1. One of the oldest countries in Europe, founded in 681 by Khan Asparukh and hasn't changed it's name ever since

2. It's famous for producing most of the world's rose oil.

3. The Cyrillic alphabet was created in the First Bulgarian Tsardom during the 9th century by Clement of Ohrid, a Bulgarian disciple of Cyril and Methodius.

4. During World War II, Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria "joined" the Axis to avoid being invaded but refused to send Bulgarian Jews to be murdered. He outwitted the Nazis by claiming that the Jews were building roads and would be sent out later. He also refused to join the invasion against the Soviet Union. He managed to save 100% of the Bulgarian Jewish population.

5. Plovdiv is widely considered the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe.

6. Locals traditionally shake their heads to mean "yes" and nod to mean "no."

7. Bulgaria ranks third in Europe for the number of it's valuable archeological monuments after Italy and Greece.

8. The Bulgarian army has never lost a single flag in battle.

9. Old Bulgarian or Old Church Slavonic deeply influenced Russian.

10. In Bulgaria was founded the oldest golden treasure. (3000 gold objects dating back more than 6000 years)

11. Almost one-third of Bulgaria is covered in forests.

12. The Bulgarian Air Force developed the first air-dropped bomb in military history. That was during the First Balkan War; the bomb was used on 16 October 1912.

13. The first woman in the world who participated in a military flight was the Bulgarian Rayna Kasabova.

14. The title of Bulgar rulers before Bulgarians were Slavicized was "Kanasubigi," which means "ruler from God."

15. Kanasubigi Krum the Fearsome wrote the first written laws of Bulgaria at the beginning of the 9th century.

Historical records like the 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia Suda note that these laws were strict and severe, targeting issues like theft, false testimony, and aiding criminals.

1. The highest peak on the Balkan Peninsula is Musala Peak. It’s located in the Rila Mountains, Bulgaria, rising at 2925 m above sea level.

2. Bulgarians welcome the spring with Baba Marta. Every year on 1 March Bulgarians give a Martenitsa (white and red bracelets) to each of their friends to congratulate them on the beginning of the spring and for their health. The Martenitsa is worn until you see a stork or a blossoming tree.

3. The Bulgarian flag is white on the top, green in the middle, and red on the bottom. The colors of the flag hold symbolic significance: white represents peace, green symbolizes fertility and hope, and red signifies valor and the blood shed for the nation’s independence.

4. Tervel was a Bulgarian ruler who ruled in the period 700-721. He helped Emperor Justinian II to regain power, as a result of which he received the title of Caesar. In 717/718 he helped Byzantium by repelling the Arabs near Constantinople, stopping their invasion of the Balkans. For this merit he earned the nickname Saviour of Europe, sharing the title with the Frankish Emperor Charles Martel. Tervel was proclaimed a saint with the name of Saint Trivelius Theoctistus.

5. Tsar Kaloyan was ruler of the Second Bulgarian Empire from 1997 until 1207. An interesting fact about him is that he did not actually bear the title "tsar", but "king" he received it from Pope Innocent III in 1205. He was called "Romanslayer" because of his many victories over Byzantium. In 1205, after the Battle of Adrianople, he defeated the troops of the Latin Empire and even captured it's ruler Baldwin of Flanders by imprisoning him in a tower in the capital Veliko Tarnovo.

6. The last tsar of the First Bulgarian Tsardom was Ivan Vladislav, who ruled from 1015 until his death in 1018. He killed his cousin, the previous ruler Gavril Radomir, to take the Bulgarian throne. He tried to defend the weakening empire against the relentless campaigns of Byzantine Emperor Basil II. He rebuilt many damaged fortresses and tried to launch counter-offensives against the Byzantine army. He was killed in 1018 while attacking the city of Dyrrhachium (in modern-day Albania). After his death, his widow Empress Maria, the Bulgarian patriarch, and major nobility surrendered to Emperor Basil II. Brief Resistance: His oldest son, Presian II, briefly led a hopeless resistance in the mountains before also surrendering. The Byzantine Empire annexed all of Bulgaria in 1018, ending the First Tsardom and starting more than a century of Byzantine rule.

