ogy. The resulting changes have been far
reaching and basic. The traditional economic and value base has been
destroyed by the elimination of private property. Social distinctions
were introduced and magnified where none or few existed. Traditional
institutions, such as the church and the family, were weakened; and new
institutions, such as mass organizations, were introduced to take their
place. Many segments of the population benefited materially from changes
that opened new opportunities for education and social advancement;
however, the price paid for these benefits was the loss of such
important motivating forces as freedom of choice, independence of
action, and the right to own income-producing property.

By the early 1970s the rate of change was slowing down, and the society
was settling into a discernible pattern. Some aspects of the old social
order seem to have survived, providing a continuity between the old and
the new. The changes that continue to affect the society are more the
result of economic growth than of social engineering.

ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION

The Bulgarian population is homogeneous in both ethnic and religious
composition. Approximately 85 percent is Bulgarian, and some 90 percent
adheres at least nominally to the Eastern Orthodox faith. The most
significant ethnic minorities are the Turks, who number about 700,000,
or 8 percent of the population; the Gypsies, estimated at 200,000, or
2.5 percent of the population; and the Macedonians, who also number
approximately 200,000. The remainder are Greeks, Romanians, Armenians,
and Jews.

The Turkish minority, once considerably more substantial in size, dates
back to the centuries of Turkish rule (see ch. 2). A steady emigration
of Turks from Bulgaria to Turkey after World War I and the expulsion of
some 150,000 in the 1950-51 period reduced their number. Most of the
remaining Turks are tobacco growers or artisans, who live in rural areas
in the eastern third of the country and along the Danube River. Their
traditional peasant conservatism, bolstered by their Islamic faith, has
made them less willing to adapt to the contemporary social order than
the rest of the population. A majority would like to emigrate to Turkey,
but the Bulgarian government has been unwilling to let them go because
the country cannot afford such a population loss.

Turkey, for its part, could not absorb the Bulgarian Turks without
seriously endangering its own