Endonym Atlas NAMES IN THEIR SCRIPTS
Country · BG

Bulgaria in other languages: exonyms, Sofia and the 28 provinces

Bulgaria is България (Bălgarija) in Bulgarian, officially Република България, the Republic of Bulgaria, with the ISO codes BG, BGR and 100. Below are the name in 184 languages and varieties, Sofia in 96, and the 28 provinces in Cyrillic with their centres and ISO 3166-2 codes.

Official languagesBulgarian (български, bălgarski)

Checked

ISO 3166-1alpha-2 · alpha-3 · numeric
Flag of Bulgaria
ratio 3:5
alpha-2
BG
alpha-3
BGR
numeric
100
България Bulgarian · CyrillicRomanised Bălgarija

Република БългарияRepublika Bălgarija

English
BulgariaRepublic of Bulgaria
Capital
СофияSofija · Sofia

ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026. Flag geometry and colours after the Wikimedia Commons drawing.

01 · Exonyms

Bulgaria in other languages: list of exonyms

Bulgaria in 184 languages and varieties, grouped where the spelling is shared, with ISO 639 codes and romanisation
LanguagesISO 639NameRomanised
English, Aragonese, Asturian, Breton, Corsican, Basque, Faroese, Finnish, Kven, Galician, Interlingua, Indonesian, Italian, Javanese, Greenlandic, Latin, Lingala, Ladin, Nahuatl, Norwegian, Novial, Occitan, Romansh, Romanian, Sicilian, Spanish, Sardinian, Swahilieng / arg / ast / bre / cos / eus / fao / fin / fkv / glg / ina / ind / ita / jav / kal / lat / lin / lld / nah / nor / nov / oci / roh / ron / scn / spa / srd / swaBulgariasame as written
French, Franco-Provençal, Friulian, Jersey Norman French, Norman Frenchfra / frp / fur / jnf / nrmBulgariesame as written
Danish, North Frisian, Saterland Frisian, Swedishdan / frr / stq / sweBulgariensame as written
Hungarian, Portuguese, Northern Sami, Tetumhun / por / sme / tetBulgáriasame as written
German, Luxembourgish, Low Germandeu / ltz / ndsBulgariensame as written
Hausa, Kinyarwanda, Rundihau / kin / runBulgariyasame as written
Czech, Slovakces / slkBulharskosame as written
Estonian, Võroest / vorBulgaariasame as written
West Frisian, Dutchfry / nldBulgarijesame as written
Lithuanian, Malteselit / mltBulgarijasame as written
Quechua, Tagalogque / tglBulgaryasame as written
AfrikaansafrBulgaryesame as written
AymaraaymBulkariyasame as written
AzerbaijaniazeBolqarıstan / Болгарыстан, Bolqariya / БолгаријаBolqarıstan, Bolqariya
BambarabamBiligarisame as written
BosnianbosBugarska / Бугарска / بۆغارسقاBugarska
CatalancatBulgàriasame as written
CornishcorBulgarisame as written
Crimean TatarcrhBulğaristan / БулгъаристанBulğaristan
KashubiancsbBùłgarskôsame as written
WelshcymBwlgariasame as written
Lower SorbiandsbBulgarskasame as written
EsperantoepoBulgarujo, Bulgariosame as written
GagauzgagBulgariya / БулгарияBulgariya
Scottish GaelicglaBulgàiria, A’ Bhulgaire, Bulgariasame as written
IrishgleAn Bhulgáir / An Ḃulgáirsame as written
ManxglvYn Vulgeyrsame as written
GuaranigrnVugariasame as written
Haitian CreolehatBilgarisame as written
CroatianhrvBugarskasame as written
Upper SorbianhsbBołharskasame as written
IgboiboBọlgeriasame as written
IcelandicislBúlgaría, Bolgaralandsame as written
KarakalpakkaaBolgariya / БолгарияBolgariya
Kurmanji KurdishkurBulgaristansame as written
LatvianlavBulgārijasame as written
LimburgishlimBölgarieësame as written
LivonianlivBulgārijsame as written
Mauritius CreolemfeBilgarisame as written
MalagasymlgBolgariasame as written
MoldovanmolBulgaria / БулгарияBulgaria
MaorimriPurukeriasame as written
MalaymsaBulgaria / بولݢارياBulgaria
PolishpolBułgariasame as written
Kalderash RomanirmyBulgariya / बुल्गारियाBulgariya
