.
Aromanians, featured in black, can be seen scattered all over modern
Bulgaria. The closely related
Romanians, shown in yellow,
are also present in the north of the country.
Aromanians arrived in
Bulgaria in several waves of migration. Firstly, a group of Aromanian
craftmen and
tradesmen migrated to what is now the country in the 17th century. The descendants of these people are largely
assimilated now, with only remnants of
Aromanian culture and a weak Aromanian identity that goes together with a main and more relevant Bulgarian one. Also notable are
herders from the
Gramos Mountains of
Greece who emigrated to modern Bulgaria during the 18th century. Their descendants have a stronger Aromanian identity nowadays in comparison to that of the 17th-century Aromanians that came to Bulgaria. Furthermore, some Aromanians left
Moscopole in modern
Albania, formerly a cultural center for all the Aromanian nation, following its destruction during the second half of the 18th century, with some emigrating to modern Bulgaria but also to other countries such as modern
Serbia and parts of modern
North Macedonia. These Aromanians would become important figures for the national movements of these countries, including Bulgaria, and would end up receiving the name "Tsintsar", term which ended up being embraced by the
Aromanians in Serbia. Following the recognition of the
Ullah millet in the
Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century, which gave the Aromanians rights such as the one to have their own churches and schools, ethnic
Bulgarian and
Greek bands on the Ottoman Empire began to
persecute and attack the Aromanians, with instances of killings of Aromanian
priests or of attacks on entire Aromanian villages. The
Greek authorities would later also join in this persecution during the
Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, and so did the
Bulgarian ones, which began to seize Aromanian churches and hand them over to
Bulgarian-speaking
congregations. All this violence and instability prompted some Aromanians to emigrate to
Romania, which was attempting to portray itself as a "homeland" for this ethnic group at the time. More precisely, they migrated to
Southern Dobruja, formerly a Bulgarian region conquered by Romania in 1913. This region had a large ethnically Bulgarian (and also
Turkish) population that was hostile to Romanian rule. Therefore, Romania sent several
Romanian families from other parts of the country, but also Aromanians from regions of the
Balkans, to colonize the region. The number of Aromanian families that came to Southern Dobruja varies between 2,500 and 6,000. Aromanians and
Megleno-Romanians (another ethnic group from the Balkans that was settled in the region) from Southern Dobruja, all simply regarded as Romanians during the process, Romanian-speaking
Boyash Gypsies are also associated with this term. Another group with which the Aromanians of Bulgaria have a high degree of relationship is with the
Sarakatsani (or Karakachans), a
transhumant Greek subgroup. ==See also==