7. Tsar Constantine II was the last ruler of the Second Bulgarian Tsardom, claiming the tsarist title from exile and leading early resistance against Ottoman expansion. He was the son of Tsar Ivan Sratsimir of Vidin. After the Ottomans captured Vidin in 1396, Constantine maintained a dynastic claim to the Bulgarian throne. He allied with Christian rulers in Hungary and Serbia, taking advantage of the Ottoman interregnum (civil war). Alongside his cousin Fruzhin, he organized the anti-Ottoman Uprising of Konstantin and Fruzhin between 1408 and 1413, seeking to eject the invaders with regional Christian coalition support. Following the consolidation of Ottoman power under Sultan Murad II, Constantine's remaining autonomous western Bulgarian possessions were fully annexed in 1422. His dispossession and subsequent death at the Serbian court on September 17, 1422, marked the definitive end of the medieval Tsardom; after his death, Bulgaria entered nearly five centuries of direct Ottoman domination, losing it's independent statehood until the re-establishment of Bulgaria in 1878.

8. The Bulgarian town Pernik is named after Perun, the Slavic god of thunder and lightning.

9. Bulgaria was the home of the Thracians; the certain hero called Spartacus was born in Bulgaria.

10. Kuma Lisa is a character who is a fox from Bulgarian folklore. She usually plays the role of the trickster as an archetype. Many folk tales as well as authored works use the character of Kuma Lisa. In many tales Kuma Lisa is encountered with another character known as Kumcho Vulcho, a wolf, who is opposite to her and very often suffers from her tricks.

11. In medieval Bulgaria, the name Ivan is found only in the form "Yoan". "Ivan" is a transcription of John, originating from the East Slavic languages. In Bulgaria, it began to be used during the Renaissance, gradually gaining more popularity than the form "Yoan".

12. ''Name Days’’ are celebrated in addition to birthdays and are even more valued by some people. For example, Bulgarians celebrate the feast day of Saints Constantine and Helen (Konstantin and Elena) every year on May 21.

13. May 24 in Bulgaria is celebrated as the Day of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, of the Bulgarian Alphabet, Education and Culture and of Slavic Literature.

I think everyone has seen this stupid 'Slavic diet' trend going on (aka the extremely thin, unrealistic diets with buckwheat, an egg and an avocado with a sprinkle of dill and a pickle as their only meal a day with perhaps some fruits 😂)

But this got me wondering though what is ACTUALLY the 'healthiest' Slavic country/diet if any?

Because honestly growing up with a Czech dad our diet consisted of meat topped with meat, potatoes and sauces with a shit ton of bread with even more meat thrown in 🤷🏻‍♀️

Hey guys! I just found out about the Pomak people, and I’d love to learn more about their culture. If you know of any online communities or groups for Pomak people, please let me know! I’d love to connect with them, make friends, and get to know their culture and community better.

Old Bulgarian (also known as Old Church Slavonic) became deeply influential for Russian because it was the first written Slavic language. When Kievan Rus converted to Christianity in 988 AD, it adopted the rich body of religious texts, the Cyrillic alphabet, and the literary tradition developed during the Golden Age of the First Bulgarian Tsardom.

Words Russian got from Old Church Slavonic/Old Bulgarian

Время (time), Гражданин (citizen), Краткий (brief), Благодарю (thank you), Благодарность (gratitude), Здраствуйте (hello), Безумие (insanity), Внимание (attention).

Also, they got the variant of the name Volodymyr, Vladimir, from Old Bulgarian too, also the name Boris which was borne by Knyaz Boris I of Bulgaria.

If I can make a comparison, Old Bulgarian is for Russian what Chinese is for Japanese and what Norman French is for English: an endless source of loanwords.

Russian heavily influenced Bulgarian during the 19th-century National Revival as intellectuals sought a standardized literary language free from centuries of Ottoman-Turkish administrative dominance.

