Wikipedia's first sentence called it “form of islam promoted by the ottoman turks during their five-century rule of bulgaria”. Today it says “minority religion and the second largest religion in the country after christianity”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
According to the 2001 Census, the total number of Muslims in the country stood at 966,978, corresponding to 12.2% of the population.1According to the criterion of ethnic group they were divided into the following groups: Turks - 713,000; Bulgarians - 131,000; Roma - 103,000; Others - 20,000; Most of the Bulgarian Muslims are Sunni Muslims as Sunni Islam was the form of Islam promoted by the Ottoman Turks during their five-century rule of Bulgaria (see History of Bulgaria ). Shi'a sects such as the Kuzulbashi and the Bektashi also are present, however. About 80,000 Shi'a Muslims live mainly in the Razgrad , Sliven and Tutrakan (northeast of Ruse ) regions. They are mainly descendants of Bulgarians who converted to Islam to avoid Ottoman persecution but chose a Shi'a sect because of its greater tolerance toward different national and religious customs. This integration of Orthodox customs into Islam gave rise to a type of syncretism found only in Bulgaria. As of 1987 , Muslims in Bulgaria had 1,267 mosques served by 533 khodzhai, or religious community leaders. The Muslim hierarchy was headed by one chief mufti and eight regional muftis, interpreters of Muslim law, all of whom served five-year terms. The largest mosque in Bulgaria was the Tumbul Mosque in Shumen , built in 1744 . Bulgarian Muslims were subject to particular persecution in the later years of the Todor Zhivkov regime. This was partly because the Orthodox Church traditionally considered them foreigners, even if they were ethnically Bulgarian. The Bulgarian communist regimes declared traditional Muslim beliefs to be diametrically opposed to communist and Bulgarian beliefs. This justified repression of Muslim beliefs and consolidation of Muslim into the larger society as part of the class and ideological struggle. Like the practitioners of the other faiths, Muslims in Bulgaria enjoyed greater religious freedom after the fall of the Zhivkov regime (1989). New mosques were built in many cities and villages; one village built a new church and a new mosque side by side. Some villages organized Qur'an study courses for young people (study of the Qur'an had been completely forbidden under Zhivkov). Muslims also began publishing their own newspaper, Miusiulmani, in both Bulgarian and Turkish .2
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17015316.
The opening as it stood in 2010 16 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Banya Bashi mosque , built in 1576 by the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan , is the only functioning mosque that remains of 500 years of Ottoman domination in Sofia , the capital of Bulgaria Islam is the second largest religion in Bulgaria after the dominant religion in the country, Orthodox Christianity . According to the 2001 Census, the total number of Muslims in the country stood at 966,978, corresponding to 12.2% of the population .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 370051615.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The 15th-century Banya Bashi Mosque , in capital Sofia .Islam is the largest minority religion in Bulgaria .According to the 2011 Census, the total number of Muslims in the country stood at 577,139, corresponding to 7.8% of the population.The Muslim population of Bulgaria, which is made up of Turks , Bulgarians and Gypsies lives mainly in parts of northeastern Bulgaria (mainly in Razgrad , Targovishte , Shumen and Silistra Province) and in the Rhodope Mountains (mainly in Kardzhali Province ). 2011 Bulgarian census (in Bulgarian) Bulgaria .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 664925328.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Islam in Europe by percentage of country population The 16th-century Banya Bashi Mosque , in capital Sofia Islam in Bulgaria is a minority religion and the largest religion in the country after Christianity . According to the 2011 Census, the total number of Muslims in Bulgaria stood at 577,139, corresponding to 7.8% of the population. According to a 2017 estimate, Muslims make up 15% of the population.Ethnically, Muslims in Bulgaria are Turks , Bulgarians and Roma , living mainly in parts of northeastern Bulgaria (mainly in Razgrad , Targovishte , Shumen and Silistra Provinces) and in the Rhodope Mountains (mainly in Kardzhali Province and Smolyan Province ).There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 964321413.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Religion in Bulgaria Islam in Europe by percentage of country population Mosque in Taran Islam in Bulgaria is a minority religion and the second largest religion in the country after Christianity .According to the 2021 Census, the total number of Muslims in Bulgaria stood at 638,708 corresponding to 9.8% of the population. Ethnically, Muslims in Bulgaria are Turks , Bulgarians and Roma , living mainly in parts of northeastern Bulgaria (mainly in Razgrad , Targovishte , Shumen and Silistra Provinces) and in the Rhodope Mountains (mainly in Kardzhali Province and Smolyan Province ). CIA There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178795943.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Islam in Europe by percentage of country population Mosque in Taran Islam in Bulgaria is a minority religion and the second largest religion in the country after Christianity . According to the 2021 Census, the total number of Muslims in Bulgaria stood at 638,708 corresponding to 9.8% of the population. Ethnically, Muslims in Bulgaria are Turks , Bulgarians and Roma , living mainly in parts of northeastern Bulgaria (mainly in Razgrad , Targovishte , Shumen and Silistra Provinces) and in the Rhodope Mountains (mainly in Kardzhali Province and Smolyan Province ). CIA There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1292092301. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “form of islam promoted by the ottoman turks during their five-century rule of bulgaria”. Today it says “minority religion and the second largest religion in the country after christianity”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
form of islam promoted by the ottoman turks during their five-century rule of bulgaria
Now
minority religion and the second largest religion in the country after christianity
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
