Pomaks
Pomaks (Bulgarian: Помаци, romanized: Pomatsi; Greek: Πομάκοι, romanized: Pomáki; Turkish: Pomaklar) are Bulgarian-speaking Muslims inhabiting northwestern Turkey, Bulgaria and northeastern Greece. The c. 220,000 strong ethno-confessional minority in Bulgaria is recognized officially as Bulgarian Muslims by the government. The term has also been used as a wider designation, including also the Slavic Muslim populations of North Macedonia and Albania.
Pomaks in the early 20th century | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 1 million | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Turkey | 350,000- 600,000 |
| Bulgaria | 107,777 (2021 Census) 67,350 Muslim Bulgarians (2011 census) up to 250,000 |
| Greece | 50,000 in Western Thrace |
| Languages | |
| Bulgarian | |
| 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.
Bulgaria recognizes their language as a Bulgarian dialect whereas in Greece and Turkey they self-declare their language as the Pomak language. 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.
They are not officially recognized as one people with the ethnonym of Pomaks. The term is widely used colloquially for Eastern South Slavic Muslims, considered derogatory. However, in Greece and Turkey the practice for declaring the ethnic group at census has been abolished for decades. Different members of the group today declare a variety of ethnic identities: Bulgarian, Pomak, ethnic Muslims, Turkish and other.