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A map of the Western Outlands

Part of a series of articles on Bulgarians Culture of Bulgaria Literature · Music · Art Cinema · Names · Cuisine Dances · Costume · Sport Image File history File links Circle-question-red. ... Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Image File history File links Western_Outlands. ... Image File history File links Western_Outlands. ... Bulgarian coat of arms This image depicts a seal, an emblem, a coat of arms or a crest. ... Bulgarian culture is a mix mostly of Thracian, Slavic and Bulgar cultures, but there are Byzantine, Turkish, Greek and other influences. ... Bulgarian literature is literature written by Bulgarians or residents of Bulgaria, or written in the Bulgarian language; usually the latter is the defining feature. ... Bulgarian music is part of the Balkan tradition, which stretches across Southeastern Europe, and has its own distinctive sound. ... Compared to other systems, the Bulgarian name system can be said to be rather simple. ... Bulgarian cuisine (Bulgarian: българска кухня) is representative of the cuisine of the Balkans, showing Turkish, Greek and Middle Eastern influences and to a lesser extent Italian, Mediterranean and Hungarian ones. ... Bulgarian folk dances are intimately related to the music of Bulgaria. ... By region or country (including the diaspora) Serbia · Banat Bessarabia · United States · Hungary Banat Bulgarians in Romania (in brown) The Banat Bulgarians (Bulgarian: , banatski balgari, endonym palćene and banátsći balgare) are a Bulgarian minority group living mostly in the Romanian part of the historical region of the Banat. ... The Bessarabian Bulgarians (Bulgarian: бесарабски българи, besarabski bâlgari) are a Bulgarian minority group of the historical region of Bessarabia, inhabiting parts of present-day Ukraine (Odessa Oblast) and Moldova. ... Religion Bulgarian Orthodox · Muslim Roman Catholic · Protestant The Bulgarian Orthodox Church (Bulgarian: , Bylgarska pravoslavna cyrkva) is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church with some 6. ... The Pomaks (Помаци, Pomatsi) or Bulgarian Muslims (Българи Мюсюлмани, Bălgari Myusyulmani), also known locally as Ahryani, are Slavs of the Islamic faith. ... Roman Catholicism in Bulgaria: Roman Catholicism is the third largest religious congregation in Bulgaria after Eastern Orthodoxy and Islam. ... Protestantism in Bulgaria: Protestantism is the fourth largest religious congregation in Bulgaria after Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam and Roman Catholicism. ... Languages and dialects spoken by Bulgarians Bulgarian · Banat Bulgarian Banat Bulgarians in Romania (in brown) The Banat Bulgarians (Bulgarian: , banatski balgari, endonym palćene and banátsći balgare) are a Bulgarian minority group living mostly in the Romanian part of the historical region of the Banat. ... History · Rulers The history of Bulgaria as a separate country began in the 7th century with the arrival of the Bulgars and the foundation of the First Bulgarian Empire together with the local seven Slavic tribes, a union recognized by Byzantium in 681. ... // Rulers of Bulgaria Note on titles According to a controversial 17th century Volga Bulgar source, early Bulgar leaders bore the title of baltavar, which might mean ruler of Avars, although this is likely a folk etymology. ... v • d • e

The Western Outlands (Bulgarian: Западни покрайнини Zapadni pokraynini) or the Western Bulgarian Outlands is a term used by Bulgarians to describe several territorially separate regions in southeastern Serbia and in the southeast of the Republic of Macedonia. It refers to the territory which Bulgaria ceded to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (future Yugoslavia) after the World War I. The region is traditionally considered terra irredenta by Bulgarian nationalists, and usage of the name "Western Outlands" is found offensive by Serbs and (Slav) Macedonians. Anthem: Serbia() on the European continent() Capital  (and largest city)  Belgrade Official languages Serbian written with the Cyrillic alphabet1 Government Parliamentary republic  - President Boris Tadić  - Prime Minister Vojislav KoÅ¡tunica Establishment    - Formation 8th century   - Independence c. ... For an explanation of terms related to Macedonia, see Macedonia (terminology). ... The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a Balkan state which existed from December 1, 1918 to mid-April 1941. ... Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in Latin, Југославија in Cyrillic, English: Land of the South Slavs) describes four political entities that existed one at a time on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century. ... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Robert Nivelle Herbert Henry Asquith Sir Douglas Haig Sir John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow... Irredentism is an international relations term that involves advocating annexation of territories administered by another state on the grounds of common ethnicity and/or prior historical possession, actual or alleged. ... Languages Serbian Religions Predominantly Serbian Orthodox Christian Related ethnic groups Other Slavic peoples, especially South Slavs See Cognate peoples below Serbs (Serbian: Срби or Srbi) are a South Slavic people who live mainly in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, to a lesser extent, in Croatia and the Republic of Macedonia. ... The Macedonians[1] (Македонци, Makedonci) - also referred to as Macedonian Slavs [2] - are a South Slavic ethnic group who are primarily associated with the Republic of Macedonia. ...

