The Bulgarian population is homogeneous in both ethnic and religious composition. Approximately 85 percent is Bulgarian, and some 90 percent adheres at least nominally to the Eastern Orthodox faith. The most significant ethnic minorities are the Turks, who number about 700,000, or 8 percent of the population; the Gypsies, estimated at 200,000, or 2.5 percent of the population; and the Macedonians, who also number approximately 200,000. The remainder are Greeks, Romanians, Armenians, and Jews.
The Turkish minority, once considerably more substantial in size, dates back to the centuries of Turkish rule (see ch. 2). A steady emigration of Turks from Bulgaria to Turkey after World War I and the expulsion of some 150,000 in the 1950-51 period reduced their number. Most of the remaining Turks are tobacco growers or artisans, who live in rural areas in the eastern third of the country and along the Danube River. Their traditional peasant conservatism, bolstered by their Islamic faith, has made them less willing to adapt to the contemporary social order than the rest of the population. A majority would like to emigrate to Turkey, but the Bulgarian government has been unwilling to let them go because the country cannot afford such a population loss.
Turkey, for its part, could not absorb the Bulgarian Turks without seriously endangering its own economy and therefore has not encouraged their desires. By agreement between the two governments, about 30,000 close relatives of Turks who left Bulgaria in the 1950-51 period will be allowed to emigrate during the 1970s. The majority of Bulgarian Turks, however, have little hope of leaving in the foreseeable future. In spite of the desire of its members to leave the country, the Turkish minority has posed no serious problem to the Bulgarian government. The government has made an effort to integrate the minority into national life, at the same time preserving its cultural distinctions, which are guaranteed by the constitution.
Gypsies are not considered a national minority by the state, although they consider themselves such. Strongly attached to their nomadic way of life, the Gypsies have been reluctant to settle in a permanent place and to integrate themselves into the national society. They continue to follow their traditional occupations as musicians, tinsmiths, and horsemen.