Talk:Bulgaria

Featured on Template:March 3 selected anniversaries (may be in HTML comment)

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PS: Please don't change the Muslim suggestion in Bulgaria and there are a mosque in religion part of the article, i request this mosque never change from there. We are a part of Bulgaria.

Macedonia and Bulgaria

I suggest that Bulgaria stops using the term Macedonia for anything else than the country Macedonia (also Macedonia or RoM, not FYROM) as this might misslead. Arnegjor 10:30, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

Svetlo, Macedonia will always be to the Macedonian people, just am "sorry" for u that ur brain has been washed away, its a common thing in bulgaria

Well, officially you are still F.Y.R.O.M, you haven't won the name yet Svetlyo 13:13, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

I'm from Bulgarian Macedonia and since the end of Yugoslavia I have to change the name of my region, cause some other people

want to monopolise something that they don't have (less than 50%) and historically don't deserve. 

At least they can give the opportunity for others to use the name Macedonia. How can I describe my region? Macedonia (Pirin), bordering Macedonia? Am I Macedonian, or not? And then if Macedonian I'm not Bulgarian? I can be Bulgarian Macedonian and they can be Slav Macedonians and Greeks can be Macedonians but they don't want to and you support them, they want to monopolise the name. I suggest that we change the name of the country to FYROM Svetlyo 19:20, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

We use the term "Republic of Macedonia" simply to distinguish the country from all the other places called Macedonia. It doesn't imply endorsement of that name - see Republic of Macedonia#Note. The reason we don't use "Republic of Bulgaria", "Republic of Greece" etc. is because those country names aren't the subject of confusion with other names. See Republic of China for a comparable example. -- ChrisO 19:35, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

You see how tricky it gets with the name Republic of Macedonia? Go get another name Svetlyo 00:44, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

I agree with Svetlyo. Besides, Macedonia belongs to Bulgaria anyways so give the land back!

I personaly don't know about a country named "Macedonia" i know of a province which belongs to Bulgaria named Macedonia.

Most sources point that Macedonia was part of Bulgaria before the Ottoman Empire but it is no longer. The only opinion that really matters is the Macedonian people’s. Nobody can force them to call themselves Bulgarians unless by exercising the Ottoman way of conversion which we Bulgarians know all too well. Therefore I must sadly disagree with some of the former statements.

Conversion of bulgarians to Islam

If the Ottoman empire had tried to proselytize the ethnic Bulgarians to Islam over a 500 year period, there would be no christian ethnic bulgarians left. Instead the majority of ethnic bulgarians are orthodox christians, the only muslims are the Turks and Tatar minorities, while only a small minority of muslims is ethnic bulgarian.

Why are there not more ethnically bulgarian muslims? why did the empire not try to make more bulgarians muslim? Is it because Turks and Bulgars are ethnically related? --Kahraman 11:01, 28 July 2005 (UTC)

Bulgarian and Turks are NOT ethnically related. In a few words the cristians in the borders of the Ottoman empire were forces to pay much bigger taxes (including the Blood Tax, which consisted of giving every first-born son to become a soldier in the Ottoman army), so it was better for the empire to have the majority of people with different religions.

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At the NATO summit i Prague 21-22 November Bulgaria was invited to join NATO

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Someone who knows/cares about Bulgaria might like to review/merge the content in Bulgarians ... Martin

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Why is "Bulgaria" termed as "small"? I am not Bulgarian- and I am not taking offense at all, but it seems rather odd considering Bulgaria is not particularly "small" in the context of many of the world's nations.

We tried to discuss this at the Bulgarian Wikipedia, but only three people participated in the discourse. You're right, we are not a small country. --webkid 09:30, 24 Aug 2004 (UTC)

"...Khan Asparuh and his Bulgars migrated into the Balkans, where they assimilated the minor Slavic, Thracian inhabitants..." - I would say they were assimilated by the Slavic inhabitants, at least Turkic (or at least Altaic) language of Bolgars was completely lost as well as most of their cultural heritage... Essentially the most influential things brought by Bolgars were their military organization and the name of the people still in use today Vassili Nikolaev 09:11, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Romanization of Bulgarian names

What is the correct Romanization of Република България ?

