The Cyrillic script ( /sɨˈrɪlɪk/) or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system. It is based on the Early Cyrillic, which was developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School. It is the basis of alphabets used in various languages, past and present, in parts of the Balkans and Northern Eurasia, especially those of Slavic origin, and non-Slavic languages influenced by Russian. As of 2011 around 252 million people in Europe and Asia use it as the official alphabet for their national languages. About half of them are in Russia. Cyrillic is one of the most used writing systems in the world.
Cyrillic is derived from the Greek uncial script, augmented by ligatures and consonants from the older Glagolitic alphabet and Old Bulgarian for sounds not found in Greek. It is named in honor of the two Byzantine Greek brothers, Saints Cyril and Methodius, who created the Glagolitic alphabet earlier on. Modern scholars believe that Cyrillic was developed and formalized by early disciples of Cyril and Methodius.
With the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union on 1 January 2007, Cyrillic became the third official script of the European Union, following the Latin and Greek scripts.
Read more about Cyrillic Script: Letters, Letterforms and Typography, Cyrillic Alphabets, Name, History
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