Pomaks
Bulgarian-speaking Muslims / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Pomaks (Bulgarian: Помаци, romanized: Pomatsi; Greek: Πομάκοι, romanized: Pomáki; Turkish: Pomaklar) are Bulgarian-speaking Muslims inhabiting Bulgaria, northwestern Turkey, and northeastern Greece.[9] The c. 220,000 strong[10] ethno-confessional minority in Bulgaria is recognized officially as Bulgarian Muslims by the government.[11] The term has also been used as a wider designation, including also the Slavic Muslim populations of North Macedonia and Albania.[12][13]
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|
Total population | |
---|---|
c. 1 million[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Turkey | 350,000[1]- 600,000[2] |
Bulgaria | 107,777 (2021 Census)[3] 67,350 Muslim Bulgarians (2011 census)[4] up to 250,000[1] |
Greece | 50,000 in Western Thrace[1] |
Languages | |
Bulgarian (native), Greek (by those resident in Greece) and Turkish (by those resident in Turkey)[lower-alpha 1][5][6][7][8] | |
Religion | |
Sunni Islam | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other South Slavic Muslims |
Most Pomaks today live in Turkey where they have settled as muhacirs as a result of escaping previous ethnic cleansing in Bulgaria.[14][15][16][17]
Bulgaria recognizes their language as a Bulgarian dialect whereas in Greece and Turkey they self-declare their language as the Pomak language.[18] The community in Greece is commonly fluent in Greek, and in Turkey, Turkish, while the communities in these two countries, especially in Turkey, are increasingly adopting Turkish as their first language as a result of education and family links with the Turkish people.[19][20]
They are not officially recognized as one people with the ethnonym of Pomaks. The term is widely used colloquially for Eastern South Slavic Muslims,[21] considered derogatory.[clarification needed] However, in Greece and Turkey the practice for declaring the ethnic group at census has been abolished for decades.[clarification needed] Different members of the group today declare a variety of ethnic identities: Bulgarian,[22][23] Pomak,[24][25][26] ethnic Muslims, Turkish and other.[27]