• Wikipedia says Republika Bulgariya
• Encarta says Republika Bǎlgarija and apparently this is also used in the maps from the European Union website.

Probably there are two different versions of transliteration, but which is the official one ? Bogdan | Talk 19:33, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Yes, there are two different systems of transliteration - the first one uses diacritic symbols from Czech or Croatian (I don't remember exactly), the other one uses only the letters which exist in the English alphabet. The one which should be applied is the second one - the first one is practically never applied, at least not in Bulgaria. VMORO 14:33, Mar 9, 2005 (UTC)

In general, is there a standard accepted way of transliterating Bulgarian names from their original alphabets? Right now it's a mess, for instance:

• ъ is sometimes u, sometimes a (I've seen ǎ and ŭ as well),
• ю is sometimes iu, sometimes yu,
• ц is sometimes ts, sometimes c,
• х is sometimes kh, sometimes h

What I'd like to see is something like Transliteration of Russian into English. Markussep 8:20, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I collected some transliteration schemes here: Transliteration of Bulgarian into English. I think the United Nations system (with the Czech/Croatian diacritics) is not practical for Wikipedia. The BGN/PCGN and the official Bulgarian system are quite similar, except for х (kh vs. h), ц (ts vs. c), ъ (ŭ vs. a) and ь (' vs. y). Apart from the fact that the a's in Varna and the a in Tarnovo will not be distinguishable, the official Bulgarian system looks OK to me. Opinions? Markussep 10:36, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Are you entirely sure that ц according to the official Bulgarian system is transliterated with c? As, as far as I remember, it should be represented with tz... VMORO 21:53, Jun 12, 2005 (UTC)

I'm not 100% sure, I didn't see it on a Bulgarian government site. My source is this, it says "Bulgarian Council of Ministers". Tz seems strange though, a bit German. It's "c", see this ID card. Too bad they don't have a transliteration scheme there. Markussep 06:36, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Three other sources (the Bulgarian embassy in Washington, something that looks official too and another reference) say ц is ts, and refer to a law from 1999. Could be it changed from "c" to "ts". Markussep 13:29, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Well, on my ID card it is "tz", but basically you can just choose the kind of transliteration for your ID card for yourself. I expressly wanted to spell my name that way, because I think this is the most understandable way for all the nations (in English "tz" is spoken just like in German and so on) and in my eariler international pass (when I was too young to say personally what kind of transliteration I would like) it was also "tz". In many web pages containing bulgarian transliteration I also found "tz", look at this for example. I think the "c" spelling is totally wrong, it is used only by Bulgarians in the chat rooms for shorting the words when there's no cyrilic font, just think about it, it can be spoken as "s" or "k" or "tz" in the different languages.

I really don't know which of these is official, but that's what I think about and use. --Tzeck 20:26, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)

That's funny, that you can choose your own transliteration. Was this before or after 1999? To me (I'm Dutch) "tz" is a bit strange because in Dutch (French, Polish, Czech likewise I think) it would be a voiced consonant. In German and Italian, "z" by itself would be the same as ц. You're right that "c" is ambiguous in many languages. I would prefer "ts" then. BTW I did the Google test for "Vratsa" (only English language pages), that was ts:tz:c = 91k:44k:7k. "Berkovitsa" ts:tz:c = 17k:12k:360. Markussep 20:53, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Ok, this is the transliteration of Bulgarian according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs [1]:

