Do you like traveling and visiting different countries, meeting people from different nationalities and experiencing new things? If yes, you are definitely an adventurer! But how to share all those wonderful experiences with your Bulgarian friends? 

Or maybe you are trying to apply for a Bulgarian citizenship and obtain a Bulgarian passport? There are some requirements you have to meet in order to obtain citizenship in Bulgaria. Yet, you may be interested in how Bulgarian citizens live. Or you might even have ancestors who are from Bulgaria and now you are trying to obtain citizenship by origin? So it is important for you to learn Bulgarian language better. 

If so, you are at the right place and in this guide you will be able to learn the countries and their nationalities in Bulgarian. This basic guide prepared by BulgarianPod101 will help you say your nationality and your country, as well as many of the other countries you have visited or wish to visit, in the local tongue.

Although studying countries and nationalities is considered a basic level of language knowledge, it can be really challenging for the foreigners to form the correct nationality word deriving from the country’s name. The reason for this is that forming nationalities in Bulgarian from countries doesn’t have any specific rules to follow, which means that you just have to memorize them and get used to the forms. 

To make the process easier, we suggest you use flashcards to learn Bulgarian nationalities. How to do that? Prepare small blank cards, write on one side a country in Bulgarian and on the opposite side the corresponding nationality. Such flash cards will help you a lot with memorizing countries and nationalities in Bulgarian.

Besides, we have added a lot of exercises to help you practice and easier learn this new information. Don’t forget to have fun, while learning the Bulgarian nationalities’ vocabulary presented here.

Table of Contents

1. Continents and Countries
2. Top 10 Nationalities in Bulgaria
3. How to Ask Someone About Their Nationality
4. How to Tell Someone Your Nationality
5. Country, City, Nationality and Language in Bulgarian
6. How BulgarianPod101 Can Help You Learn Bulgarian
7. Answers to Practical Exercises

1. Continents and Countries

Before starting with the countries, let’s see how to say each of the continents in Bulgarian.

A- World’s Continents

The world’s continents below are arranged according to their population starting with the most populated continent and reaching the least populated one. In fact, the last of them – Antarctica – has only around 1000 inhabitants in the winter. 

Bulgarian	Pronunciation	English
Азия	Aziya	Asia
Африка	Afrika	Africa
Европа	Evropa	Europe
Северна Америка	Severna Amerika	North America
Южна Америка	Yuzhna Amerika	South America
Австралия	Avstraliya	Australia
Антарктида	Antarktida	Antarctica

➜ This lesson prepared by BulgarianPod101 will help you learn more about world continents and their territories.

Note 1: You may already have noticed that all the continents in Bulgarian end on an -а, which means all of them are in female form. This fact will help you when you try to use them in a sentence. Let’s review a few examples:

• Африка е богата на полезни изкопаеми.
  (Afrika e bogata na polezni izkopaemi)
  Africa is rich in resources.

Note 2: Since the content of Africa is female in Bulgarian, the adjective used to describe it will also be in a female form, i.e. ending with an -а. Here is another example:

• Азия е по-голяма по територия от Европа.
  (Aziya e po-golyama po teritoriya ot Evropa)
  Asia is larger in territory than Europe.

* Now it’s your turn! Knowing this rule, try to write the correct form of the adjective in the following sentence:

• Австралия е (разположен) изцяло в южното полукълбо.
  (Avstraliya e (razpolozhen) iztsyalo v yuzhnoto polukalbo.)
  Australia is located entirely in the Southern Hemisphere.

You can check if your answer is correct at the very end of this review.

B- Countries

Countries in the Bulgarian language are assigned a grammatical gender. Here are examples for all three genders:

Male Forms of Countries

Bulgarian	Pronunciation	English
Израел	Izrael	Israel
Египет	Egipet	Egypt
Казахстан	Kazahstan	Kazakhstan
Ливан	Livan	Lebanon
Китай	Kitay	China
Виетнам	Vietnam	Vietnam

• Египет е тайнствен и крие много изненади.
  (Egipet e taynstven i krie mnogo iznenadi)
  Egypt is mysterious and hides many surprises.

