Western Outlands
The Western (Bulgarian) Outlands (Template:Lang-bg, Zapadni (balgarski) pokraynini) is a term used by Bulgarians to describe several territorially separate regions in southeastern Serbia.
The territories in question were ceded by Bulgaria to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1920 as a result of the Treaty of Neuilly, following the First World War. The territories are traditionally considered terra irredenta by Bulgarian nationalists, and the use of the term "Western Outlands" may be found offensive by Serbs.
Today, the territories referred to by the term cover an area of 1,545 km² in Serbia. In 1919 the same territories corresponded to the following parts of the Bulgarian okrugs: Kyustendil, 661 km², Tsaribrod (nowadays Dimitrovgrad) 418 km², Tran 278 km², Kula 172 km² and Vidin 17 km².
Demographics
Bosilegrad area
According to the 1991 census, the municipality of Bosilegrad had a population of 11,644 people - the ethnic Bulgarians formed a majority of the population in the municipality.
According to the 2002 census data, the population of the Bosilegrad municipality was 9,931 people, and it was composed of:
- Bulgarians = 7,037 (70.86%)
- Serbs = 1,308 (13.17%)
- Others.
Dimitrovgrad area
According to the 1991 census, the absolute ethnic majority in the municipality were ethnic Bulgarians, while according to the 2002 census, the municipality was ethnically mixed, with relative Bulgarian ethnic majority.
According to the 2002 census data, the population of the Dimitrovgrad municipality was 11,748 people, and it was composed of:
- Bulgarians = 5,836 (49.68%)
- Serbs = 3,005 (25.58%)
- Others.
Controversy
The term itself is controversial. According to some opinions, calling a part of one country the western part of another is a clear example of a territorial claim, as when Germany would refer to Alsace in France as its western outland (or Russia for Poland, United Kingdom for Ireland, etc). On the other hand, there is not other term in Bulgarian language which can describe the all territories which was incorporated by Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in November 1920 and which is a part of present Serbian state. This term has historical and geographical meaning in Bulgarian language and don't includes by all means some territorial claims.
Presumably for that reason, in official contacts of Sofia and Belgrade the term was never used after 1948. It was mentioned once, in the Bled Agreement in 1948 by Josip Broz Tito and Georgi Dimitrov. That was in the period of Joseph Stalin's insisting of a Communist super-state in the Balkans, the Balkan Federative Republic, composed of Yugoslavia, Albania and Bulgaria. After the Informbiro Resolution in 1948 when Tito and Stalin split, the idea was off too, so as the term itself. Despite not being used internationally (until 1990s when it was revived), it is very widely used in internal social and political communication in Bulgaria.
Prominent Bulgarians from Western Outlands
- Georgi Yosifov, painter
- Georgi Belev, opera singer
- Detko Petrov, writer
- Emanuil Popdimitrov, writer, philosopher, public figure
- Zlatan Dudov, movie producer
- Yordan Zahariev, ethnographer
- Metodi Petrov, painter
- Yovitsa Mladenov, painter
- Slobodan Sotirov, painter
See also
- Bosilegrad
- Dimitrovgrad (Serbia)
- Bulgarians in Serbia
- Internal Western Outland Revolutionary Organisation
External links