А Б В Г Д Е Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ь Ю Я

A B V G D E ZH Z I Y K L M N O P R S T U F H TS CH SH SHT A Y YU YA

As you can see, the variant used is "ts" - although I think that "tz" also can be used. May be Tzeck has right that it can be optional. Anyway I agree with him completely as the present transliteration system is based solely on English and I have noticed that English speakers tend to pronounce "tz" as a voiceless affricat [ts] whereas "ts" brings about horrific problems and an unsecure prononciation somewhere around the voiceless fricative [s]. You shouldn't think too much about how the letter combination can be pronounced in different languages as the transliteration system is based solely on the English pronounciation; it is anyway impossible to invent a transliteration system which is universally valid for all languages, right? The problems come from the fact that before 1989 there were two transliteration systems. One used French as a model ([u] for example by "ou") and the other one diacritic signs. Afterwards there was a complete chaos and everyone transliterated as they wished. Well, enough for the lyrical digression - I think we should follow the offical system of the MIA (the same as the one you found for the Bulgarian Embassy in D.C.). VMORO 23:54, Jun 13, 2005 (UTC)

Here is the point - this is an English speaking Wikipedia and it doesn't matter if some letter could be spoken otherways in other languages different than English. And, Markussep, I forgot to make mention about the "ts" spelling, that I also find alright, but as VMORO said the most English sreaking people use "tz", that's the result of my personally "investigations", too. However, I find both of them ("tz" and "ts") usable for the Wikipedia (I just prefer "tz"), but not the "c".

The transiteration in Bulgaria is optional only for some difficult letters like this and I think when you say nothing about than it will be "ts" on your ID card. And that was in year 2000, but I don't think it was otherways before 1999. When I made my card I was thinking about going to Germany, but in German the most correct spelling of my name begins with "z" . But in England (and by any English speaking man, and there are many of them in the world) it will be pronounced totally wrong, as the bulgarian "з", not "ц". When it begins with "tz" there will be no problems pronounsing it right in both languages (the too most popular, not to forget). Well, I'm maybe influenced by these too languages and the fact that I had the idea to go to Germany, but still I think "tz" is the best choise for the English Wikipedia, "ts" the second. --Tzeck 14:36, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)

How about using this Ministry of Interior transliteration as the standard in Wikipedia for Bulgarian names (except where there are common English names like Sofia)? We can make it a naming convention. Markussep 08:34, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)

In the interests of balance: Bulgaria's role in sending Macedonian Jews to Treblinka

When Bulgaria occupied Macedonia during World War Two, Bulgarian officials rounded up the Jews of Skopje in the city's main tobacco factory. From there they were handed over to German officials who sent them to their death in Treblinka. For this reason, I am not sure that it is balanced for this article to include the unqualified statement that Bulgaria was not involved in sending Jews to concentration camps. I can provide sources for my comment should these be requested. (This comment is by no means motivated by any sort of anti-Bulgarian sentiment. Please do not understand it as such.) User: MJ. April 6, 2005

Giovanni : Please, cite your sources if you want to be taken seriously! This applies to everybody advancing a theory, especially in public!

Bulgarians are descendants of the Moesians

Bulgarians did not come from anywhere in 679 because the truth is they've been living in the same region even before Christ for Bulgarians are in fact Thracians. Bulgarians is the new name of the Moesians (plus some other Thracian tribes). It is not really known why they started to call themselves Bulgarians but one possibility is that they got their name from the Romans as being federates of the Roman Empire for some time. It's possible that at one point around the time of Attila they mixed with one part of the "wandering thracians" or Schythians called Huns as Attila's son Irnik is said to be the second prince of the Bulgarians as stated in "List of Bulgarian kings". 83.228.61.152

I am sorry, I didn't mean to laugh but I couldn't resist! Bulgarians are mix of Pro- Bulgars, Slavs and Tracians. Me 00:35, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

Giovanni : Please, cite your sources if you want to be taken seriously! This applies to everybody advancing a theory, especially in public!

