The official language of Bulgaria is Bulgarian, which is spoken natively by 86.2% of the country's population. Other major languages are Turkish (8.8%), and Romani (3.9%) according to 2021 census. Two main varieties of Romani language spoken in the country are Balkan Romani and Vlax Romani. There are smaller numbers of speakers of Armenian, Aromanian, Romanian, Crimean Tatar, Gagauz and Balkan Gagauz, Russian, Ukrainian, English and Macedonian. Bulgarian Sign Language has an estimated 37,000 signers.

2011 Census At the 2011 Census, the optional question about native language was answered by respondents, or just over 90% of the total population. The majority of the 9.8% who did not answer this question were among the young.

Native language Number of speakers Percentage of respondents Bulgarian 5,659,024 85.20% Turkish 605,802 9.12% Romani 281,217 4.23% Russian 15,808 0.24% Armenian 5,615 0.08% Romanian 5,523 0.08% Greek 3,224 0.05% "Vlach" 1,826 0.03% Ukrainian 1,755 0.03% Macedonian 1,404 0.02% Arabic 1,397 0.02% Tatar 1,372 0.02% Other 10,623 0.16% Do not self-identify 47,564 0.72% Total returns 6,642,154 100% Total population 7,364,570

2001 Census The 2001 census defines an ethnic group as a "community of people, related to each other by origin and language, and close to each other by mode of life and culture"; and one's mother tongue as "the language a person speaks best and usually uses for communication in the family (household)".

Native Language By ethnic group Percentage By first language PercentageBulgarian 6,655,210 83.93% 6,997,000 88.46%Turkish 746,660 9.42% 663,000 8.62%Romani 370,910 4.67% 128,000 1.13%Others 69,000 0.87% 71,000 0.89%Total 7,928,900 100% 7,928,900 100%

Bulgarian

Bulgarian is the country's only official language. It is spoken by the vast majority of the Bulgarian population and used at all levels of society. It is a Slavic language, and its closest relative is Macedonian.

Bulgarian is written with Cyrillic, which is also used by Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Serbian and Macedonian.

Minority languages Turkish

The Turks constitute the largest minority group in the country. The Turks in Bulgaria are descendants of Turkic settlers who came from Anatolia across the narrows of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus following the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, as well as Bulgarian converts to Islam who became Turkified during the centuries of Ottoman rule.Stein, Jonathan. The Politics of National Minority Participation in Post-communist Europe, p. 238. M.E. Sharpe, 2000. R.J.Crampton. "A concise history of Bulgaria", p. 36. Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Roma

The Romani constitute the second largest minority group in the country. The Romani in Bulgaria are descendants of Romani nomadic migrants who came from India across the narrows of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, in the late 13th centuryTomova, Ethnic Dimensions of poverty in Bulgaria, p. 15 and following the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, and also during the five centuries of Ottoman rule.Marushiakova et al., Gypsies in the Ottoman Empire: a contribution to the history of the Balkans, p. 26

Other Other minority languages spoken are Russian, Ukrainian, Armenian, Tatar, Greek, Romanian and Aromanian (the latter two often collectively referred to as "Vlach" in Bulgaria).

Foreign languages According to a Eurobarometer survey conducted in 2024, English was the most commonly known foreign language in Bulgaria (29% claimed workable knowledge of it), followed by Russian (14%), and German (5%).

This is a decrease of 9 points for Russian since the previous survey in 2012. This is because many of the people who learned Russian at school are from an older generation and some are now deceased or as time has elapsed, have forgotten how to speak the language. When asked which two languages, other than their mother tongue, would be the most useful for children to learn in their future, an overwhelming majority of respondents said English (81%), with German coming second (20%), and Russian and Spanish jointly third (7% each).

Notes

References

External links Linguistic situation in Bulgaria