banat region.
Dialects
Palityan (Bogomil, Palitiani).
Language Status
5* (Dispersed). Recognized language (2007, Law No. 282, Ratification, European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages).
Other Comments
Non-indigenous. Christian.
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Russian Federation
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
22,900 in Russian Federation (2010 census). Ethnic population: 24,000 (2010 census).
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Serbia
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
13,300 in Serbia (2013 UNSD).
Location
Pčinja district: Bosiljgrad; Pirot district: Dmitrovgrad.
Language Status
2 (Provincial). Statutory provincial language in Novi Pazar, Sjenica, Tutin (1991, Official Language Use Law No. 45, Article 3).
Language Development
Taught in primary schools, in minority-language schools.
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Spain
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
117,000 in Spain (2020 census), based on nationality.
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Sweden
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
7,170 in Sweden (2020 census), based on nationality.
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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Turkey
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
395,000 in Turkey (2019). 98% Pomak (Leclerc 2014c).
Location
Edirne and other western provinces: scattered.
Alternate Names
Pomak
Dialects
Pomak.
Language Status
5* (Dispersed).
Language Use
Spoken by Muslim Pomaks. Also use Turkish [tur].
Other Comments
Muslim.
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Ukraine
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
131,000 in Ukraine (2001 census). Ethnic population: 205,000 (2001 census).
Location
Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Odessa, and Zaporizhia regions.
Language Status
5* (Dispersed). Recognized language (2004, Law, Status of Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine, Article 1(5)), protected language.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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United Kingdom
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
38,500 in United Kingdom (2011 census).
Language Status
Unestablished.
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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United States
Language Name
Bulgarian
User Population
57,800 in United States (2015 census).
Location
Scattered.
Language Status
Unestablished.
Language Use
Most shifting to English [eng].
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
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