It fascinates me how User:83.228.61.152 was able to fit so much pseudo-history in one short paragraph. He must have practised. Alexander 007 07:09, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Bulgarians are a mix of Thracians, Slavs and Bulgars. Around 679 the Bulgars came from the northeast and mixed with the Slavs and the minority of what was left from the Thracians tribes

Revert

I have reverted the following anonymous contribution:

"Recently, there have been voices calling for a change of the parliamentary system into presidential. Although probably the majority of citizens would support such a change, it seems unlikely that the deputies and the parties in the parliament would support it since it could limit their power."

I don't believe this paragraph adds any substantial, objective information, no sources, references or numbers are given, plus it seems rather insignificant to mention this type of recent opinions on a country-page.

Guus July 1, 2005 16:55 (UTC)

Hey, the article contains FALSE INFO

Taker a look at the part containing the info when the Bulgarians bacame Orthodox Christians. How could they become Greco-orthodox when the two churches DIDN'T EVEN SPLIT!!!!!!!!!???? Sargeras 17:37, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

Who knows this town?

In the WikiProject Wikipedia:Nuttall_Encyclopedia_topics, we hit on the city "Tirnova",

Tirnova is a fortified town of Bulgaria, 35 m. SSE. of Sistova. It is the seat of the Bulgarian patriarch. It was formerly the State capital.

Sistova seems to be a town in Moldavia, like the webpage of Tirnova The source is from 1907, so much has changed. Thanks--J heisenberg 12:16, 31 July 2005 (UTC)

Tirnova? No, Tarnovo or Turnovo, it's hard to spell it right to pronounce a letter that does not exist in English. Its Veliko Turnovo, like stated below. No such town Tirnova exist or existed. Me 00:41, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

It's probably ment the town of Tarnovo, spelled aslo as Turnovo (or Veliko Tarnovo), an old Bulgarian town in North Bulgaria with reach and long history, and it has been also the capital of Bulgaria indeed (until 1393) and also one of the most famous historical persons from Tarnovo is the Patriarch Evtimiy. So I think this article is some kind of mistake and should be removed or edited, if there is such town. --Tzeck 16:23, 1 August 2005 (UTC)

Thanks, that helped a lot --J heisenberg 17:15, 1 August 2005 (UTC)

Sistova seems to be Svishtov in that case. The names should be Romanian, at least they sound such to me, plus the Moldavian context. --TodorBozhinov 18:41, 22 August 2005 (UTC)

The names are actually the Turkish versions of the names of the towns, it is not only Sistova (Svishtov), but also Plevna (Pleven), Shumla (Shumen), etc. VMORO 08:50, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

War with the USA?

Is it true, due to some technicalities in peace treaties, Bulgaria and the USA were officially in a state of war from World War 2 until the 1980s? 153.104.16.114 23:52, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

Not again those urban legends... I've heard this for at least 3-4 other countries. It was the Cold War and Bulgaria was part of the Warsaw Pact, nothing more. → Тодор Божинов / Todor Bozhinov _{→ Talk}

De-Facto Bulgaria was IN war with the USA during WWII as ally to Nazi Germany. But USA soldiers or whatsoever never participated in combat versus Bulgarians.

Bulgaria and James Bond

"Bulgaria is getting the latest addition to the James Bond franchise, Casino Royale, before several countries including Australia and Japan." First of all, this seems like something much too trivial to have its own section in the article. Secondly, and maybe more importantly, what does it even mean? Nicholai 20:07, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

I guess it means Casino Royale (2006 film) will be released in Bulgaria before Australia and Japan. This seems to be true according to this but I wouldn't expect movie release dates to feature in country articles.

--Mr link 21:50, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

Alrighty, I think I'll be taking it off then. (Hopefully I'm not overstepping my bounds. I'm new to this Wikipedia thing...) Nicholai 23:59, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

You are definately overstepping your bounds. Stop pushing your luck.

Mr link 23:59, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

Somebody impersonating me. What a strange feeling of importance this gives me.

--Mr link 00:08, 17 November 2005 (UTC)

Shut up you filthy Bulgarian.