AromanianrupVurgariasame as written
SloviosloBulgaria / Булгариа, Bulgarzem / БулгарземBulgaria, Bulgarzem
SlovenianslvBolgarijasame as written
SamogitiansmgBulgarėjėsame as written
SamoansmoPalekeriasame as written
SomalisomBulgaariyasame as written
AlbaniansqiBullgariasame as written
SilesianszlBůugarjasame as written
TongantonPulukeliasame as written
TurkmentukBolgariýa / БолгарияBolgariýa
TurkishturBulgaristan, Bulgarelisame as written
UzbekuzbBulgʻoriston / Булғористон / بۇلغارىستان, Bolgariya / Болгария / بالگەرىيەBulgʻoriston, Bolgariya
VepsvepBolgariisame as written
VietnamesevieBảo Gia Lợi, Bung-ga-risame as written
VolapükvolBulgaränsame as written
WalloonwlnBulgåreyesame as written
WolofwolBulgaarisame as written
ZazakizzaBulğarıstansame as written
Gothicgot𐌱𐌿𐌻𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌹𐌰Bulgaria
Old Church SlavonicchuБлъгарі́ꙗBlŭgarī́ja
Abaza, Altai, Avar, Khakas, Komi, Karachay-Balkar, Lezgi, Russian, Yakut, Tuvan, Udmurt, Kalmykabq / alt / ava / kjh / kom / krc / lez / rus / sah / tyv / udm / xalБолгарияBolgarija
Chuvash, Ossetianchv / ossБолгариBolgari
AbkhazabkБылгариаBylgaria
BashkirbakБолгария / BolgariyaBolgariya
BelarusianbelБалгарыя / Bałharyja, Баўгарыя / BaŭharyjaBałharyja, Baŭharyja
BulgarianbulБългарияBălgarija
ChechencheБолгари / BolgariBolgari
KazakhkazБолгария / بولگاريا / Bolgarïya, Болғария / بولعاريا / BolğarïyaBolgarïya, Bolğarïya
KabardiankbdБолгариэBolgariă
KyrgyzkirБолгария / بولعارىيا / BolğariyaBolğariya
Kurdish (Caucasus, Cyrillic)kmrБьлг’арьстан / Bilẍaristan, Бьлг’ари / Bilẍarî, Болгари / Bolgarî, Болг’арьстан / Bolẍaristan, Болг’ари / BolẍarîBilẍaristan, Bilẍarî, Bolgarî, Bolẍaristan, Bolẍarî
KumykkumБолгъарияBolġarija
LaklbeБулгъарияBulġarija
Meadow MarimhrБолгарийBolgarij
MacedonianmkdБугаријаBugarija
MongolianmonБолгарBolgar
RusynrueБулгаріяBulharija
SerbiansrpБугарска / BugarskaBugarska
TabassarantabБулгъаристанBulġaristan
TatartatБолгария / Bolğariä / بولغارىيەBolğariä
TajiktgkБулғористон / بلغارستان / Bulƣoriston, Булғория / بلغاریه / BulƣorijaBulƣoriston, Bulƣorija
UkrainianukrБолгаріяBolharija
ArabicaraبلغارياBulġāriyā
South Azerbaijaniazbبولقاریستان / Bolqarıstan, بولقارییا / BolqariyaBolqarıstan, Bolqariya
Sorani Kurdishckbبولگاریا / BulgaryaBulgarya
Persianfasبلغارستان / BolqârestânBolqârestân
Western PunjabipnbبلغاریہBalġāriyâ
DariprsبلغاریاBolġāriyā
Pashtopusبلغاريا, بلغاريه, بلغارستانBulġāriyā, Bulġāriyâ, Bulġāristān
Uyghuruigبۇلغارىيە / Bulghariye / БолгарияBulghariye
UrduurdبلغاریہBalġāriyâ
DhivehidivބަލްގޭރިއާBalgēriā
SyriacsyrܒܠܓܪܝܐBulgariyā
Hebrewhebבולגריה, בולגאריהBūlgaryah, Būlgāryah
Ladinoladבולגאריה / BulgariaBulgaria
YiddishyidבולגאַריעBulgarye
Kabylekabⴱⵓⵍⴳⴰⵔⵢⴰ / BulgaryaBulgarya
Amharicamhቡልጋሪያ, ቡልጋርያBulgariya, Bulgarya
GreekellΒουλγαρίαVoylgaría
ArmenianhyeԲուլղարիաBoulġaria
Georgian, Mingreliankat / xmfბულგარეთიBulgareṭi
Lazlzzბულგარისტანი / Bulgarist’ani, ბულგარია / BulgariaBulgarist’ani, Bulgaria
Hindihinबल्गारिया, बुल्गारिया, बल्गेरियाBalgāriyā, Bulgāriyā, Balgeriyā
Bengalibenবুলগেরিয়াBulgeriyā
Gujaratigujબલ્ગેરિયાBalgeriyā
OriyaoriବୁଲଗେରିଆBulgeriā
PunjabipanਬੁਲਗਾਰੀਆBulgārīā
Sinhalasinබල්‍ගේරියාවBalgēriyāva
Kannadakanಬಲ್ಗೇರಿಯBalgēriya
Malayalammalബള്‍ഗേറിയBaḷgēṟiya
Tamiltamபல்கேரியாPalkēriyā
Telugutelబల్గేరియాBalgēriyā
Chinesezho保加利亞/保加利亚Bǎojiālìyà
Cantoneseyue保加利亞/保加利亚Bóugàleiha
JapanesejpnブルガリアBurugaria
Koreankor불가리아Bulgaria
Tibetanbodཔུ་ར་ག་རི་ཡ།, པུར་ག་རི་ཡ།, པོ་ཅ་ལི་ཡ།, པའོ་ཅ་ལི་ཡ།Pu.ra.ga.ri.ya, Pur.ga.ri.ya, Po.ča.li.ya, Pō.ča.li.ya
BurmesemyaဘူဂေးရီးယားBʰugèẏìyà
ThaithaบัลแกเรียBânkǣriya
LaolaoບຸນກາຣີBunkālī
Khmerkhmប៊ុលហ្គារីBulhkārī