The Treaty of Neuilly

The Western Outlands formed a part of Bulgaria from the liberation of the country in 1878 until 1919 when they were ceded to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes under the Treaty of Neuilly. The cession of the region was partly a compensation for the occupation of the southern and eastern part of Serbia by Bulgarian troops in the period between 1915 and 1918 and partly served strategic grounds. The old political boundary between Bulgaria and Serbia followed a chain of high mountain ridges, whereas the new one gave significant military and strategic advantages to the Serbs exposing dangerously the Bulgarian capital of Sofia and thus reducing significantly the military threat for eastern Serbia in case of a new war between the two countries (see also Balkan Wars and World War I). The Treaty of Neuilly, dealing with Bulgaria for its role as one of the Central Powers in World War I, was signed on the November 27, 1919 at Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. ... Position of Sofia in Bulgaria Coordinates: Country Bulgaria Province Sofia-City Mayor Boyko Borisov Area    - City 1,310 km²  - Land (?) km²  - Water (?) km² Elevation 550 m Population (15 September 2006)  - City 1,246,791  - Density 907/km²  - Metro 1,377,761 Time zone EET (UTC+2)  - Summer (DST) EEST (UTC... Combatants Ottoman Empire Balkan League Bulgaria Commanders Nizam Pasha, Zekki Pasha, Esat Pasha, Abdullah Pasha, Ali Rizah Pasha Bulgaria: Vladimir Vazov, Vasil Kutinchev, Nikola Ivanov, Radko Dimitriev Serbia: Radomir Putnik, Petar Bojović, Stepa Stepanović Greece:Crown Prince Constantine, Panagiotis Danglis, Pavlos Kountouriotis Nikola Ivanov, Vasil Kutinchev, Radko Dimitriev The outcome...

The Treaty of Neuilly was one in the series of treaties after the World War I (like the Treaty of Versailles, Treaty of Saint-Germain, Treaty of Trianon, Treaty of Sèvres) which were meant to diminish the military and political stength of the afterwar members of the Central Powers who were defeated. As a result of this, some areas with absolute Bulgarian majority (such as Bosilegrad and a part of the Dimitrovgrad municipality) were ceded to Serbia (within the three-nation kingdom), whilst some areas with a significant Serbian population (around the town of Trn) remained in Bulgaria. The Palace of Versailles, where the treaty was signed. ... The Treaty of Saint-Germain, was signed on 10 September 1919 by the victorious Allies of World War I on the one hand and by the new republic of Austria on the other. ... The Grand Trianon at Versailles, site of the signing The Treaty of Trianon was the peace agreement imposed on Hungary after World War I by the victorious powers. ... The Treaty of Sèvres is a peace treaty that the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire signed on 10 August 1920 after World War I. Representatives from the governments of the parties involved signed the treaty in Sèvres, France. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Triple Alliance. ... Bosilegrad (Босилеград) is a town and municipality in Pčinja District of Central Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro. ... Dimitrovgrad is a municipality in the Haskovo region of Southern Bulgaria. ... Alternate uses, see rn (disambiguation) rn (short for Read News) is a program for reading Usenet news written by Larry Wall. ...

Bulgarian sources claim^{[citation needed]} that the treaty was to last for twenty years and that all territories should have been returned to Bulgaria in 1939, but that was not specified in the treaty.

Region and population

Flag of Bulgarian national minority in Serbia

Territories ceded by the treaty cover an area of 1,545 km² in Serbia and 1,028 km² in Republic of Macedonia. Image File history File links Flag_of_bulgarian_national_minority_in_Serbia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_bulgarian_national_minority_in_Serbia. ... For an explanation of terms related to Macedonia, see Macedonia (terminology). ...

In Serbia, to which the term generally applies in Bulgaria, the area is split between the modern Serbian District of Pirot (municipality of Dimitrovgrad and smaller parts of the municipalities of Pirot and Babušnica) and District of Pčinja (municipality of Bosilegrad and a small part of the municipality of Surdulica). It also includes a small section along the Timok River in the municipality and District of Zaječar. Pirot District Pirotski okrug The Pirot District expands in the south eastern parts of Serbia. ... Dimitrovgrad (Serbian: Dimitrovgrad or Димитровград, Bulgarian: Цариброд, transliterated as Caribrod, Tzaribrod or Tsaribrod) is a town and municipality located in the Pirot District of Central Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro. ... Pirot (Пирот) is a city located in Serbia and Montenegro at 43. ... BabuÅ¡nica (Бабушница) is a town and municipality located in the Pirot District of Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro. ... Pčinja District Pčinjski okrug The Pcinjski District expands in the southern parts of the Republic of Serbia. ... Bosilegrad (Босилеград) is a town and municipality in Pčinja District of Central Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro. ... Surdulica is a small town of about 15,000 inhabitants, situated in the southeast of Serbia. ... Timok (Cyrillic: Тимок) is a river in Serbia. ... The Zajecarski District expands in the eastern parts of the Republic of Serbia. ...

In 1919 the area corresponded to the following parts of the Bulgarian okrugs: Kyustendil, 661 km², Tzaribrod 418 km², Trn 278 km², Kula 172 km² and Vidin 17 km². Okrug is a term to denote administrative subdivision in some Slavic states. ... Kyustendil Coat of arms Kyustendil (Bulgarian: , historically , Velbazhd, Turkish: ) is a town in the very west of Bulgaria, and the capital of Kyustendil Province, with a population of 47,196 (2005 calculation). ... Tzaribrod (aka Dimitrovgrad) is a town in Eastern Serbia. ... Alternate uses, see rn (disambiguation) rn (short for Read News) is a program for reading Usenet news written by Larry Wall. ... Look up Kula in Wiktionary, the free dictionary This page is about the ceremonial exchange system Kula. ... Vidin (Bulgarian: Видин; Romanian: Vidin, Diiu) is a town on the southern bank of the Danube in northwestern Bulgaria. ...

Bulgarian sources claim that the Bulgarian population made 95% of the population in Bosilegrad and 75% of the population in Tzaribrod at the time. In the Yugoslav Census of 1931, all South Slavs were simply counted as Yugoslavs (Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Bulgarians) so a comparison could not be made. According to the last Census in Serbia from 2002, Bulgarians made 50% and 71% of population in Dimitrovgrad and Bosilegrad respectively. Countries inhabited by South Slavs (in black) Distribution of Slavic peoples by language The South Slavs are a southern branch of the Slavic peoples that live in the Balkans, the southern Pannonian Plain and the eastern Alps. ... Yugoslav (Serbian and Macedonian Cyrillic: Југословени, Latin: Jugosloveni; Croatian: Jugoslaveni, Slovenian: Jugoslovani) was an ethnic designation used by some people in former Yugoslavia, which continues to be used in some of its successor countries. ...

Controversy

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.

The term itself is exaggerated and highly controversial. Several small, fractioned and sparsely populated areas have been named Western Outlands as respresenting one entity, even though they are not connected in any geographical, political, historical or ethnic sense. Calling a part of one country the western part of another is a clear example of a territorial claim, as when Germany would refer to Alsace in France as its western outland (or Russia for Poland, United Kingdom for Ireland, etc). Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Location Administration Capital Strasbourg Regional President Adrien Zeller (UMP) (since 1996) Départements Bas-Rhin Haut-Rhin Arrondissements 13 Cantons 75 Communes 903 Statistics Land area1 8,280 km² Population (Ranked 14th)  - January 1, 2005 est. ...

Presumably for that reason, in official contacts of Sofia and Belgrade the term was never used. It was mentioned once, in the Bled Accords in 1948 by Josip Broz Tito and Georgi Dimitrov, but that was in the period of Joseph Stalin's insisting of a Communist super-state in the Balkans, the Balkan Federation, comprised of Yugoslavia (with annexed Albania) and Bulgaria. After the Informbiro Resolution in 1948 when Tito and Stalin split, the idea was off too, so as the term itself. Despite not being used internationally (until 1990s when it was revived), it is very widely used in internal social and political communication in Bulgaria. Josip Broz Tito (Cyrillic: Јосип Броз Тито, May 7, 1892 (May 25th according to official birth certificate) – May 4, 1980) was the leader of the Second Yugoslavia, which lasted from 1943 until 1991. ... Georgi Dimitrov Georgi Mikhailov Dimitrov (Георги Михайлов Димитров, also known as Георгий Михайлович Димитров- Georgiy Mikhailovich Dimitrov) (June 18, 1882, Kovachevtsi, Pernik Province - July 2, 1949, Moscow) was a Bulgarian Communist leader. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that Tito-Stalin Split be merged into this article or section. ...

