A process of

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

of ethnic non-Bulgarians to Bulgaria began after the country's liberation from Ottoman rule and the restoration of the Bulgarian state in 1878. The first wave of immigrants, mainly from Central and Eastern Europe, brought skills needed in the creation of the new state. Later groups to arrive were

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

refugees, White Russians, and foreign students. Since the

fall of Communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

and Bulgaria's entry to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

, immigration has increased, with many arriving legally or illegally from

less developed countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

, and since 2011 the country has been on a migration route used by Syrian refugees. In 2019, around 2.42% of the population of

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

were immigrants. An increase of over 2% in the space of 30 years.

Late 19th century

Following the

Berlin Congress The Congress of Berlin (13 June – 13 July 1878) was a diplomatic conference to reorganise the states in the Balkan Peninsula after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, which had been won by Russia against the Ottoman Empire. Represented at th ...

, the Russian Empire was forced to withdraw its troops from Bulgaria but left a large number of specialists and functionaries who assisted the formation of the Bulgarian army and state institutions. These included Russian officers and generals, such as general Leonid Sobolev, Bulgaria's prime minister 1882–1883, general Alexander Golovin, and functionaries like Sofia's first mayor Piotr Alabin. Almost all of them left Bulgaria after the break-up of relations with Russia in 1886. With the formation of the Principality of Bulgaria in 1878, foreign specialists, entrepreneurs, teachers, workers, and missionaries started arriving in Bulgaria and assisted the building of the new country after five centuries of foreign rule. They were notably from

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and Russia, as well as from Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France, the US and other European nations, who assisted in the modernisation of all aspects of life in the new Bulgarian state. Notable ethnic groups among them were the

Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...

and Slovaks, such as

Konstantin Josef Jireček The first name Konstantin () is a derivation from the Latin name ''Constantinus'' ( Constantine) in some European languages, such as Russian and German. As a Christian given name, it refers to the memory of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great ...

, Hermann Škorpil,

Karel Škorpil Karel Václav Škorpil ( bg, Карел Вацлав Шкорпил; 15 May 18599 March 1944) was a Czech-Bulgarian archaeologist and museum worker credited along with his brother Hermann with the establishment of those two disciplines in Bulgar ...

, Jiří Prošek,

Ivan Mrkvička Ivan Mrkvička (born Jan Václav Mrkvička; bg, Иван Мърквичка) (23 April 1856 – 16 May 1938) was a Czech-born painter and an active contributor to the artistic life of newly liberated Bulgaria in the late 19th and early 20t ...

, Jaroslav Věšín. Among the temporary or permanent settlers were ethnic Jews, Germans and Austrians, Hungarians, Serbs and Montenegrins (settled in a few villages in northeastern Bulgaria), Croats, Slovenes, Poles, Ukrainians and Rusyns, and others. Czechs, Slovaks, Rusyns and Germans of Protestant and Catholic denomination from Austria-Hungary founded or settled in villages in northern Bulgaria, such as Voyvodovo, Vratsa Province, Martvitsa (Slovak ''Mŕtvica'', now Podem), Gorna Mitropolia, Brashlyanitsa. The relative freedom of religion allowed Catholic workers and missionaries and Protestant missionaries, mostly from the United States and Great Britain, to establish missions and live for shorter or longer periods in Bulgaria. The first larger compact group of non-Bulgarian immigrants in contemporary Bulgarian history to settle in the country were the

refugees fleeing the persecutions in the Ottoman Empire. Their settlement started in the 1890s and expanded during the time of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...

20th century

A large wave of Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians and other nationals of the Russian Empire settled temporarily or permanently in Bulgaria following the demise of Wrangel's army in

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

in 1920. A smaller wave of new immigrants arrived in Bulgaria during the socialist regime (1944–1989), when large numbers of foreign students came to study in Bulgarian universities and many of them remained. Most of them married Bulgarian nationals and settled in the country. Also at that time, many Bulgarians married citizens of the then

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and the Eastern Bloc. The fall of communism at the end of 1989 saw greater migration to Bulgaria, when large groups of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

, Ukrainians, Turks,

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

, Albanians, a number of Armenians from

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

, some Africans, and an increasing number of EU nationals established themselves permanently in Bulgaria.

21st century

The country's accession to the EU on January 1, 2007 has not yet led to a significant rise in immigrants, although there is a growth in the number of refugees from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, Sub-Saharan Africa,

and some Christian Palestinians. The slow procedures of granting asylum and refugee status, the low living standard compared to the EU average and the postponement of entry to the Schengen area contribute to the low number of refugees and asylum seekers. The recent decade saw a growth of private businesses opened by citizens of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, China,

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

and the countries in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

, notably Syria and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. Also during the last decade, Russian, Ukrainian, EU and US citizens purchased holiday properties along the Black sea coast, as well as in the interior. According to official data, the number of permanent foreign residents in Bulgaria as at 31.12.2008 is 66,806 and the vast majority of these come from Russia (21,309), Ukraine (5,350), the Republic of North Macedonia (4,375), Turkey (3,828) and Moldova (2.203). This number does not include immigrants who have already obtained Bulgarian citizenship or illegal immigrants. The number of immigrants in Bulgaria was expected to grow as a result of the accession of Bulgaria in the

in 2007. The number of people that were born outside Bulgaria pass from 21,510 in 1990 to 168,516 in 2019. Since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, the number of Syrian refugees in Bulgaria grew. Together with the Syrian refugee families, many illegal migrants, mainly males, from countries like Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Eritrea, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq entered illegally through the Bulgarian-Turkish border. In 2014 the Bulgarian government started to build a fence at the Bulgarian-Turkish border, which was completed in the year 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Immigration To Bulgaria Ethnic groups in Bulgaria Society of Bulgaria

Late 19th century

20th century

21st century

See also

References