Ironically many of the words Bulgarian borrowed from Russian were originally Old Church Slavonic (Old Bulgarian) words that Russia had borrowed centuries earlier.

Words that Bulgarian borrowed

Послушание (obedience), Надежда (hope), Влияние (influence), Ударник (shock worker), Картина (picture), Китай (China), Доставчик (deliverer), Впечатление (impression), Хазяин (house owner).

I think there is a term for vocabulary that is lost that at a point was borrowed by a different language and returned because they borrowed it back again; it is reborrowing.

Hello, I am an 18 year old born & raised in the USA. I am 2nd generation (Polish). I only speak english and b2 Spanish. I want to learn an easy slavic language, preferably one that uses cyrllic. I would learn Polish but it's only concentrated in one country which doesn't give me much travel variety.

I want to learn a language that would be useful in many countries that are fun to travel to (I was thinking Russian but idk how it is visiting as an american nowadays). I also was thinking Serbian and heard Bulgarian was easy to learn (i will be traveling to both Serbia and Bulgaria next summer anyway). I also occasionally listen to Bulgarian music too.

What languages do you all recommend I learn? Any opinions on Serbo-Croatian or Bulgarian?

I like Slavsocks socks

So I live in Paris, with a pretty decently sized Russian speaking population (Russians, Ukrainians, Kazakh, Armenian, Azeri, etc), I had to start learning Russian as part of my university’s coursework specific to my degree. I have quite a few Russian speaking acquaintances on social media (met through studying) and they seem to raise an eyebrow knowing that I’m starting to pursue Russian as an additional language. I have gotten this feeling from many Russian speaking women (I don’t interact much with men) and they seem to not be too fond of foreigners engaging with their culture. As they should, but I’m curious if this is something anyone else has noticed?

Jakie chcielibyście polecić mi języki słowiańskie do nauki?

Jestem nativem polskiego i B2 w angielskim. Nauczyłem się też kilku staropolskich archaizmów , których dla memiczności używam w domu. Czasami udaje też ukraińsko-rosyji akcent i różnie wychodzi.

Co sądzicie że jest dobre do nauki?

всем привет я русский хочу найти друзей и создать чат с человеком с каждой страны в телеграмме, жду всех (я не зетник, украинцев люблю, жена украинка)

upd: с каждой славянской страны, но буду рад и другим иностранцам!

Like, every other can aspire to be?

I think, for the Balkans it would be Slovenia. At least they often get mentioned in a positive light.

For the others, i dont know, maybe Czechia?

Hey for anyone interested and in the US, I have a petition for the US Census to add the question, "Do you also consider yourself Slavic?"

While it sounds a bit odd, the US uses all different types of data when they update the Census and per the American Community Survey (ACS) the different Slavic communites equal 1.4% of the US population, however this is a discrepancy. When you add up the total from the people who identified as from one of the Slavic nations it actually equals over 6%. The point is, this is a huge discrepancy and the more the Slavic communities are represented, the more the individual needs of each community will become visible. The ACS already has a official ancestry code for Slavic, it is ancestry code #178. As such, there is no reason why the data should be incorrect.

Anyone from the US interested in signing, please use the link below or search Slavic on the website change.org. please also forward this link to any organizations, people, or members of the various communities you feel would be interested. Thanks! https://c.org/x4WqtmhtRy

Hi everyone! I’m starting to serve as an interpreter at my local church. I always used to have fun watching those poor interpreters struggle with older folks who use really tricky Russian/Ukrainian words, phrases, and expressions. Well… now it’s my turn, I want to be an MVP

Here are a few fun ones I’ve already collected:
«И дядя поплыл»
«Выносить мозг»
«Жена стервила на своего мужа» — in the sense of constantly bothering/scolding him
«Закругляться»
«Нас спалили» — in the sense of “they noticed us / figured us out / caught us”

Add yours , and please add your own way to translate it, without google translate, just imagine you are the one standing on the stage and have to deal with it

I never understood the Slavs as an ethnic and linguistic group. Are they a recent phenomenon, or did they exist long before then? What was happening in 200 BC in the area known as the biotoxic zone where the Slavs are believed to have originated, or did they not exist yet? I never understood this.

