This invention is related to efficient inorganic borophosphate phosphors which can applied in various technical applications such as fluorescent lamps, colored light or white light emitting diodes, and other devices where phosphors are used to convert especially near UV radiation into the visible light. Further, this invention is related to light sources comprising the efficient borophosphate phosphor. The inventive phosphor absorbs radiation in a first wavelength range of the electromagnetic spectrum and emits radiation in a second wavelength range of the electromagnetic spectrum. This phosphor is a borophosphate activated with divalent rare earth metal ions.