The Bulgarian government conducted population censuses for the following years: 1881 (partial -- Principality only), 1885 (partial -- Eastern Rumelia only), 1888, 1893, 1900, 1905, 1910, 1920, 1926, 1934, 1946, 1956, 1965, 1975, 1985, 1992, 2001, 2011. The next Bulgarian census is scheduled for 2021. Census publications are described below, by century, and then in date order, beginning with the oldest. Included are population, housing, and agricultural census publications [Bulgarian censuses of industry are not discussed in this guide]. These publications are only statistical in nature. They cannot be used by genealogists to find family members or names, because that kind of data was not published by the Bulgarians. In general, even if final results are available, publications of preliminary results are listed for historical comparisons, and in case administrative information was included in the preliminary publications that did not get reproduced in the final publications.
In addition to substantial print holdings at the Library of Congress, many Bulgarian censuses publications appear in the microfilm set International Population Census Publications, including some that the Library does not hold in print. The set is divided into several parts -- Series I: 1945-1967 (2 reels for Bulgaria); Series II: Pre-1945 (2 reels for Bulgaria); Series III: Post-1967 (12 reels for Bulgaria). For Bulgaria, the Library holds Series I and II (all reels), but holds two reels only from Series III. The Library did not acquire all reels in Series III because those publications are present in our print collections. The presence of a publication in this set is indicated in the individual descriptions below, in the "Notes" field. Reel or series numbers are not necessary to request the materials at the Library of Congress, because the publications are shelved by region, and then by country.
To learn more about general sources or international compilations of census data, see "Locating Census Data at the Library of Congress," compiled by the Library of Congress Business Reference Services. Select any title described below to view full bibliographic information for that item in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to full electronic versions are provided when available.
The published results of the 2011 Bulgarian population census appeared in 39 physical volumes, plus 30 smaller spravochniki, or reference volumes. In addition, most volumes, and additional information, are available on the website of the National Statistical Institute in Sofia. See http://www.nsi.bg/census2011/index.php External and https://www.nsi.bg/bg/content/2949/публикация/преброяване-на-населението-и-жилищния-фонд-през-2011-година External. Links are provided below, when available, with descriptions of individual volumes. The 2011 census was the first time that citizens of Bulgaria could fill out their questionnaires using the Internet.
Thirty spravochniki [reference books] were published as part of the 2011 census, one in Bulgarian for each oblast, and one each in English and in Bulgarian on the entire census. In the interests of space, a citation and annotation are given here for only one title, for the oblast of Burgas. The other titles are all held by the Library of Congress and can be located in the online catalog using the title below and changing the name of the oblast. The two general volumes bear the titles Spravochnik prebroiavane 2011 and Statistical Reference Book: Population Census: 2011.
The oblast volumes are Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Varna, Veliko Turnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Gabrovo, Dobrich, Kurdzhali, Kiustendil, Lovech, Nontana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Ruse, Silistra, Sliven, Smolian, Sofiia (Capital), Sofiia Oblast, Stara Zagora, Turgovishte, Khaskovo, Shumen, and Iambol.
Although this census has not yet been undertaken, a special section External on the site of the Ministry of Agriculture has been created, and preliminary information is available.
The results of the 1975 census were published 1977-1979, in six volumes, under the general title Prebroiavane na naselenieto i zhilishtniia fond kum dekemvri 1975 godina. See the entries immediately below for individual volumes, as well as for related titles resulting from the census process. The items are listed separately, because the Library of Congress has cataloged each volume as a separate title.
The results of the 1985 census were published 1988-1989, in eight volumes, under the general title Prebroiavane na naselenieto i zhilishtniia fond v NR Bulgariia kum dekemvri 1985 godina. See the entries immediately below for individual volumes, as well as related titles resulting from the census process. The items are listed separately, because the Library of Congress has cataloged each volume as a separate title. There are no ethnicity or religion data published in these eight volumes.