Editing Bulgarian language (section)

== Geographic distribution ==
Bulgarian is the official language of [[Languages of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]],<ref>{{cite web| title = Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria| url = https://www.parliament.bg/en/const| language = bg| access-date = 27 October 2020| archive-date = 10 December 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101210221600/https://www.parliament.bg/en/const}}</ref> where it is used in all spheres of public life. As of 2011, it is spoken as a first language by about 6{{nbsp}}million people in the country, or about four out of every five Bulgarian citizens.<ref name="2011Census">{{Cite book| author = Национален Статистически Институт| title = Преброяване на населението и жилищния фонд през 2011 година| volume = Том 1: Население | issue = Книга 2: Демографски и социални характеристики| year = 2012| place = София| url = https://www.nsi.bg/statlib/bg/lister.php?iid=DO-010007505 | language = bg | pages = 33–34, 190}} Of the 6.64 million people who answered the optional language question in the 2011 census, 5.66 million (or 85.2%) reported being native speakers of Bulgarian (this amounts to 76.8% of the total population of 7.36 million).</ref>

There is also a significant [[Bulgarian diaspora]] abroad. One of the main historically established communities are the [[Bessarabian Bulgarians]], whose settlement in the [[Bessarabia]] region of nowadays Moldova and Ukraine dates mostly to the early 19th century. There were {{sigfig|134396|3}} Bulgarian speakers in [[Languages of Ukraine|Ukraine]] at the 2001 census,<ref>{{cite web| title = Table 19A050501 02. Distribution of the population of Ukraine's regions by native language (0,1)| url = http://database.ukrcensus.gov.ua/MULT/Dialog/varval.asp?ma=19A050501_02&ti=19A050501_02.%20Distribution%20of%20the%20population%20of%20Ukraine%60s%20regions%20by%20native%20language%20%280%2C1%29&path=..%2FDatabase%2FCensus%2F05%2F02%2F01%2F&lang=2&multilang=en| access-date = 15 October 2020| archive-date = 17 October 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201017034016/http://database.ukrcensus.gov.ua/MULT/Dialog/varval.asp?ma=19A050501_02&ti=19A050501_02.%20Distribution%20of%20the%20population%20of%20Ukraine%60s%20regions%20by%20native%20language%20%280%2C1%29&path=..%2FDatabase%2FCensus%2F05%2F02%2F01%2F&lang=2&multilang=en}}</ref> {{sigfig|41756|3}} in [[Languages of Moldova|Moldova]] as of the 2014 census (of which {{sigfig|15320|3}} were habitual users of the language),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.statistica.md/newsview.php?l=en&id=5582&idc=30 |title=The Population of the Republic of Moldova at the Time of the Census was 2,998,235|date= 31 March 2017|access-date=16 October 2020}} The full data is available in the linked spreadsheet titled "Characteristics - Population", sheets 8 and 9.</ref> and presumably a significant proportion of the 13,200 ethnic Bulgarians residing in neighbouring [[Transnistria]] in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mer.gospmr.org/gosudarstvennaya-sluzhba-statistiki/informacziya/ezhegodnik-gosudarstvennoj-sluzhby-statistiki/statisticheskij-ezhegodnik-2017.html|title=Статистический ежегодник 2017 - Министерство экономического развития Приднестровской Молдавской Республики|website=mer.gospmr.org|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-date=26 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026152825/http://mer.gospmr.org/gosudarstvennaya-sluzhba-statistiki/informacziya/ezhegodnik-gosudarstvennoj-sluzhby-statistiki/statisticheskij-ezhegodnik-2017.html}} There is no data on the number of speakers.</ref>

Another community abroad are the [[Banat Bulgarians]], who migrated in the 17th century to the Banat region now split between Romania, Serbia and Hungary. They speak the [[Banat Bulgarian dialect]], which has had its own written standard and a historically important literary tradition.

There are Bulgarian speakers in neighbouring countries as well. The regional dialects of Bulgarian and Macedonian form a dialect continuum, and there is no well-defined boundary where one language ends and the other begins. Within the limits of the [[Republic of North Macedonia]] a strong separate Macedonian identity has emerged since the Second World War, even though there still are a small number of citizens who identify their language as Bulgarian. Beyond the borders of North Macedonia, the situation is more fluid, and the pockets of speakers of the related regional dialects [[Bulgarians in Albania|in Albania]] and [[Slavic speakers of Greek Macedonia|in Greece]] variously identify their language as Macedonian or as Bulgarian. [[Bulgarians in Serbia|In Serbia]], there were {{sigfig|13337|3}} speakers as of 2011,<ref>{{Cite report| title = Etnokonfesionalni i jezički mozaik Srbije (Popis stanovništa, domaćinstava i stanova 2011. u Republici Srbiji)| language = sr |url = https://pod2.stat.gov.rs/ObjavljenePublikacije/Popis2011/Etnomozaik.pdf | pages=151–56}}</ref> mainly concentrated in the so-called [[Western Outlands]] along the border with Bulgaria. Bulgarian is also spoken in Turkey: natively by [[Pomaks]], and as a second language by many [[Bulgarian Turks]] who emigrated from Bulgaria, mostly during the "[[Big Excursion]]" of 1989.

The language is also represented among the diaspora in Western Europe and North America, which has been steadily growing since the 1990s. Countries with significant numbers of speakers include [[Bulgarians in Germany|Germany]], [[Bulgarians in Spain|Spain]], [[Bulgarians in Italy|Italy]], the [[Bulgarians in the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]] ({{sigfig|38496|3}} speakers in England and Wales as of 2011),<ref>{{cite web| title = DC2210EWr - Main language by proficiency in English (regional)| url = http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/DC2210EWR/view/2092957703?rows=main_language&cols=proficiency_in_english| access-date = 18 October 2020}}</ref> [[Bulgarians in France|France]], the [[Bulgarian Americans|United States]], and [[Bulgarian Canadians|Canada]] ({{sigfig|19050|3}} in 2011).<ref>{{Cite web| title =  Census Profile | date=8 February 2012 | url = https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=PR&Code1=01&Geo2=PR&Code2=01&Data=Count&SearchText=Canada&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=&TABID=1#Note20 | access-date = 27 October 2020 }}</ref>