This monograph is based on the two-year work of the authors on a project assigned to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria to develop measures for demographic policy and in particular – for migration movement and national identity. For this purpose, a large-scale study was carried out by the members of the team and authors of this monograph on the migration or mechanical movement of the population of the Republic of Bulgaria over the last three decades and the development and proposal on this basis of specific measures and policies as part of the general set of measures for the demographic development of Bulgaria. The study, as well as the present monograph, included all forms of mechanical or migratory movement of the population such as: internal migration and daily work trips; external migration with an emphasis on the free movement of citizens in the EU; refugees and immigration to Bulgaria from third countries, as well as historical emigration, the so-called Bulgarian diaspora or historical migration and the possibilities for its integration and inclusion in the homeland. Special emphasis is also placed on the inclusion of the topic of migration and the preservation of national identity in highly dynamic and facilitated population movements - between settlements in the nation-state, national and international and intercontinental movements.
This monograph is dedicated to all aspects of the migratory movement of the population - external emigration and immigration from and to the Republic of Bulgaria, internal population movement - migration and daily work trips, the scale and nature of refugee flows to and from the country, the scale, structure and potential of the Bulgarian diaspora. This complex population movement in recent decades has directly affected the size and structure of the country's population, but also the related socio-economic processes, including the processes of natural population movement - birth rate, mortality, marriage rate, natural population growth, changes in the size of the population and the working-age population by regions and settlements, the economic development of the country and especially the socio-economic situation by regions and settlements. These influences, for the most part, have a long-term and complex impact on both demographic development and the situation on the labor markets and the economy of the country. When studying the different nature of population migration movements, not only the scale and directions of movement are important, but also the structure and development trends. There are many factors and conditions that determine the attitude towards migration, its implementation, duration, as well as the attitude towards return and demographic behavior.