Gothic and Old Church Slavonic are historical forms.

02 · NamesU+042A CYRILLIC CAPITAL LETTER HARD SIGN

Bălgarija, Bugarska, Bulgaristan: three ways to say Bulgaria

Bulgarian writes the name of the country България and the transliteration on this page renders it Bălgarija, with ă for the letter ъ. The official romanisation that Bulgaria adopted in 2006, and that ISO 3166-2 applies to the province names, writes the same letter as a: Balgariya, Veliko Tarnovo, Targovishte.

Abroad two families of names stand side by side. Most European languages build on Latin Bulgaria: Bulgarie in French, Bulgarien in German and Swedish, Bułgaria in Polish, Bulgarije in Dutch. The South Slavic neighbours drop the l, so Croatian and Bosnian say Bugarska and Macedonian Бугарија, while Czech Bulharsko and Upper Sorbian Bołharska write h where the other Slavic languages have g.

Turkic and Iranian languages add the suffix for land: Turkish Bulgaristan, Azerbaijani Bolqarıstan, Persian بلغارستان (Bolqârestân) and Uzbek Bulgʻoriston. Russian, Ukrainian and Kazakh begin with Bol-, as Болгария and Болгарія show, and Vietnamese has a Sino-Vietnamese reading, Bảo Gia Lợi, beside the phonetic Bung-ga-ri.