--Mr link 20:08, 17 November 2005 (UTC)

Well...I do hope you're joking, I'll just assume so... Nicholai 14:42, 17 November 2005 (UTC)

Area

The area listed ( 111,001.9 km² ) and rank (102nd) do not match with the List_of_countries_by_area. I presume these should be the same but most country articles do not agree with the figures listed in List_of_countries_by_area.

--Mr link 21:11, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

% of Roma

The figure given of 4.7% of total population ins wrong... It is much more.

Official data is used. → Тодор Божинов / Todor Bozhinov → Talk 20:27, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Of course the figure of 4.7% is wrong. The Roma minority in Bulgaria is around 10% out of around 7.5 million citizens in Bulgaria.

Roma minority is around 5 to 6 %, but the turkish is around 12-13% as the latest statistics. --Eliade 19:34, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

1990s Turks issue

Some reference should be made about the government campaign against the turks...

This is done in the History of Communist Bulgaria article, and I personally don't consider it notable enough to be mentioned in the general Bulgaria article. → Тодор Божинов / Todor Bozhinov → Talk 20:27, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

May be mentioned in article Turks in Bulgaria. The campaign it was not only in the Communist Bulgaria. --Timurberk 22:23, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Bulgarian Orthodox Church which was founded in 870 AD under the Patriarchate of Constantinople and has been autocephalous since 927.?????

Heeeeeeeeeey! Slow down! It was in 1870's when you got you Bulgarian church! Before, there was only the beautifull and very romantic thing called Ottoman rule + Church of Constantinopoli!

Ummm... false. Read the article first. Our church was restored in 1870, but founded in 870 and autonomous since 927. Besides, I don't really think the Ottoman rule and the Patriarchate of Constantinople are that beautiful and romantic, whatever this is supposed to mean. → Тодор Божинов / Todor Bozhinov → Talk 20:07, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

If you do not know what the terms romantic and beautiful are supposed to mean, how can you refute them when applied to state institutions? Perhaps you mean that these terms are not 'suitable'. No, they are not; though they must have had some romance and beauty.Politis 13:43, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

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Generally I think the article is very good. I have only one question - Why it doesn't say on the left banner what year Bulgaria was christianized? I mean, this is an important information, being the first slavic country to aqcuire the Christian religion. If you look at the polish page it's widely anounced. --Stoyan.stoyan 16:07, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

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Jewish

How many Jews are living in Balgarija an in Sofija? What language is spoken by them? Perhabs they are Aschkenasim-Jews!? Simon Mayer

Most of Bulgaria's Jews, as far as I know, are Sephardim that traditionally have spoken Ladino, although it's not a language you would commonly hear nowadays. It is hard to determine the number of Jews, but here is a brief list of important people of Jewish origin that are connected to Bulgaria. → Тодор Божинов / Todor Bozhinov → 11:11, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Bulgars where an ancient turkish tribe

Why do Bulgarians use the ancient name Bulgaria which was a turkish tribe in the area you live today?

Why do Russians use the name of the Scandinavian Rus' people? Why do the mostly Celtic and Latin French use the name of the Germanic Franks? It's just how things happened through the course of history, I wouldn't say it's uncommon for a people to adopt the name of another people, given the many examples. Besides, Bulgars had an important role in the early years of Bulgarian history, before they mixed with or (more likely to me) were even assimilated by the local Slavs. → Тодор Божинов / Todor Bozhinov → 22:37, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

POLL: Introduction for Republic of Macedonia article

Given ongoing discussions and recent edit warring, a poll is currently underway to decide the rendition of the lead for the Republic of Macedonia article. Please weigh in! E Pluribus Anthony | talk | 01:04, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Gallery

Zdrasti Bozhinov! Moje6 li da dobavi6 taka nare4enata "Gallery" kum tazi statia (kakto pri Romania, Turkey i Serbia naprimer) ? Ne 4e iskam da prili4ame na tqh, no ako priemem, 4e stra6no mnogo hora izpolzvat wikipedia to za6to togava da ne si napravim malko reklamka (snimki ot 4ernomorieto, vazrojdenski seli6ta i drugi prirodni zabelejitelnosti) ?Samiat az neznam kak se pravi tova i zatova se obra6tam s tazi molba kum teb.

