In this series of articles we overview languages present in any given country. This time we are looking at the languages spoken in Bulgaria
The biggest languages present in Bulgaria include:
- Bulgarian – 6.95 million speakers
- Turkish – 695 thousand speakers
- Roma – 69 thousand speakers
- English – 1.74 million speakers
- Russian – 1.60 million speakers
- German – 556 thousand speakers
The sole official language of the country is Bulgarian.
Below you will find summaries for the languages supported by our translation services.
Bulgarian
Bulgarian belongs to the Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the sole official language of Bulgaria.
| Number of speakers worldwide | 9 million |
|---|---|
| Language family | Indo-European |
| Writing | Bulgarian alphabet |
| Major Bulgarian-speaking populations in: | 8 countries |
Demographics and geographic distribution
There are major Bulgarian-speaking populations in more than 5 countries of the world. Examples of countries, where Bulgarian has a major presence, include:
- North Macedonia
- Ukraine
- Turkey
- Bulgaria
Almost everyone in Bulgaria speaks Bulgarian at least to some extent. It makes the language a safe choice for localization in the Bulgarian market.
Writing
Bulgarian employs the Bulgarian script, which in itself is a sub-type of the Cyrillic script. It is written in the left-to-right fashion.
Translation services
If you intend to expand to the Bulgarian market via the Bulgarian language, you might be interested in the following services:
- Bulgarian Document Translation
- Bulgarian Desktop Publishing and InDesign Translation
- Bulgarian E-Commerce Translation
Turkish
Turkish is a Oghuz language, which is a branch of the Turkic language family. It has no country-wide official status in Bulgaria.
| Number of speakers worldwide | 88 million |
|---|---|
| Language family | Turkic |
| Writing | Turkish alphabet |
| Major Turkish-speaking populations in: | 3 countries |
Demographics and geographic distribution
There are major Turkish-speaking populations in 3 countries. With regard to the number of speakers, the most notable 3 countries are Turkey, Cyprus, and Greece.
Less than a quarter of the population speaks Turkish in Bulgaria, 695 thousand people in total.
Writing
The Turkish alphabet is used for writing the Turkish language. Being a subset of the Turkish script, it uses some non-standard characters like â, ç, ğ, î, overall 9 symbols.
Translation services
If you intend to expand to the Bulgarian market via the Turkish language, you might be interested in the following services:
- Turkish Document Translation
- Turkish Desktop Publishing and InDesign Translation
- Turkish E-Commerce Translation
English
English is a Germanic language, closely related to Icelandic, German, Norwegian, Swedish, and other languages of the same branch of the language family. It has no country-wide official status in Bulgaria.
| Number of speakers worldwide | 1.15 billion |
|---|---|
| Language family | Indo-European |
| Writing | English alphabet |
| Major English-speaking populations in: | 35 countries |
Demographics and geographic distribution
Approximately 1.15 billion people in more than 35 countries speak English as either the first or a second language. With regard to the number of speakers, the most notable 3 countries are United Kingdom, United States, and New Zealand.
Less than a quarter of the population speaks English in Bulgaria, 1.74 million people in total.
Writing
The English alphabet is used for writing the English language. It employs the standard version of the script with no additional, language-specific symbols.
Translation services
If you intend to expand to the Bulgarian market via the English language, you might be interested in the following services:
Russian
Russian belongs to the Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. It has no country-wide official status in Bulgaria.
| Number of speakers worldwide | 260 million |
|---|---|
| Language family | Indo-European |
| Writing | Russian alphabet |
| Major Russian-speaking populations in: | 11 countries |
Demographics and geographic distribution
More than a hundred million people use Russian as their language of day-to-day communication. Kazakh, Estonian, and Moldovan markets, for example, might be expected to use Russian in business and daily communications, at least to some extent.
Around 23% of the population of Bulgaria speak Russian.
Writing
The Russian alphabet is used for writing the Russian language. Being a subset of the Russian script, it uses some non-standard characters like ё, overall 1 symbols.
Translation services
If you intend to expand to the Bulgarian market via the Russian language, you might be interested in the following services:
- Russian Document Translation
- Russian Desktop Publishing and InDesign Translation
- Russian E-Commerce Translation
German
German is a Germanic language, closely related to Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, and other languages of the same branch of the language family. It has no country-wide official status in Bulgaria.
| Number of speakers worldwide | 230 million |
|---|---|
| Language family | Indo-European |
| Writing | German alphabet |
| Major German-speaking populations in: | 12 countries |
Demographics and geographic distribution
German is spoken by around 230 million people around the world. Examples of countries, where German has a major presence, include:
- Switzerland
- Slovenia
- Belgium
- Denmark
In Bulgaria approximately 8% or 556 thousand people use German in their day-to-day communication.
Writing
German uses the Latin alphabet. It employs the extended version of the script, however, with 4 additional symbols. It is written from left to right.
Translation services
If you intend to expand to the Bulgarian market via the German language, you might be interested in the following services:
- German Document Translation
- German Desktop Publishing and InDesign Translation
- German E-Commerce Translation
Related services
We hope you have found the answers to the question about what languages are spoken in Bulgaria“. If you wish to know more about these languages or would like to inquire about our translation services, please contact us at [email protected].