03 · Sofia

Sofia in other languages

Sofia in 96 languages and varieties, grouped where the spelling is shared, with ISO 639 codes and romanisation
LanguagesISO 639NameRomanised
English, Catalan, Corsican, Welsh, Danish, Basque, Finnish, French, Scottish Gaelic, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Swedisheng / cat / cos / cym / dan / eus / fin / fra / gla / ita / nld / nor / pol / ron / slk / sweSofiasame as written
Croatian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Slovenianhrv / lav / lit / slvSofijasame as written
German, Luxembourgish, Low Germandeu / ltz / ndsSofiasame as written
Kurmanji Kurdish, Turkish, Zazakikur / tur / zzaSofyasame as written
Asturian, Spanishast / spaSofíasame as written
Maltese, Albanianmlt / sqiSofjasame as written
Portuguese, Tetumpor / tetSófiasame as written
AzerbaijaniazeSofiya / СофијаSofiya
BosnianbosSofija / Софија / سۉفٖىياSofija
CzechcesSofiesame as written
Crimean TatarcrhSofiya / СофияSofiya
KashubiancsbZofijôsame as written
EsperantoepoSofiosame as written
IrishgleSóifiasame as written
HungarianhunSzófiasame as written
IcelandicislSófíasame as written
LatinlatSerdica, Ulpia Serdica, Triadicasame as written
MoldovanmolSofia / СофияSofia
MalaymsaSofia / سوفياSofia
OccitanociSòfiasame as written
Kalderash RomanirmySofiya / सोफ़ियाSofiya
SloviosloSofia / СофиаSofia
SamogitiansmgSofėjėsame as written
TagalogtglSopiyasame as written
TurkmentukSofiýa / СофияSofiýa
UzbekuzbSofiya / София / سافىيەSofiya
VietnamesevieXô-phi-asame as written
VolapükvolSofiyasame as written
Gothicgot𐍃𐍉𐍆𐌹𐌰Sofia
Old Church SlavonicchuСо́фїꙗSófïja
Bulgarian, Russianbul / rusСофияSofija
Mongolian, Ossetianmon / ossСофиSofi
BashkirbakСофия / SofiyaSofiya
BelarusianbelСафія / SafijaSafija
ChuvashchvСофийӑSofijă
KazakhkazСофия / سوفيا / SofïyaSofïya
KabardiankbdСофиэSofiă
KyrgyzkirСофия / سوفىيا / SofiyaSofiya
SerbiansrpСофија / SofijaSofija
TatartatСофия / Sofiä / سوفىيەSofiä
TajiktgkСофия / صافیه / SofijaSofija
UkrainianukrСофіяSofija
ArabicaraصوفياṢūfīyā
South Azerbaijaniazbصوفییا / SofiyaSofiya
Persianfasصوفیه / Sufiye, صوفیا / Sufiyâ, سوفیه / SufiyeSufiye, Sufiyâ, Sufiye
Western PunjabipnbصوفیہṢōfiyâ
Pashtopusصوفيه, سوفيهṢōfīyâ, Sōfīyâ
Uyghuruigسوفىيە / Sofiye / СофияSofiye
UrduurdصوفیہṢōfiyâ
SyriacsyrܣܘܦܝܐSōpiyā
HebrewhebסופיהSōfyah
YiddishyidסאָפיעSofye
AmharicamhሶፊያSofiya
GreekellΣόφιαSófia
ArmenianhyeՍոֆիաSofia
GeorgiankatსოფიაSoṗia
Hindihinसोफ़ियाSofiyā
NepalinepसोफियाSopʰiyā
Bengalibenসোফিয়াSopʰiyā
PunjabipanਸੋਫੀਆSopʰīā
KannadakanಸೋಫಿಯSōpʰiya
Tamiltamசோபியா, ஸோபியாCōpiyā, Sōpiyā
TelugutelసొఫియాSopʰiyā
Chinesezho索非亞/索非亚Suǒfēiyà
JapanesejpnソフィアSofia
Koreankor소피아Sopia
Tibetanbodསོ་ཧྥི་ཡ།, སོ་ཕེ་ཡ།So.hpʰi.ya, So.pʰe.ya
ThaithaโซเฟียSōfiya
Khmerkhmសូហ្វីយ៉ា, សូហ្វៀSūhvīyā, Sūhvie

Latin lists the Roman and Byzantine names of the city, Serdica, Ulpia Serdica and Triadica.

04 · Provinces

The 28 provinces of Bulgaria (области) with ISO 3166-2 codes

Bulgaria is divided into 28 provinces, each an област (oblast) named after its centre. The list runs in Cyrillic alphabetical order, the order in which ISO numbered the codes from BG-01 to BG-28; the English column gives the official romanisation that ISO uses.

