Census Results
From 20 to 31 December 1946, the People's Republic of Bulgaria conducted a census which included both the questions; of ethnicity and of mother language. During the census, on December 27 the governor of Blagoevgrad districts sent a telegram with an order all Bulgarians (excluding the ones migrated from other regions of Bulgaria) in the region to be counted as ethnic Macedonians, including the Bulgarian Muslims. According to the census results 169,544 people of Bulgaria declared themselves to be ethnic Macedonians. Of the total 252,908 inhabitants of Blagoevgrad Province 160,541 or roughly 64% of the population declared themselves to be ethnic Macedonians. Other areas of Macedonian declaration was 2638 in Sofia, 2589 in Plovdiv, 1825 in Burgas and a further 1851 were scattered throughout Bulgaria.
The forcible change of the ethnicity of the population was confirmed by the leader of the opposition party BZNS "Nikola Petkov" who on December 30, 1946 stated that "The population is disgusted by this outrageous violation of conscience." This issue was confirmed by the ex-president of the Republic of Bulgaria Petar Stoyanov and Veselin Angelov (аssoc scientist, Ph.D. in history), from the Regional Historical Museum of Blagoevgrad - where the document with the order is kept.
| Ethnic Groups in BGD province (1946 Census) | Nevrokop | % | Gorna Dzumaya | % | Sveti Vrach | % | Petrich | % | Razlog | % | Total | % |
| Ethnic Macedonians | 29 251 | 45,1% | 24 169 | 47% | 41 247 | 82,5% | 42 047 | 91% | 23 837 | 60% | 160 541 | 63,64% |
| Bulgarians | 14 007 | 21,5% | 24 825 | 48,3% | 7 600 | 15,1% | 2 927 | 6,4% | 5 066 | 12,8% | 54 425 | 21,5% |
| Macedonian or Bulgarian Muslims | 18 174 | 27,9% | 874 | 1,7% | 55 | 0,% | 35 | 0,1% | 9 786 | 24,6% | 28 924 | 3,03% |
There are strong indications that the majority of the population from Blagoevgrad province was listed as ethnic Macedonians against their will in the 1946 and 1956 census.
In 1956, 187,789 people of Bulgaria declared themselves to be ethnic Macedonians. Of the 281,015 inhabitants of Blagoevgrad Province, 178,862 people declared themselves to be Macedonians; a rate which stayed the same at roughly 64% of the population. Other areas of Macedonian declaration consisted of: 4046 from Sofia, 1955 from Plovdiv and the remaining 2926 were scattered throughout Bulgaria.
Under strong pressure of the Bulgarian Communist Party, the 1956 census results were falsified again as the previous 1946 census and the Bulgarian population in Blagoevgrad province was forced to declare as ethnic Macedonian, the change in the population came in 1965 census, when the people in the province declared free as Bulgarians, within ten years the 187,789 strong Macedonian minority fell to just 9,632 individuals.
The 1965 census counted only 9,632 people declaring themselves to be Macedonians. Of them, 1732 came from the Blagoevgrad Province while 8195 were from the other regions of Bulgaria.
In the 1992 census, 10,803 people declared themselves to be Macedonian. Of them, 3,500 registered Macedonian as their mother tongue . According to the President of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee Krasimir Kanev, the real number of Macedonians in Bulgaria varies from 15,000 to 25,000.
Results of the 2001 census in the Blagoevgrad region of Bulgaria.
| Ethnic Groups in BGD province (2001 Census) | Total | % |
| Bulgarians | 286,491 | 83.97% |
| Ethnic Macedonians | 3117 | 0.91% |
| Others | 51,565 | 15.12% |
| Total | 341,173 |
As regards self-identification, a total of 1,654 people officially declared themselves to be ethnic Macedonians in the latest Bulgarian census in 2011 (0,02%) and 561 of them are in Blagoevgrad Province (0,2%). There are 1,091 Macedonian citizens, who are permanent residents in Bulgaria.
Read more about this topic: Ethnic Macedonians In Bulgaria
Famous quotes containing the word results:
“It is perhaps the principal admirableness of the Gothic schools of architecture, that they receive the results of the labour of inferior minds; and out of fragments full of imperfection ... raise up a stately and unaccusable whole.”
—John Ruskin (1819–1900)