• Големият Казахстан граничи с Русия и Китай.
  (Golemiyat Kazahstan granichi s Rusiya i Kitay)
  Great Kazakhstan borders Russia and China.

As you can see from the examples above, the forms of adjectives are also male since the countries are in male forms.

Female Forms of Countries

Bulgarian	Pronunciation	English
България	Balgariya	Bulgaria
Япония	Yaponiya	Japan
Русия	Rusiya	Russia
Австрия	Avstriya	Austria
Финландия	Finlandiya	Finland
Австралия	Avstraliya	Australia

Just like continents are in female form, these countries are also female. So we prepared an exercise here for you, which is identical to the continents. 

* Open the brackets below placing the adjective in the correct form.

• България е изключително (красив).
  (Balgariya e izklyuchitelno (krasiv))
  Bulgaria is extremely beautiful.

• Страната на изгряващото слънце е (далечeн) Япония.
  (Stranata na izgryavashtoto slantse e (dalechen) Yaponiya)
  The country of the rising sun is distant Japan.

You can check if your answers are correct at the very end of this review.

Neutral Forms of Countries

Bulgarian	Pronunciation	English
Монако	Monako	Monaco
Косово	Kosovo	Kosovo
Мароко	Maroko	Morocco
Мексико	Meksiko	Mexico

Note that the neutral form of the adjective ends in -o.

• Монако е много малко по територия, но е най-гъсто населената държава в света.
  (Monako e mnogo malko po teritoriya, no e nay-gasto naselenata darzhava v sveta.)
  Monaco is very small in territory, but is the most densely populated country in the world.

• Косово е разположено на Балканския полуостров.
  (Kosovo e razpolozheno na Balkanskiya poluostrov)
  Kosovo is located on the Balkan Peninsula.

C- How to form adjectives from the countries in Bulgarian?

Tip: Unlike in English, in Bulgarian the adjectives formed from the coutries are written with a small letter.

Forming Adjectives from Male Forms of Countries

We already reviewed some countries and their genders. Now, let’s try to make an adjective out of the country. In fact, that is easy for a male form. All you need to do is to add -ски at the end and replace the capital letter with a small letter. 

We will make a few examples and then leave the rest to you. 

* Try to complete the table yourself.

Bulgarian	Pronunciation	English
Израел + ски – израелски	izraelski	Israeli
Египет + ски – египетски	egipetski	Egyptian
Казахстан		Kazakh
Ливан		Lebanese
Китай		Chinese
Виетнам		Vietnamese

Forming Adjectives from Female Forms of Countries

For the female form of countries, we need to remove the ending -ия and then add -ски. 

* Following the model, try to finish the table yourself. See the notes for the exceptions below: 

България + ски – български	balgarski	Bulgarian
Япония		Japanese
Финландия		Finland
Русия + ски – руски	ruski	Russian
Note that руски is written with one -с instead of two “c” since in Bulgarian language there is no double consonant -c. Only the consonants -т and -н are doubled.  So, writing русски is wrong.
Австрия + ски – австрийски	avstriyski	Austrian
Note that this adjective cannot be австрски because of accumulation of too many consonants and inability to pronounce it correctly. For euphony -ий is added before -ски. The same is the case with Австралия. Complete it below.
Австралия		Australian

Forming Adjectives from Neutral Forms of Countries

To form adjectives from these countries, remove the ending -o and add -ски. Another model to form adjectives from neutral forms of countries is given with Maроко. 

* There are two adjectives for you to compete, following the model.

Монако + ски – монакски	monakski	Monégasque, Monacan
Косово		Kosovar
Мароко+ ан+ ски – марокански	marokanski	Moroccan
Besides Мароко, Мексико also follows this model. Try to make an adjective on your own.
Мексико		Mexican

You can check if your answers are correct at the very end of this review.

➜ Can you find your country in this list of countries in Bulgarian language? If not, you might be interested to check if it presents in the following list of 18 world countries.

