 Aleksandar Tsankov, Bulgarian politician | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| roughly 300,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Argentina,Uruguay,Brazil | |
| Languages | |
| Spanish,Portuguese,Bulgarian | |
| Religion | |
| Bulgarian Orthodox,Roman Catholic, otherChristian.Judaism is practiced byBulgarian Jews. | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Bulgarian people, otherWhite Argentines,White Brazilians,Bulgarian Canadians,Bulgarian Americans etc. |
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Bulgarians (Spanish andPortuguese:búlgaros) have been settlingin South America (Bulgarian:Южна Америка,Yuzhna Amerika) as economicemigrants since the late 19th century. Their presence has been documented inUruguay since 1905, inArgentina since 1906 and inBrazil since the early 20th century.
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TheBulgarian diaspora in South America is strongest in Argentina, where 200,000 people of Bulgarian descent are thought to live, the diaspora itself assessing its size to be at least 250,000. However, according to official data, only around 3,000 people have declared Bulgarian nationality in Argentina. Bulgarians mainly live inBuenos Aires,Berisso,Mar del Plata,Presidencia Roque Sáenz Peña,Las Breñas andComodoro Rivadavia. The most significant wave of emigration was in the 1920s, followingWorld War I, when over 20,000 Bulgarians (mostly from northernBulgaria: aroundVeliko Tarnovo,Lovech,Pleven,Vratsa andTargovishte) settled in Argentina. Some of them formed a compact community in the agriculturalChaco Province, introducing the firsttractor to Chaco.
According to estimates, 1,800–5,000 Bulgarians live in Brazil, chiefly inRio de Janeiro,São Paulo,Porto Alegre andBelo Horizonte, including manyBessarabian Bulgarians and someBulgarian Jews andBulgarian Armenians. The most famous Brazilian of Bulgarian origin is PresidentDilma Rousseff from theWorkers' Party. Her father Pétar was born inGabrovo and, as an active member of theBulgarian Communist Party in the 1920s, had to flee from Bulgaria in 1929 due to political persecution. Rousseff's wide margin over her rivals sparked a "Dilma fever" in Bulgaria.[1] Although she does not speak Bulgarian she said in an interview that she does feel like a Bulgarian to a certain extent.[2] During her state visit to Bulgaria, on October 5, 2011, Rousseff was awarded Bulgaria's highest state honour, the Order of Stara Planina.
A notable Bulgarian diaspora also exists in Uruguay, numbering around 2,000. Most Bulgarians in this country live inMontevideo, with some inFray Bentos,Punta del Este,Maldonado,Durazno andRocha. In the late 1920s, there were around 4,000 Bulgarians in Uruguay.
A smaller number of Bulgarians have also settled inChile (today around 150, mostly inSantiago),Venezuela (today around 130),Peru,Paraguay andColombia.
Among Bulgarians areBanat Bulgarians from Romania,Aromanians andMegleno-Romanians who became adjusted to South American, and Latin American, society because of the linguistic similarities betweenRomanian,Aromanian,Megleno-Romanian,Spanish, and Portuguese, as well asLatin identity of Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians, and Banat Bulgarians are predominantly Roman Catholic.
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