Greeks in Bulgaria

Today, Greeks mostly live in the large urban centres like Sofia and Plovdiv, but also in the coastal zone.

[4] Maritime poleis like Nesebar (Μεσημβρία Mesembria), Sozopol (Απολλωνία Apollonia), Pomorie (Αγχίαλος Ankhialos) and Varna (Οδησσός Odessos)[4] controlled the trade routes in the western part of the Black Sea and often waged wars between each other.

Prior to the early 20th century, there was a small Greek minority in Southeastern Bulgaria, living largely between Varna to the north, Topolovgrad to the west and the Black Sea to the east, with a scattered rural population in the inland regions of the Strandzha and Sakar mountains.

[5] However, a large part of this population, the so-called Kariots (Greek: Καρυώτες),[6] is regarded by some ethnographers (including Konstantin Josef Jireček) as having been only Greek-identifying, but of Bulgarian origin.

[7] From the 19th century the Greek communities on the coastal areas were thriving as they financed and maintained several religious and cultural buildings and institutions: churches, schools of all grades, libraries and press.