Exploring other Slavic languages (i'm Bosnian), i noticed that we all would have a much more funny time if we'd travelled more to other Slavic countries.

Already Slovenian often has some funny words for us, the most known one "zahod", which in Slovenian means West, but in BCS is an old world for "toilet".
Czech sounds very childish and cute, they use a lot of diminutives which we use when making sth. "smaller", for example "kompjuter" becomes "kompjuterčić", "stvar" becomes "stvarčica".
Polish often slavicizes their words, the word "samochod" for car is for me like "alone goer". Its not funny per se, but it makes you think about the word in another way which makes you laugh a bit.

I have a Ukrainian friend who says this. it is clear that it is (at least partially) ideologically driven -- they are the type to habitually employ the word 'colonialism' at any given chance -- but I want to know the basis of this, considering that conventional linguistic grouping dictates Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian are closest relating to each other than to those other ones, being in their own group.

apparently most of the research on this is in the Ukrainian language, which I don't speak nor write... so I am wondering if anyone else here has come across this notion or has anything to say about it?

Hello fellows, idk if its just me or if the word slav sounds like it originates to slaves? It sounds really similar and loads of stuff are hidden in words of a language, what are your thoughts was this on purpose?

Edit : thank you for contributing into this post, i appreciate everyone who shared their knowledge :) cheers!

Part 1.

"\síndʰuš" is the root of Sanskrit सिन्धु॑ (síndhu) which means "river, stream" and multiple similar things. From "síndhu" we got the words like Sindh, Indus and Ind*ia. So, I would like to see how would it look like if the Proto-Slavs borrowed it during the Slavic-Iranian contacts.

We could pave the way from:

Proto-Indo-Iranian -> Proto-Iranian -> Proto-Sarmatian -> Proto-Slavic

This could be like for possible BMAC substrate in PII "*ćúšnas" ((mythology) dragon, serpent) (one of the theories for root of the PSl. "\smokъ*" (“dragon”)). Of course, if the direct way from PII -> PSl. or PII -> PI -> PSl. it could be good too.

My attempt for "\síndʰuš\*" descendant (I don't know the changes through the other Iranian languages, sadly):**

PSl. \sindъ*

Part 2.

Another way, what if Slavs had descendant from PIE "\ḱyesdʰ-*"?

One of the theories of the origin of Sanskrit "síndhu" is from PIE "*ḱyesdʰ-/*ḱyés-dʰ(h₁)-/*ḱéys-dʰ(h₁)-". So, I tried to find similar PIE roots, and PIE "\ḱey-" is the with close root\.* Development is below:

PIE ḱey-

-> PIE \ḱey-ro-s*

-> PBS \śeiras*

-> PSl. \sirъ*

My attempt for "\ḱéys-dʰ(h₁)-**" development:*

PIE \ḱéys-dʰ(h₁)/*ḱéysdʰ(h₁)*

-> PBS. \śeis-d/*śeisd*

-> PSl. \si-dъ/*sidъ (dъ is in likeness to PSl. nadъ (above) and podъ* (below))

or

PIE \ḱéys-dʰ(h₁)-eti/*ḱéysdʰ(h₁)eti*

-> PBS. \śeisd-stei/*śeisdstei -> PBS. *śei-stei/*śeistei* (don't know if this change during PBS would exist?)

-> PSl. \si-sti/*sisti*

PSl. "\sisti" would then be a cognate with Sanskrit "सेधति" (sedhati, “to drive, chase away”), Avestan "𐬯𐬌𐬌𐬀𐬰𐬛𐬀𐬝" (siiazdat̰, “will chase away”) and Latin "cēdō*" (“to withdraw; to turn out, result; to go, move”).

P.S.

Sorry If I analyzed something wrong, please correct me!