2. Top 10 Nationalities in Bulgaria

According to a research made in 2011, there are at least ten more nationalities living in Bulgaria besides Bulgarians. We present here these countries and the corresponding nationalities in both male and female forms starting with Bulgaria and Bulgarians.

Country	Nationality		Nationality in English
	Male	Female
България /Balgariya/	българин /balgarin/	българка /balgarka/	Bulgarian
Турция /Turtsiya/	турчин /turchin/	туркиня /turkinya/	Turkish
Румъния /Rumaniya/	румънец /rumanets/	румънка /rumanka/	Romanian
Русия /Rusiya/	руснак /rusnak/	рускиня /ruskinya/	Russian
Армения /Armeniya/	арменец /armenets/	арменка /armenka/	Armenian
Гърция /Gartsiya/	грък /grak/	гъркиня /garkinya/	Grecian
Украйна /Ukrayna/	украинец /ukrainets/	украинка /ukrainka/	Ukrainian
Молдова /Moldova/	молдовец /moldovets/	молдовка /moldovka/	Moldovan
Северна Македония /Severna Makedoniya/	македонец /makedonets/	македонка /makedonka/	Macedonian
Сърбия /Sarbiya/	сърбин /sarbin/	сръбкиня /srabkinya/	Serbian

Now it is your turn to practice these new words. 

* Open the brackets choosing the correct form of nationality based on the sentence.

1. Този мъж е (Bulgarian).
   Tozi mazh e (Bulgarian).
   This man is Bulgarian.

2. Тя е (Macedonian), но нейният дядо е (Serbian).
   Tya e (Macedonian), no neyniyat dyado e (Serbian).
   She is Macedonian, but her grandfather is Serbian.

3. Лорика е (Romanian), но е омъжена за (Russian).
   Lorika e (Romanian), no e omazhena za (Russian).
   Lorica is Romanian, but she is married to a Russian.

4. Човекът, който се нанесе в съседната къща, е (Ukrainian).
   Chovekat, koyto se nanese v sasednata kashta, e (Ukrainian).
   The man who moved into the house next door is Ukrainian.

5. Днес на пазара срещнах една (Turkish).
   Dnes na pazara sreshtnah edna (Turkish).
   Today I met a Turkish woman at the market.

Tip for the last sentence: To choose the correct form of nationality in the last sentence, pay attention to the translation.

You can check if your answers are correct at the very end of this review.

3. How to Ask Someone About Their Nationality

If you are curious about the nationality of your interlocutor, you can ask them about it in Bulgarian using one of the following ways:

• Откъде си?
  (Otkade si)
  Where are you from?

• От коя държава си?
  (Ot koya darzhava si)
  Which country are you from?

• Къде си роден?
  (Kade si roden)
  Where were you born?

• Каква е твоята националност?
  (Kakva e tvoyata natsionalnost)
  What is your nationality?

• Кой е родният ти език?
  (Koy e rodniyat ti ezik)
  What is your native language?

• Ти (nationality) ли си?
  (Ti (nationality) li si)
  Are you (nationality)?

• Ти от (country) ли си?
  (Ti ot (country) li si)
  Are you from (country)?

Let’s use the last two models to practice! 

* Translate the following questions in Bulgarian using the models and the table with countries & nationalities from the precious section:

• Are you Ukrainian? (When you turn to a woman)
• Are you from Greece?
• Are you Serbian? (When you turn to a man)
• Are you from Armenia?
• Are you Turkish? (When you turn to a woman)
• Are you from Russia?
• Are you Macedonian? (When you turn to a man)
• Are you from Bulgaria?

4. How to Tell Someone Your Nationality

Now, let’s change the roles. If you are asked what your nationality is in Bulgarian, here are a few ways to answer this question.

• Аз съм (nationality).
  (Az sam (nationality))
  I am (nationality).

• Аз съм от (country).
  (Az sam ot (country))
  I am from (country).

• Роден съм в (country), но живея в (country).
  (Roden sam v (country), no zhiveya v (country))
  I was born in (country), but I live in (country).

