Aromanians in Bulgaria

Pazardjik, as well as on the Rila mountain range.^[2]

Gramos Mountains of Greece who emigrated to modern Bulgaria during the 18th century. Their descendants have a stronger Aromanian identity nowadays in comparison to that of the 17th-century Aromanians that came to Bulgaria.^[3] Furthermore, some Aromanians left Moscopole in modern Albania, formerly a cultural center for all the Aromanian nation, following its destruction during the second half of the 18th century, with some emigrating to modern Bulgaria but also to other countries such as modern Serbia and parts of modern North Macedonia. These Aromanians would become important figures for the national movements of these countries, including Bulgaria, and would end up receiving the name "Tsintsar", term which ended up being embraced by the Aromanians in Serbia.^[4]

persecute and attack the Aromanians, with instances of killings of Aromanian priests or of attacks on entire Aromanian villages. The Greek authorities would later also join in this persecution during the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, and so did the Bulgarian ones, which began to seize Aromanian churches and hand them over to Bulgarian-speaking congregations. All this violence and instability prompted some Aromanians to emigrate to Romania, which was attempting to portray itself as a "homeland" for this ethnic group at the time. More precisely, they migrated to Southern Dobruja, formerly a Bulgarian region conquered by Romania in 1913. This region had a large ethnically Bulgarian (and also Turkish) population that was hostile to Romanian rule. Therefore, Romania sent several Romanian families from other parts of the country, but also Aromanians from regions of the Balkans, to colonize the region. The number of Aromanian families that came to Southern Dobruja varies between 2,500^[5] and 6,000.^[1] Once settled, the Aromanians often engaged in fights and violence with the native Bulgarian communities.^[5]

minorities from outside of Dobruja to their respective countries, which would have meant that all the Aromanians of Bulgaria would have been taken to Romania. However, the Bulgarian authorities rejected this.^[6]

Vlachs" on Bulgarian censuses. Bulgarian Aromanians do not have schools in their own language and their number of ethnic organizations is low. The Holy Trinity Romanian Orthodox Church in Sofia is used by both Bulgarian Aromanians and Bulgarian Romanians for the organization of ethnic activities. Today, the Aromanian Association in Sofia stands out as one of the most vivid supporters of Aromanian culture and rights in Bulgaria, publishing since 1998 the newspaper Armãnlu. Other Aromanian organizations are also present in Dupnitsa, Peshtera and Velingrad, and Aromanian folklore groups exist in almost every place inhabited by Aromanians within the country. Despite this, with the low number of Aromanians existing in Bulgaria, Aromanian cultural and ethnic activities in the country suffer considerable struggle.^[3] Bulgarian Aromanians are usually polyglots nowadays, with many knowing Aromanian and Bulgarian but also Greek, Turkish and limited knowledge of Romanian. Ethnic endogamy (that is, people only marrying others of their same ethnic group) is also a traditional feature of the Aromanians of Bulgaria, although in recent times there has been significant interethnic marriage with ethnic Bulgarians.^[1]

exonym mucan. This has also been recorded in the Aromanians of Romania, who live in Northern Dobruja.^[1] In addition, in Bulgaria, Aromanians and Romanians are collectively referred to as "Vlachs".^[9] Romanian-speaking Boyash Gypsies are also associated with this term.^[10] Another group with which the Aromanians of Bulgaria have a high degree of relationship is with the Sarakatsani (or Karakachans), a transhumant Greek subgroup.^[1]