Balkan Turks: ca. 1900 vs. today

**Peterski** · 09-09-2021, 07:58 AM

How many Turks lived in various Balkan countries in ca. 1900 vs. nowadays?

I think there is still a large Turkish minority in Bulgaria, if I'm not mistaken?

**Crn Volk** · 09-09-2021, 08:15 AM

Macedonia was about 50% Turk back then. Now it's 4% in N Macedonia and 0% in Greek Macedonia.
Bulgaria is something like 10% Turk, Greece about 1%.

**Peterski** · 09-10-2021, 10:21 PM

Bulgaria always had the highest % of Turkish minority, right? And they still have many Turks today.

**Fedora** · 09-12-2021, 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by Tomenable

Bulgaria always had the highest % of Turkish minority, right? And they still have many Turks today.

Yeah, almost half of the population in 1878. Should have been around 1,5 million~ in 1878. Today it's around 300k.

**placebo** · 09-12-2021, 11:14 AM

Many of them in Turkey now and I'm not sure but from what I've seen before they're approximately 20-30 million. Probably, before 1900, many Turks lived in the Balkans.

**Kaspias** · 09-12-2021, 11:59 AM

We are having a project concentrating on this issue as well as genetics with some forum members which we may announce soon. The working areas cover ethnic maps from different periods, sources from censuses, and academia. I think you might be interested in it, nevertheless, I can share some information:

The critical time period when it comes to the Balkan Turks is Russo-Turkish War. In the pre-War period, Muslims were approximately 60% of the whole of Bulgaria, like 50% of them being ethnic Turks, plus with a similar ratio in today's Romanian Dobruja. In the after-war period, it immediately reduced to the levels of 30-35% due to casualties and migrations. Then mass-migrations continued in 1920s, 1930s, 1950s, 1980s, and 1990s. The pre-War population in the 1870s was around 1.5 million in Bulgaria, now around 800K, consisting of only around 13-14% of the Bulgarian population.

The total Turkish population in the whole of Macedonia(as a region) was around 1.2 million in the same period, also, being consisted of half of the region even including Northern parts of Thessaly. Now only Northern Macedonia has Turks with a population around 110K, like 4-5% of the population.

Western Thrace had an 80-85% Turkish majority with a population around 150K. The region has a Turkish population of around 150K still, despite various migration waves, being consisted of like 50-55% of the region. There was also a population of around 150K in Eastern Thrace, being consisted of like 40% of the region.

Overall, with a straightforward calculation, the amount of total Balkan Turkish population was around 3 million in the early 1870s. More than half were migrated to the Turkey borders before the 1930s. The remaining gradually continued to migrate Turkey until the early 2000s. The total Balkan Turkish population in 2021 should be around 9 million when excluding the ones mixed with the other ethnicities, when adding them it could go up to 15 million. If we count 1/16 - 1/32 ancestry stories even, then it is probably around 20m. 1.1m of these amounts live in the Balkans, a number between 500k and 1m lives in the various parts of Europe and USA, and the rest, being the great majority, lives in Turkey. All Western Anatolian cities host considerable amount of Balkan Turkish population, as well as Eastern Thrace. There are also remote settlements of Balkan Turks in the inner Anatolia, despite having low numbered compared to the West.

**placebo** · 09-12-2021, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by Kaspias

We are having a project concentrating on this issue as well as genetics with some forum members which we may announce soon. The working areas cover ethnic maps from different periods, sources from censuses, and academia. I think you might be interested in it, nevertheless, I can share some information:

The critical time period when it comes to the Balkan Turks is Russo-Turkish War. In the pre-War period, Muslims were approximately 60% of the whole of Bulgaria, like 50% of them being ethnic Turks, plus with a similar ratio in today's Romanian Dobruja. In the after-war period, it immediately reduced to the levels of 30-35% due to casualties and migrations. Then mass-migrations continued in 1920s, 1930s, 1950s, 1980s, and 1990s. The pre-War population in the 1870s was around 1.5 million in Bulgaria, now around 800K, consisting of only around 13-14% of the Bulgarian population.

The total Turkish population in the whole of Macedonia(as a region) was around 1.2 million in the same period, also, being consisted of half of the region even including Northern parts of Thessaly. Now only Northern Macedonia has Turks with a population around 110K, like 4-5% of the population.

Western Thrace had an 80-85% Turkish majority with a population around 150K. The region has a Turkish population of around 150K still, despite various migration waves, being consisted of like 50-55% of the region. There was also a population of around 150K in Eastern Thrace, being consisted of like 40% of the region.

Overall, with a straightforward calculation, the amount of total Balkan Turkish population was around 3 million in the early 1870s. More than half were migrated to the Turkey borders before the 1930s. The remaining gradually continued to migrate Turkey until the early 2000s. The total Balkan Turkish population in 2021 should be around 9 million when excluding the ones mixed with the other ethnicities, when adding them it could go up to 15 million. If we count 1/16 - 1/32 ancestry stories even, then it is probably around 20m. 1.1m of these amounts live in the Balkans, a number between 500k and 1m lives in the various parts of Europe and USA, and the rest, being the great majority, lives in Turkey. All Western Anatolian cities host considerable amount of Balkan Turkish population, as well as Eastern Thrace. There are also remote settlements of Balkan Turks in the inner Anatolia, despite having low numbered compared to the West.

Probably the source I read included the Balkan Muslims or mixed Balkan Turks. Then they might be 20 million.

**Kaspias** · 09-12-2021, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by placebo

Probably the source I read included the Balkan Muslims or mixed Balkan Turks. Then they might be 20 million.

It's all depends on how the author perceives the situation of mixed individuals. Otherwise, non-mixed Balkan Muslims including Turks should be around 15m, but with the mixed ones, it can elevate significantly.

**catgeorge** · 09-12-2021, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by Tomenable

How many Turks lived in various Balkan countries in ca. 1900 vs. nowadays?

I think there is still a large Turkish minority in Bulgaria, if I'm not mistaken?

Balkan muslims were seen as Turks even Greeks in Macedonia that converted were seen as Turks and no longer seen as Greek.

**Kaspias** · 09-12-2021, 12:50 PM

Originally Posted by catgeorge

Balkan muslims were seen as Turks even Greeks in Macedonia that converted were seen as Turks and no longer seen as Greek.

That's true from the perspectives of Balkan peoples, but on the other side converted ones are not seen as equally "Turk" as actual ethnic Turks, usually called with another name, which is "Patriyots" a.k.a "Vallahades" for the case of Greek Muslims who inhabited Macedonia. That's why there is a separation of Balkan Turk and Balkan Muslim despite both groups are speaking Turkish today.