• Имам двойно гражданство. Аз съм (nationality) и (nationality).
  (Imam dvoyno grazhdanstvo. Az sam (nationality) i (nationality))
  I have dual citizenship. I am (nationality) and (nationality).

Now, let’s practice these models. 

* Using the table with countries and their nationalities in Bulgarian and models, translate the following sentences:

I am Bulgarian. (for a man)
I am Russian. (for a woman)
I am Turkish. (for a man)
I am Romanian. (for a woman)

I am from China.
I am from Russia.
I am from Mexico.
I am from Egypt.

I was born in Israel, but I live in Bulgaria.
I was born in Kazakhstan, but I live in Vietnam.

I have dual citizenship. I am Moldovan and Russian. (for a woman)
I have dual citizenship. I am Grecian and Armenian. (for a man)
I have dual citizenship. I am Serbian and Turkish. (for a woman)

➜ If your country is not in the list of top 10 nationalities in Bulgarian and you wonder what your nationality is in Bulgarian, you can check the following list of 35 nationalities prepared by BulgarianPod101.

5. Country, City, Nationality and Language in Bulgarian

Now, let’s add two more columns to the table – the capital city of the country and its language. It is easy to form the language of each country in Bulgarian: Just remove the ending of the country and add -ски.

For example:
България + -ски – български (balgarski) Bulgarian
Монголия + -ски – монголски (mongolski) Mongolian

Of course, there are some exceptions just like Turkish and Greek, given in the table below.

Tip: Please, note that the language in Bulgarian also starts with a small letter just like the nationality.

Now, let’s take a look at the table:

Country	Capital	Nationality		Language	Nationality in English
		Male	Female
България /Balgariya/	София	българин /balgarin/	българка /balgarka/	бългаски	Bulgarian
Турция /Turtsiya/	Анкара	турчин /turchin/	туркиня /turkinya/	турски	Turkish
Румъния /Rumaniya/	Букурещ	румънец /rumanets/	румънка /rumanka/	румънски	Romanian
Русия /Rusiya/	Москва	руснак /rusnak/	рускиня /ruskinya/	руски	Russian
Армения /Armeniya/	Ереван	арменец /armenets/	арменка /armenka/	арменски	Armenian
Гърция /Gartsiya/	Атина	грък /grak/	гъркиня /garkinya/	гръцки	Grecian
Украйна /Ukrayna/	Киев	украинец /ukrainets/	украинка /ukrainka/	украински	Ukrainian
Молдова /Moldova/	Кишинев	молдовец /moldovets/	молдовка /moldovka/	молдовски	Moldovan
Северна Македония /Severna Makedoniya/	Скопие	македонец /makedonets/	македонка /makedonka/	македонски	Macedonian
Сърбия /Sarbiya/	Белград	сърбин /sarbin/	сръбкиня /srabkinya/	сръбски	Serbian

Let’s do some exercices, following the model:

Аз живея в (city) и говоря (language).
(Az zhiveya v (city) i govorya (language))
I live in (city) and speak (language).

Exercise 1: * Translate the following sentences in Bulgarian:

I live in Kiev and speak Ukrainian and Russian.
I live in Sofia and speak Bulgarian and Turkish.
I live in Belgrade and speak Serbian and Macedonian.
I live in Atina and speak Greek and Armenian.

Exercise 2: * Now try to form languages yourself from the following countries:

Япония
Финландия
Казахстан
Израел
Египет
Китай
Ливан

Tip: Note that you don’t have to change anything in the countries that are of male gender. Just add the ending -ски next to the country. Don’t forget to begin the language with a small letter.

Exercise 3: * In the last exercise try to form the male form of nationality from the following countries:

Япония
Финландия
Казахстан
Израел
Ливан

Tip: To do that just add the ending -ец to all of them. However, you need to remove the current ending of those countries that are in a female gender.

* When you are done, it’s time to form the female form of nationality from the same countries given above.

Tip: To do that just add the ending -ка to all of them. However, you need to remove the current ending of those countries that are in a female gender.

You can check whether your answers are correct at the end of this review.

