“Hristo Botev” secondary school, Aytos
Bulgaria
Bulgarian Diaspora
Bulgarian Diaspora consists of Bulgarian emigrants and their descendants.
The number of Bulgarians outside Bulgaria has sharply increased since 1991, following the collapse of the communism in Eastern Europe. Over one million Bulgarians have left the country, either permanently or as temporary workforce, leading to a marked decline in its population. Many took advantage of the US green card lottery system. Also many Bulgarians immigrated to Canada using the advantage of the Canadian immigration point system for skilled workers. Others went across the EU. In countries such as Greece and Spain many Bulgarians work and stay there intermittently while retaining Bulgaria as their permanent residence, especially after the country became an EU member state in 2007.
Most of the causes for the spread of the post-1990s Bulgarian Diaspora throughout the EU and North America have been related to work and education. Therefore the majority of the emigrants have been allowed residence in other countries on skilled worker or student basis. That includes people of various skills - Lower education workers, which usually deal with utilities and housekeeping - plumbers, construction workers, gardeners, handymen, maids; as well as a substantial amount of higher-education specialists - usually from the areas of Engineering, Computer Science, Chemistry and Medicine.
The largest communities of the Bulgarian Diaspora in Western Europe are in Spain, Germany, UK, France and Italy.
Other places that attracted Bulgarian immigration are Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East centered in the UAE and South America, especially Argentina and Brazil.
“Hristo Botev” secondary school, Aytos, Bulgaria
Immigration to Bulgaria
Immigration to Bulgaria began in the early 20th century. The first immigrants in contemporary Bulgarian history without any Bulgarian ethnic origin were the Armenian refugees who fled at the time of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire. The next wave of immigrants to Bulgarian during the socialist government in the country where large numbers of foreign students coming to study in Bulgarian universities and many of them remain in the country after its completion, many of whom are married to Bulgarian citizens. Also at that time many Bulgarians mostly men marry citizens of the then Soviet Union, the Warsaw Pact and Cuba. The process continues with even greater migration to Bulgaria after 1989, when large groups of Chinese, Arabs, Vietnamese, Africans, Russians, Ukrainians, Turks, Albanians and other groups established themselves permanently in Bulgaria. The country's accession to the EU on January 1, 2007, has not yet led to a significant rise in the number of immigrants, although there is a growth in the number of refugees from Afghanistan, Iran Iraq, Africa, Armenia and a growth of private businesses being opened by citizens of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, China, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the countries in the Middle East, notably Syria and Lebanon.
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), the Ukraine (5,350), the Republic of Macedonia (4,375), Turkey (3,828) and Moldova (2.203). However, this number does not include immigrants who have already obtained Bulgarian citizenship or illegal immigrants. The number of immigrants in Bulgaria is expected to grow as a result of the accession of Bulgaria in the European Union in 2007.
Unesco monuments in Bulgaria
