The article deals with the situation of Bulgarian ethnology at the
beginning of the 21st century. It addresses three main forms of
institutionalised ethnology: the relevant department of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, university departments and ethnographic museums. The first institution of this type was the National Ethnographic Museumin Sofia (1906). In 1947, an independent ethnographic institute was founded as apart of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the present-day Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum. The text describe in detail this academic institution, summarises its main research activities and mentions examples of past projects. In addition, it references the ongoing “ethnology versus anthropology” debate. The academic discipline of ethnology in Bulgaria has lately suffered financial difficulties and is largely dependent on international and national grants.