➜ You might find this lesson about the gender of Bulgarian adjectives very helpful.

6. How BulgarianPod101 Can Help You Learn Bulgarian

Knowing nationalities in Bulgarian can be challenging but BulgarianPod101 prepared this guide to give you more confidence when you speak about your nationality in Bulgarian. Now you know how to say nationalities in Bulgarian male and female form for a great number of countries.

Yet, many exceptions related to countries, nationalities and languages in Bulgarian may be confusing, especially for beginner level learners. If that is the case, you may search for a teacher in the MyTeacher section and choose a Bulgarian native language expert to help you resolve all those difficulties you may come across during your study. 

We would be happy to hear your feedback about this guide. Did you find the exercises easy or difficult? Which part do you find the most challenging? Please do not hesitate to share your thoughts with us in the comments below. 

And now it’s time to check your answers to the practical exercises given above.

7. Answers to Practical Exercises

1. Continents and Countries

A- World’s Continents

• Австралия е разположена изцяло в южното полукълбо.
  (Avstraliya e razpolozhena iztsyalo v yuzhnoto polukalbo)
  Australia is located entirely in the southern hemisphere.

B- Countries

Female Forms of Countries

• България е изключително красива.
  (Balgariya e izklyuchitelno krasiva)
  Bulgaria is extremely beautiful.

• Страната на изгряващото слънце е далечна  Япония.
  (Stranata na izgryavashtoto slantse e dalechna Yaponiya)
  The country of the rising sun is distant Japan.

C- How to form adjectives from the countries in Bulgarian?

Bulgarian	Pronunciation	English
Израел + ски – израелски	izraelski	Israeli
Египет + ски – египетски	egipetski	Egyptian
Казахстан + ски – казахстански	kazahstanski	Kazakh
Ливан + ски – ливански	livanski	Lebanese
Китай + ски – китайски	kitayski	Chinese
Виетнам + ски – виетнамски	vietnamski	Vietnamese

Forming Adjectives from Female Forms of Countries

България + ски – български	balgarski	Bulgarian
Япония + ски – японски	yaponski	Japanese
Финландия + ски – финландски	finlandski	Finland
Русия + ски – руски	ruski	Russian
Note that руски is written with one -с instead of two c since in Bulgarian language there is no double consonant -c. Only the consonants -т and -н are doubled.  So writing русски is wrong.
Австрия + ски – австрийски	avstriyski	Austrian
Note that this adjective cannot be австрски because of accumulation of too many consonants and inability to pronounce correctly. For euphony -ий is added before -ски. The same is the case with Австралия.
Австралия + ски – австралийски	avstraliyski	Australian

Forming Adjectives from Neutral Forms of Countries

Монако + ски – монакски	monakski	Monégasque, Monacan
Косово + ски – косовски	kosovski	Kosovar
Мароко+ ан+ ски – марокански	marokanski	Moroccan
Besides Мароко, Мексико also follows this model. Try to make an adjective on your own.
Мексико+ ан+ ски – мексикански	meksikanski	Mexican

2. Top 10 Nationalities in Bulgaria

1. Този мъж е българин.
   Tozi mazh e balgarin.
   This man is Bulgarian.

2. Тя е македонка, но нейният дядо е сърбин.
   Tya e makedonka, no neyniyat dyado e sarbin.
   She is Macedonian, but her grandfather is Serbian.

3. Лорика е румънка, но е омъжена за руснак.
   Lorika e rumanka, no e omazhena za rusnak.
   Lorica is Romanian, but she is married to a Russian.

4. Човекът, който се нанесе в съседната къща, е украинец.
   Chovekat, koyto se nanese v sasednata kashta, e ukrainets.
   The man who moved into the house next door is Ukrainian.

5. Днес на пазара срещнах една туркиня.
   Dnes na pazara sreshtnah edna turkinya.
   Today, I met a Turkish woman on the market.

