Information specific to the Altaic Bulgar ethnic group is currently unavailable to the DIRB in Ottawa. However, the following contains general information on ethnicity in Bulgaria, the Altaic languages, Altais and Altaians.

The New Encyclopedia Britannica indicates that the Altaic languages, named after the Altai Mountains, are native to populations inhabiting areas in the Asian continent and parts of Europe, and consist of three language families (1989, 297). Turkic is one language family and is spoken by the majority of the Altaic peoples (ibid.). Turkish is the major language of the Turkic family (ibid.). The same source further indicates that the Altaic people probably first inhabited an area between Tibet and China, extending north into Siberia (ibid.).

For further general information, please consult the attached documents.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1989. 15th ed. Vol. 1. Edited by Philip W. Goetz. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc.

Attachments

Bulgaria: A Country Study. 1993. Edited By Glenn E. Curtis. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, pp. 78-87.

C.I.S. and Eastern Europe on File. 1993. Washington: Facts on File, pp. 2-23.

The Encyclopedia of Islam. 1986. New Ed. Vol. 1. Edited by H.A.R Gibb et al. Leiden: E.J. Brill, p. 423.

Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 1992. 12th ed. Edited by Barbara F. Grimes. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics, pp. 447-48.

World Directory of Minorities. 1990. London: Longman, pp. 165-66.

The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1989. 15th ed. Vol. 1, 22. Edited by Philip W. Goetz. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc, pp. 297-98; 593-94.

The World Factbook 1992. 1992. Washington: Central Intelligence Agency, p. 52.

Other Sources Consulted

Institute for Religion and Democracy, Washington, DC.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Munich and Sofia.

INS Resource Information Center. March 1993. Alert Series Bulgaria: Status of Democratization. Washington, DC: