Bulgaria’s 2001 census lists the number of Greeks living in Bulgaria at 3408, with the largest communities being in Sofia (1157 people), Plovdiv (766), Varna (223) and Stara Zagora (190).

According to the National Council for Co-operation on Ethnic and Demographic Issues, Greeks came to Bulgaria, specifically the Black Sea coast, during Antiquity. In 1900, Bulgaria had 33 650 Greek people resident. After the Balkan Wars, the number continued to increase, but as a result of the population exchange with Greece after WW1, many left.

Current unofficial estimates put the number of Greeks in Bulgaria at 25 000 to 28 500.

Like Bulgaria, Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire. But where Bulgaria was under strict rule for five centuries (Ottomans invaded central Thrace in 1364, marking the start of Bulgaria’s period of oppression, and only left in 1878, when the Russians came to defend Bulgaria’s struggles for independence), Greece got off a little easier: Athens was captured in 1458, and most of the plains and islands were under Ottoman control by 1500, but, for the most part, the mountainous areas remained free.

On March 25 1821, Greek revolutionaries took up arms, and started the country’s fight for freedom. Independence was finally attained with the Treaty of Constantinople in July 1832.

To mark Greece’s national day, March 25, The Sofia Echo has talked with six members of the Greek community in Sofia to find out their take on life here, difference and similarities, and where the Mediterranean ends.