3. How to Ask Someone Their Nationality

• Are you Ukrainian? (When you turn to a woman)
  Ти украинка ли си?
  (Ti ukrainka li si)

• Are you from Greece?
  Ти от Гърция ли си?
  (Ti ot Gartsiya li si)

• Are you Serbian? (When you turn to a man)
  Ти сърбин ли си?
  (Ti sarbin li si)

• Are you from Armenia?
  Ти от Армения ли си?
  (Ti ot Armeniya li si)

• Are you Turkish? (When you turn to a woman)
  Ти туркиня ли си?
  (Ti turkinya li si)

• Are you from Russia?
  Ти от Русия ли си?
  (Ti ot Rusiya li si)

• Are you Macedonian? (When you turn to a man)
  Ти македонец ли си?
  (Ti makedonets li si)

• Are you from Bulgaria?
  Ти от България ли си?
  (Ti ot Balgariya li si)

4. How to Tell Someone Your Nationality

I am Bulgarian. (for a man)
Аз съм българин.
Az sam balgarin.

I am Russian. (for a woman)
Аз съм рускиня.
Az sam ruskinya.

I am Turkish. (for a man)
Аз съм турчин.
Az sam turchin.

I am Romanian. (for a woman)
Аз съм румънка.
Az sam rumanka.

I am from China.
Аз съм от Китай.
Az sam ot Kitay.

I am from Russia.
Аз съм от Русия.
Az sam ot Rusiya.

I am from Mexico.
Аз съм от Мексико.
Az sam ot Meksiko.

I am from Egypt.
Аз съм от Египет.
Az sam ot Egipet.

I was born in Israel, but I live in Bulgaria.
Роден съм в Израел, но живея в България.
Roden sam v Izrael, no zhiveya v Balgariya.

I was born in Kazakhstan, but I live in Vietnam. 
Роден съм в Казахстан, но живея във Виетнам.
Roden sam v Kazahstan, no zhiveya vav Vietnam.

I have dual citizenship. I am Moldovan and Russian. (for a woman)
Имам двойно гражданство. Аз съм молдовка и рускиня.
Imam dvoyno grazhdanstvo. Az sam moldovka i ruskinya.

I have dual citizenship. I am Grecian and Armenian. (for a man)
Имам двойно гражданство. Аз съм грък и арменец.
Imam dvoyno grazhdanstvo. Az sam grak i armenets.

I have dual citizenship. I am Serbian and Turkish. (for a woman)
Имам двойно гражданство. Аз съм сръбкиня и туркиня.
Imam dvoyno grazhdanstvo. Az sam srabkinya i turkinya.

5. Country, City, Nationality and Language in Bulgarian

Exercise 1

I live in Kiev and speak Ukrainian and Russian.
Аз живея в Киев и говоря украински и руски.
Az zhiveya v Kiev i govorya ukrainski i ruski.

I live in Sofia and speak Bulgarian and Turkish.
Аз живея в София и говоря български и турски.
Az zhiveya v Sofiya i govorya balgarski i turski.

I live in Belgrad and speak Serbian and Macedonian.
Аз живея в Белград и говоря сръбски и македонски.
Az zhiveya v Belgrad i govorya srabski i makedonski.

I live in Atina and speak Greek and Armenian.
Аз живея в Атина и говоря гръцки и арменски.
Az zhiveya v Atina i govorya gratski i armenski.

Exercise 2

Япония +ски – японски (yaponski)
Финландия +ски – финландски (finlandski)
Казахстан +ски – казахстански (kazahstanski)
Египет+ски – египетски (egipetski)
Китай +ски – китайски (kitayski)
Ливан +ски – ливански (livanski)

Exercise 3

Male form of Nationality

Япония +ец – японец  (yaponets)
Финландия +ец – финландец  (finlandets)
Казахстан +ец – казахстанец (kazahstanets)
Израел +ец – израелец (izraelets)
Ливан +ец – ливанец (livanets)

Female form of Nationality

Япония +ка – японка  (yaponka)
Финландия +ка – финландка (finlandka)
Казахстан +ка – казахстанка (kazahstanka)
Израел +ка – израелка (izraelka)
Ливан +ка – ливанка (livanka)