Bulgaria, ISO 3166-2:BG: 28 provinces (области) with centres
ISO 3166-2BulgarianEnglishAdministrative centreChange
Provinces области oblasti28
BG-01 Област БлагоевградOblast Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad БлагоевградBlagoevgrad
BG-02 Област БургасOblast Burgas Burgas БургасBurgas
BG-03 Област ВарнаOblast Varna Varna ВарнаVarna
BG-04 Област Велико ТърновоOblast Veliko Tărnovo Veliko Tarnovo Велико ТърновоVeliko Tărnovo
BG-05 Област ВидинOblast Vidin Vidin ВидинVidin
BG-06 Област ВрацаOblast Vraca Vratsa ВрацаVraca
BG-07 Област ГабровоOblast Gabrovo Gabrovo ГабровоGabrovo
BG-08 Област ДобричOblast Dobrič Dobrich ДобричDobrič
BG-09 Област КърджалиOblast Kărdžali Kardzhali КърджалиKărdžali
BG-10 Област КюстендилOblast Kjustendil Kyustendil КюстендилKjustendil
BG-11 Област ЛовечOblast Loveč Lovech ЛовечLoveč
BG-12 Област МонтанаOblast Montana Montana МонтанаMontana
BG-13 Област ПазарджикOblast Pazardžik Pazardzhik ПазарджикPazardžik
BG-14 Област ПерникOblast Pernik Pernik ПерникPernik
BG-15 Област ПлевенOblast Pleven Pleven ПлевенPleven
BG-16 Област ПловдивOblast Plovdiv Plovdiv ПловдивPlovdiv
BG-17 Област РазградOblast Razgrad Razgrad РазградRazgrad
BG-18 Област РусеOblast Ruse Ruse РусеRuse
BG-19 Област СилистраOblast Silistra Silistra СилистраSilistra
BG-20 Област СливенOblast Sliven Sliven СливенSliven
BG-21 Област СмолянOblast Smoljan Smolyan СмолянSmoljan
BG-23 Област СофияOblast Sofija Sofia СофияSofija
BG-22 Област София-градOblast Sofija-grad Sofia (stolitsa) СофияSofija
BG-24 Област Стара ЗагораOblast Stara Zagora Stara Zagora Стара ЗагораStara Zagora
BG-25 Област ТърговищеOblast Tărgovište Targovishte ТърговищеTărgovište
BG-26 Област ХасковоOblast Ȟaskovo Haskovo ХасковоȞaskovo
BG-27 Област ШуменOblast Šumen Shumen ШуменŠumen
BG-28 Област ЯмболOblast Jambol Yambol ЯмболJambol

Codes and names: ISO 3166-2:BG on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, read from its English Wikipedia mirror on 28 October 2026. ISO has listed the 28 provinces since Newsletter I-2 of 21 May 2002; the last changes, in 2018, renamed the category from region to district in English and French and corrected the romanisation label.

05 · Sofia and towns

From Serdica to Sofia, from Filibe to Plovdiv

For Sofia the Latin row keeps three older names of the city, Serdica, Ulpia Serdica and Triadica. The spelling barely moves across languages, except for Hungarian Szófia, Kashubian Zofijô and Vietnamese Xô-phi-a, and the Arabic script languages write it with ṣād, صوفيا (Ṣūfīyā).

Several towns in the provinces have Turkish names of their own, listed in the small table. Filibe is Plovdiv, Rusçuk is Ruse and Eski Zağra is Stara Zagora, the old Zagora; Dobrich appears under two names, Pazarcık and Hacıoğlu Pazarı.

06 · Turkish names

Some Bulgarian towns and their Turkish names

Eight Bulgarian towns with their Turkish names
TownRomanisedTurkish
БургасBurgasBurgaz
ДобричDobričPazarcık; Hacıoğlu Pazarı
КърджалиKărdžaliKırcaali
ПазарджикPazardžikPazarcık
ПловдивPlovdivFilibe
РусеRuseRusçuk
Стара ЗагораStara ZagoraEski Zağra
ХасковоȞaskovoHasköy
07 · Questions

Questions about the names and provinces of Bulgaria

How do you write Bulgaria in Bulgarian?

България, transliterated Bălgarija; in the official romanisation Balgariya. The full name is Република България.

How many provinces does Bulgaria have?

28, coded BG-01 to BG-28. Sofia appears twice: as the capital city province, BG-22, and as the surrounding Sofia Province, BG-23.

What is Plovdiv called in Turkish?

Filibe. Ruse is Rusçuk, Stara Zagora Eski Zağra and Haskovo Hasköy.