The Internal Western Outland Revolutionary Organisation (Bulgarian: Вътрешна Западно-Покрайненска Революционна Организация, or Vǎtreshna Zapadno-Pokrayienska Revolyutsionna Organizatsiya), countering Yugoslav rule in the region, was engaged in repeated attacks against the Yugoslav police and army during the 1920–1941 period. As a part of World War II Bulgaria re-occupied the territory 1941–1944. The Internal Western Outland Revolutionary Organisation ( Вътрешна западнопокрайненска революционна орга&#1085... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

With the wake of nationalism in the Balkans in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Bulgarian nationalists began internationalizing the issue. With Serbia and Yugoslavia being under severe sanctions from the international community and in succession of wars, it was an easy target. The contemporary Yugoslav administration was accused of: It has been suggested that World community be merged into this article or section. ...

• denying the Bulgarian population education in their mother tongue even though it was available and all other minorities inside the country were practising this right. Bulgarians exercised it the least, even today.^{[citation needed]} Also, the rate of people declaring themselves Yugoslavs in Serbia was among the highest in these two municipalities.

• not permitting Bulgarians to rename Dimitrovgrad to their traditional name, Tzaribrod (Цариброд). Tito changed the name in 1950 after Georgi Dimitrov's death. On a referendum of 2004, 57% of the voters voted to keep the name Dimitrovgrad. Serbs by this time had completely removed their phonetical preference Bosiljgrad (Босиљград) in favor of Bulgarian Bosilegrad (Босилеград), a variation more in harmony with Standard Bulgarian.

• for settling thousands of Serbian refugees in the area in the 1990s to diminish the number of Bulgarians, which the population Censа of 1991 and 2002 proved to be totally untrue, not to mention the poor economic status of the area which could not support such an influx of population.

• for Slobodan Milošević's regime and his oppression against Bulgarians, even though municipalities in these areas were strongholds of his, and his wife Mirjana Marković's parties with the most ardent supporters, which was a source of many jokes in Serbia.

• for decades long deliberate neglect of the area which caused economic fall-behind and depopulation of Bulgarians. As much as this is true, it can be said for the entire south of Serbia which was left without any attention from the central government; this caused these areas to be the least developed in Serbia, all regardless of the ethnic structure. Serbian municipalities from this area, like Trgovište, Surdulica or Crna Trava are among the poorest in Serbia. Also, Crna Trava set a record in depopulation as it plunged from 13,748 in 1953 to 2,563 in 2002.

Dimitrovgrad is a municipality in the Haskovo region of Southern Bulgaria. ... Slobodan MiloÅ¡ević   (IPA Serbian Cyrillic: Слободан Милошевић) (Požarevac, 20 August 1941 – The Hague, 11 March 2006) was President of Serbia and of Yugoslavia. ... Mirjana Marković Mirjana Marković (born 10 July 1942, Požarevac) is the leader of the Yugoslav Left political party (JUL or ЈУЛ is the Serbian acronym). ... TrgoviÅ¡te (Трговиште) is a village and municipality located in the Pčinja District of Serbia. ... Surdulica is a small town of about 15,000 inhabitants, situated in the southeast of Serbia. ... Crna Trava (Црна Трава) is a village and municipality located in the Jablanica District of Serbia. ...

Strumica

The town of Strumica and its surrounding area (including Novo Selo) was the only sector from those awarded to the Serbian Kingdom to be in the Republic of Macedonia. It became a part of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia when Yugoslavia reformed in 1943. Ethnic Bulgarians are still to be found in these municipalities but over the years, the absolute majority of the southernmost territory lost by Bulgaria have declared themselves Macedonian. Bulgarians composed 0.5% of the last census taken in Macedonia and the number of citizens in Bulgaria to have delcared themselves Macedonian was somewhat higher both in number and in overall percentage. Strumica (Macedonian/Bulgarian: Струмица, Greek: Στρώμνιτσα Stromnitsa, Turkish: Usturumca) is a city of about 55,000 people in southeastern Republic of Macedonia. ... View of Novo Selo Novo Selo (Macedonian: ) is a large village in the southeastern part of the Republic of Macedonia. ... For an explanation of terms related to Macedonia, see Macedonia (terminology). ...

One legacy of Strumica once having been a part of Bulgaria is the local dialect. Removed from Standard Macedonian, its own features would make it unique in any case, but the few decades spent within Bulgaria did pass many Bulgarianisms down to each generation. Even though Strumica has already been a part of either Yugoslavia or Macedonia for longer than it was in Bulgaria, the unique language usage has shown little sign of weakening, even by the young educated residents or the others who identify as Macedonian. Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in Latin, Југославија in Cyrillic, English: Land of the South Slavs) describes four political entities that existed one at a time on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century. ...

See also

• Report of the United Nations on the situation of the Bulgarian minority in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia