Territories ceded to Yugoslavia by Bulgaria according to the Treaty of Neuilly, 1920

The Western (Bulgarian) Outlands (Bulgarian: Западни (български) покрайнини, Zapadni (balgarski) pokraynini) is a term used by Bulgarians to describe several territorially separate regions in southeastern Serbia. Image File history File links Western_Outlands. ... Image File history File links Western_Outlands. ... Not to be confused with Republika Srpska. ...

The territories in question were ceded by Bulgaria to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1920 as a result of the Treaty of Neuilly, following the First World War. The territories are traditionally considered terra irredenta by Bulgarian nationalists, and the use of the term "Western Outlands" may be found offensive by Serbs. According to the Serbian census of 1991, two of the largest cities in the Western Outlands, Bosilegrad and Dimitrovgrad, are populated primarily by Bulgarians. Motto: One nation, one king, one country Anthem: Medley of Bože pravde, Lijepa naÅ¡a domovino, and Naprej zastava slave Capital Belgrade Language(s) Serbo-Croato-Slovenian (see: Serbo-Croat and Slovenian) [1] Government Value specified for government_type does not comply King  - 1918-1921 Peter I  - 1921-1934 Alexander... The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine, 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. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... irredentism is position 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 (* many Serbs opted for Yugoslav ethnicity) [27] Serbs (Serbian: Срби or Srbi) are a South Slavic people who live mainly in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, to a lesser extent, in... Bosilegrad (Босилеград) is a town and municipality in Pčinja District of Central Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro. ... Dimitrovgrad (Serbian: Димитровград, Dimitrovgrad (official), but also used Цариброд ,Caribrod; in Bulgarian the name Цариброд is preferred, transliterated as Caribrod, Tzaribrod or Tsaribrod) is a town and 483 km² municipality located in the Pirot District of the Republic of Serbia. ...

Today, the territories referred to by the term cover an area of 1,545 km² in Serbia. In 1919 the same territories corresponded to the following parts of the Bulgarian okrugs: Kyustendil, 661 km², Tsaribrod (nowadays Dimitrovgrad) 418 km², Tran 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). ... 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. ... Tran (Трън) is a small town in Pernik Province, western Bulgaria. ... Kula can refer to: Kula, Hawaii, a district of East Maui in Hawaii Kula, Bulgaria, a town in Vidin Province Kula (Vojvodina), a town and municipality in Vojvodina (Serbia) Kula, Turkey, a town in Western Anatolia (Turkey) Kula (volcano), a volcanic field in Turkey Kula Plate, an ancient oceanic plate... Vidin (Bulgarian: Видин; Romanian: Vidin, Diiu) is a town on the southern bank of the Danube in northwestern Bulgaria. ...

Controversy

Ethnic map of Serbia showing location of Bulgarian-majority settlements according to the 2002 census.

Unveiling of the monument of Bulgarian revolutionary Vasil Levski in Bosilegrad.

The term is somewhat controversial: referring to parts of the territory of one country as its outlands can imply territorial claims, as in the historic example with Germany and Alsace in France. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 425 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1845 × 2600 pixels, file size: 246 KB, MIME type: image/png) I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 425 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1845 × 2600 pixels, file size: 246 KB, MIME type: image/png) I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Vasil Levski (Bulgarian: Васил Левски, also transliterated as Vassil Levski), born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev (Васил Иванов Кунчев) was a Bulgarian revolutionary, ideologist, strategist and theoretician of the Bulgarian national revolution and leader of the struggle for liberation from Ottoman rule. ... (New region flag) (Region logo) Location Administration Capital Regional President Departments Bas-Rhin Haut-Rhin Arrondissements 13 Cantons 75 Communes 903 Statistics Land area1 8,280 km² (??? mi) km² Population (Ranked 14th)  - January 1, 2006 est. ...

Church of the Mother of God built by the Bulgarian state in 1892 in Tsaribrod.

Presumably for this reason, in official contacts of Sofia and Belgrade the term has not been used since 1948. It was mentioned once, in the 1948 Bled Agreement by Josip Broz Tito and Georgi Dimitrov. That was in the period of Joseph Stalin's push for a Communist super-state in the Balkans, the Balkan Federative Republic, composed of Yugoslavia, 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. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Bled agreement (also referred to as the Tito-Dimitrov treaty) was an agreement signed on the 1st August, 1947 in Bled, Slovenia. ... 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. ... Josef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (Georgian: , Ioseb Besarionis Dze Jughashvili; Russian: , Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili) (December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953), better known by his adopted name, Joseph Stalin (alternatively transliterated Josef Stalin), was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Unions Central Committee from... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in the Latin alphabet, Југославија in Cyrillic; English: South Slavia, or literary The Land of South Slavs) describes three political entities that existed one at a time on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century. ... It has been suggested that Tito-Stalin Split be merged into this article or section. ...

See also

• Bosilegrad
• Dimitrovgrad (Serbia)
• Bulgarians in Serbia
• Internal Western Outland Revolutionary Organisation

Bosilegrad (Босилеград) is a town and municipality in Pčinja District of Central Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro. ... Dimitrovgrad (Serbian: Димитровград, Dimitrovgrad (official), but also used Цариброд ,Caribrod; in Bulgarian the name Цариброд is preferred, transliterated as Caribrod, Tzaribrod or Tsaribrod) is a town and 483 km² municipality located in the Pirot District of the Republic of Serbia. ... A map of the Western Outlands The Western Outlands (Bulgarian: 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. ... The Internal Western Outland Revolutionary Organisation ( Вътрешна западнопокрайненска революционна орга&#1085...

External links

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