Да, и аз си мислех за нещо подобно и наистина има нужда, снимките са перфектни за илюстрация и дават представа за страната повече от много текст. Ще се заема да отсея разни хубави снимки и да си сложим една галерийка. → Тодор Божинов / Todor Bozhinov → 14:18, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

Готово! Ти ако в Уикипедия си намерил други хубави снимки, за които смяташ, че имат място в статията, като са достатъчно качествени и изобразяват познати и известни обекти или характерни черти на България, се чувствай напълно свободен да ги добавиш към галерията, тя е затова :) → Тодор Божинов / Todor Bozhinov → 16:06, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

Summary in English

A proposal to add a photo gallery to the page as in other country articles. It was shortly fulfilled by me. → Тодор Божинов / Todor Bozhinov → 16:06, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

Great job at adding the picture gallery Todor! I think it's a good start; my only suggestion would be to add more visually appealing pictures. Also, to include pictures of places unique to Bulgaria. Let me know what you think. Thanks! --Kassabov 07:08, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

Well, don't hesitate to add images that you've found on Wikipedia and that are released under a free license to the gallery! The ones I've picked out are some of the more appealing ones, I believe, but also feel free to remove some in order to prevent the gallery from getting too large. Be bold! → Тодор Божинов / Todor Bozhinov → 11:05, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

WikiProject Bulgaria

Hello! WikiProject Bulgaria, devoted to better organizing, maintaining and developing the network of Bulgaria-related articles, is currently gathering members in order to be started. If you're interested in participating, add your name to the "Interested Wikipedians" subsection of the proposed project's section in the list of proposed WikiProjects. → Тодор Божинов / Todor Bozhinov → 17:22, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

Bulgarian sport

Where can I find a home page for Bulgarian sport? I would like to write more articles on Bulgarian sportspeople, but there is no point of reference I can find. --Cryout 15:40, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

Where do links about torture in Bulgaria go?

I don't know how common torture is in Bulgaria, but this story about police torturing nurses for 174 days suggests that it's a problem. The webpage says its information comes from "Troud", which it says is Bulgaria's biggest newspaper. Is Bulgaria's human rights record discussed anywhere? or where should links like this go? Gronky 22:53, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Ah, hello? This article is about torturing Bulgarian nurses in Lybia  /FunkyFly.talk_   22:55, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Oh, thanks. Glad I asked. Gronky 17:29, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

Bulgaria has no negative human rights record I know of after the forcing some Turkish population to leave or change their names in the late 1980s. All abuses are handled at the court in the Hague - and Bulgaria fully accepts its responsibilities. Indeed, it is Bulgarian citizens abroad whose rights are occasionally abused. --Cryout 13:38, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

Empire !?!?!?

Doesn't anybody have a problem with the term EMPIRE used everywhere in this page !? I am Bulgarian and love and respect the history of my country, yet it has never been an Empire. Yes, Simeon might have assumed the style of "Emperor of the Bulgars and the Romans", but we had Hans, Tzars and Knjazs' ruling the country through its history!

http://www.bulgaria.com/history/rulers/

This is the first and only place I've seen discussion of First, Second etc. Bulgarian Empires!

Evgeny Kolev / Евгени Колев — Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.90.4.2 (talk • contribs) 17:21, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

As far as I know, "Empire" is the established historical term in the English-speaking part of the world. --Daggerstab 18:06, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

Evgeny, the title tsar itself means "emperor". It is a contraction of the Roman title caesar. The lesser one that cowprresponds to "king" is "kral", as you might know. The medieval Bulgarian state was never ruled by a "kral". How do you understand the difference between an empire and a kingdom in this context and in general? Todor Bozhinov  → 19:38, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

This can be found in the [http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/empire?view=uk%7COxford dictionary under empire: (1) an extensive group of states ruled over by a single monarch or ruling authority; (2) supreme political power. I believe the relevant explanation is (1). Then, there is my general understanding, which is somewhat supported by Wikipedia's article on empire: a supranational or superethnical political entity that is ruled by a monarch (with absolute power). In this sense Bulgaria has been an empire for short period of time: maybe under Simeon and then around the years of Ivan Asen II. However, this doesn't turn Bulgaria into an empire for the genral case (so First, Second or Third Empire is meaningless). Now, we should also remember that the Bulgarian use of "tzar" has little to do with "emperor". To say the least, our current Tzar Simeon II was never a ruler of more than one (major) nationality within the borders of the Kingdom of Bulgaria. I will not change the terms before I get some response in the near future. However, it is my firm belief that they have to be changed. --Cryout 06:49, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

Pronounciation in IPA

Correct me if I am wrong but I think there is a typing mistake in the IPA pronounciation of Bulgaria as written in IPA: /ˌbɤlgarˈia/. The IPA letter ɤ is pronounced closer to G - this letter describes a consonant not a vowel! Please correct it, because I am not sure which one has to be used (according to me the correct pronounciation is ˌbəlgarˈia). Am I right? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.69.167.63 (talk • contribs)

Take a look at the articles on IPA and Bulgarian language. --Daggerstab 17:50, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

fishing in Bulgaria

What type of fish can I catch in the river Yantra? I am going to visit Veliko Turnovo and hope to fish there. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.21.128.84 (talk • contribs)

According to the website of some hunting lodge, a certain reservoir at the Yantra (called Skalsko) is stocked with sheatfish, carp, and chub, among others. Unfortunately, I'm not a specialist and half of the fish listed on the website don't seem to show up in my Bulgarian-English dictionary, so I don't know the names in English. Todor→Bozhinov 19:03, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

CIA World Factbook link is broken

,.

Genetic study source

Could somebody point me to the source of the genetic phenotype results presented in the history section of the article? --Cryout 04:00, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

Second oldest capital?

Are you sure Sofia is second oldest capital in Europe? I'm not. --Tzeck 08:54, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

I'm also against in saying that Sofia is the second oldest capital in Europe, where are Athene, Rome? --Eliade 19:32, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

In Greece, Italy? Sofia is as old as Rome, which was traditionally founded in 753 BC (7th century BC), and Sofia's history dates back to the same century. As for Athens, it's the first in that list :) I'm also against mentioning that 'second' thing, but 'one of the oldest' is more than perfectly acceptable, if even a bit modest (but we Bulgarians are modest people, generally). Todor→Bozhinov 20:21, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

Education missing?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgaria#Education why? --Eliade 19:59, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

Well, somebody inserted the heading and decided not to write anything under it, that's why. It's not because we don't have anything to boast in that sphere, that's for certain :) Like, the oldest academies of the medieval Slavic world, etc.

Can someone tell me who removed the sections about John Atanasoff, the Pravetz and military aeronautical achievements of the Bulgarians? I am curious, is someone here unhappy about Bulgaria's achievements. If you don't believe thses things, do the research yourself. Furtherstill, you can look at the genotype studies done in recent years and you will see that 60% of Bulgarian phenotypes are Eastern Mediterrenean in origin, which is directly descended from the Thracians. Recent studies in BAN, also show that the Bulgars originated in the Hindu Kush and were not Turkis in origin. In fact, they were as previously stated of Aryan Persian descent. And Aryan has nothing to do with blond hair and blue eyes, as the real aryans were dark. If you want to re-invent Bulgarian history or simply ommit facts, such as the computer industry developed in the 1970s, or world firsts such as those made by Bulgarian pilots in the Second Balkan War then you obviously have complexes and you do not want to truth to come out.