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{{Original research|date=July 2008}}
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{{dablink|This article is about the [[South Slavs|South Slavic]] ethnic group; for the unrelated ancient people, see [[Ancient Macedonians]] and [[Macedon]]; for the modern Greek regional group, see [[Macedonians (Greek)]]. For other meanings, see [[Macedonian]].}}
{{dablink|This article is about the [[South Slavs|South Slavic]] ethnic group; for the ancestor ancient people, see [[Ancient Macedonians]] and [[Macedon]]; for the modern unrelated to any macedonians Greek regional group, see [[Macedonians (Greek)]]. For other meanings, see [[Macedonian]].}}
{{Infobox Ethnic group
{{Infobox Ethnic group
|group = Macedonians<br/>Македонци<br/>''Makedonci''
|group = Macedonians<br/>Македонци<br/>''Makedonci''

Revision as of 00:07, 22 January 2009

This article is about the South Slavic ethnic group; for the ancestor ancient people, see Ancient Macedonians and Macedon; for the modern unrelated to any macedonians Greek regional group, see Macedonians (Greek). For other meanings, see Macedonian.
Macedonians
Македонци
Makedonci
File:Famous Macedonians.JPG
Georgi Pulevski[1]  · Dimitrija Čupovski
Kočo Racin  · Metodija Andonov-Čento
Goran Pandev  · Katarina Ivanovska
Boris Trajkovski  · Milčo Mančevski
Total population
2,000,000 - 2,500,000[2]
Regions with significant populations
North Macedonia Republic of Macedonia1,297,981[3]
 Australia83,978 - 200,000[4][5]
 Italy78,090[6]
 Germany62,295 - 85,000[7][8]
  Switzerland61,304 - 63,000[9][5]
 United States51,891 - 200,000[10][8]
 Brazil45,000[11]
 Canada37,055 - 150,000[12][8]
 Turkey31,518[13]
 Argentina30,000[14]
 Serbia25,847[15]
 Austria13,696 - 15,000[16][8]
 Netherlands10,000 - 15,000[5]
 Czech Republic11,623[17]
 United Kingdom9,000[5]
 Hungary7,253[17]
 Bulgaria5,071 - 25,000 (est.)[18][19]
 Albania4,697 - 35,000 (est.)[20]
 Slovakia4,600[21]
 Croatia4,270[22]
 Slovenia3,972[23]
 Sweden3,669 - 15,000[24][5]
 Belgium3,419 [25]
 Denmark3,349 - 12,000[26][5]
 Norway3,045[27]
 France2,300 - 15,000[28]
 Bosnia and Herzegovina2,278[29]
 Poland2,000 - 4,500[30][31]
 Russia1,000[30]
 Greece962 (2001 census) to 10,000–30,000 (1999 est.)[32][33]
 Montenegro819[34]
 Romania731 - 6,000[35]
Elsewhereunknown
Languages
Macedonian
Religion
predominantly Macedonian Orthodox; some Muslim

The Macedonians ([Македонци; transliterated: Makedonci] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help))– also referred to as Macedonian Slavs[36]– are a South Slavic people who are primarily associated with the Republic of Macedonia. They speak the Macedonian language, a South Slavic language. About two thirds of all ethnic Macedonians live in the Republic of Macedonia, although there are also communities in a number of other countries.

Origins

File:Makedonka.jpg
Ethnic Macedonian girl in traditional folk dress.

The ancestry of present-day Macedonians is mixed. Their linguistic and cultural origins stem from the 6th century when various Slavic tribes migrated to, and settled in, the region of Macedonia. Some early 20th century researchers as William Z. Ripley, Coon[37] and Bertil Lundman[38] described the Slavic speakers in Macedonia as Bulgarians, and often placed the both populations in a common racial subgroup. Other authors, like H. N. Brailsford, described Slavic speakers from Macedonia as related both with Serbs and Bulgarians, but without clear defined ethnic consciousness. Brailsford considered a part of the people of North West Macedonia as Serbs and the people of the region of Ohrid as Bulgarians.[39]

The Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts accepts that as a whole the modern Macedonian genotype developed as a result of the absorption by the advancing Slavs of the local peoples living in the region of Macedonia prior to their coming. This position is backed by the findings of most ethnographers such as Vasil Kanchov,[40] Gustav Weigand,[41] and the anthropologist Carleton S. Coon, which state that the Slavs in 6th century actively assimilated other tribal peoples by absorbing part of the indigenous populations of the area, including Greeks, Thracians and Illyrians.[42][43] By absorbing parts of the peoples living there the Slavs also absorbed their culture, and in that amalgamation a people was gradually formed with predominantly Slavic ethnic elements, speaking a Slavonic language and with a Slavic-Byzantine culture. Furthermore, the genetic studies support the theories that Macedonians genetic heritage is derived from a mixture of ancient Balkan peoples[44] as well as the relatively newly arrived Slavs with deep European roots.

Population genetics studies using HLA loci have been used in light of unanswered questions regarding Macedonians' origins and relationship with other populations.[45] Macedonians are most closely related to other Balkanians as Croats, Serbs, Greeks, Bulgarians and Romanians.[46][47][48][49] It is also corroborated that there is some non-European, inflow in the modern Macedonians.[50]

Population

The spread of ethnic Macedonians throughout the world

The vast majority of Macedonians live along the valley of the river Vardar, the central region of the Republic of Macedonia and form about 64.18% of the population of the Republic of Macedonia (1,297,981 people according to the 2002 census). Smaller numbers live in eastern Albania, south-western Bulgaria, northern Greece, and southern Serbia, mostly abutting the border areas of the Republic of Macedonia. A large number of Macedonians have immigrated overseas to Australia, United States, Canada and in many European countries: Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Austria, among others.

Macedonians in the Balkans

Part of a series on
Macedonians
Flag of North Macedonia
By region or country
 
Macedonia (region)
Diaspora
Subgroups and
related groups
Culture
Religion
Other topics

Serbia

Main article: Macedonians in Serbia

Serbia recognizes the Macedonian minority on its territory as a distinct ethnic group and counts them in its annual census. 25,847 people declared themselves Macedonians in the 2002 census.

Bulgaria

Main article: Ethnic Macedonians in Bulgaria
Ethnic Macedonians in the Republic of Macedonia, according to the 2002 census.

In the 2001 census in Bulgaria, 5,071 people declared themselves ethnic Macedonians (see the official data in Bulgarian here). Krassimir Kanev, chairman of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, claimed 15,000 - 25,000 in 1998 (see here). In the same report Macedonian nationalists (Popov et al, 1989) claimed that 200,000 ethnic Macedonians live in Bulgaria. However, Bulgarian Helsinki Committee stated that the vast majority of the Slavic population in Pirin Macedonia has a Bulgarian national self-consciousness and a regional Macedonian identity similar to the Macedonian regional identity in Greek Macedonia. Finally, according to personal evaluation of a leading local ethnic Macedonian political activist, Stoyko Stoykov, the present number of Bulgarian citizens with ethnic Macedonian self-consciousness is between 5,000 and 10,000 (source). (The Encarta Encyclopaedia states that Macedonians make up 2.5% of the total population, i.e. approximately 190,000, with no mention of how this figure is obtained, as it is evidently refuted by the latest census figures, see here.)

Macedonian groups in the country have reported official harassment (see Human rights in Bulgaria), with the Bulgarian Constitutional Court banning a small Macedonian political party in 2000 as separatist and Bulgarian local authorities banning political rallies. A political organization of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria – UMO Ilinden-Pirin – claims that the minority has experienced a period of intensive assimilation and repression. It should be noted though that the Republic of Macedonia banned a similar pro-Bulgarian organization - Radko - as separatist[11]. On the other hand during the last few years in which Bulgaria saw economic prosperity and admission to the EU, around 60,000 citizens of Republic of Macedonia have applied for Bulgarian citizenship claiming Bulgarian origin. Another 14,000 have even received Bulgarian passports.[51]

Albania

Main article: Macedonians in Albania

Albania recognizes ethnic Macedonians as an ethnic minority and delivers primary education in the Macedonian language in the border regions where most ethnic Macedonians live. In the 1989 census, 4,697 people declared themselves ethnic Macedonians.[52]

Ethnic Macedonian organizations allege that the government undercounts their number and that they are politically under-represented — there are no ethnic Macedonians in the Albanian parliament. Some say that there has been disagreement among the Slav-speaking Albanian citizens about their being members of a Macedonian nation as a significant percentage of their number are Torbeš and self-identify as Albanians. External estimates on the population of ethnic Macedonians in Albania include 10,000 [12], whereas ethnic Macedonian sources have claimed that there are 120,000 - 350,000 ethnic Macedonians in Albania [13].

Greece

See also: Aegean Macedonians, Slavophone Greeks, Slavic language (Greece)
File:Makeodnki 2.JPG
Ethnic Macedonian girls in folk dresses.

According to the latest Greek census of 2001, there are 962 citizens of the Republic of Macedonia in Greece,[32] although it should be noted that Greek census, like the censuses of some other EU member states (Italy, Spain, Denmark, France etc.), do not take into account the ethnicity of the inhabitants of the country.

Claims regarding the existence[53] of an ethnic Macedonian minority in Greece are rejected by the Greek government. These claims are directed at the Slavic-speaking community of northern Greece, which dominantly self-identifies as Greek (not as ethnic Macedonian) [14] and defines its language as "Slavic" or Dopia (a Greek word for 'local'). This community numbered by 41,017 people according to the latest Greek census to include a question on mother tongue held in 1951, and local authorities in Greece continue to acknowledge its existence. Depending on dialect, this language is classified by linguists as either Bulgarian or Macedonian.

The size of the community identifying as 'ethnic Macedonians' today is estimated by the Greek Helsinki Monitor, at around 10,000-30,000[54] any others resenting having their Hellenism questioned. GHM is basing this figure on the electoral performance of the ethnic Macedonian political party the region of Greek Macedonia: the Rainbow, which received 7,300 votes in 1994 elections and and 5,000 in 1999 elections. In 2007, it did not stand for elections. The overwhelming majority of Greece's Slavic-speaking community is composed of people with Greek consciousness, which are pejoratively referred to with the term Grkomani by people in the Republic of Macedonia and trans-national ethnic Macedonian communities.[55] In 1993, at the height of the name controversy and just before joining the UN, the government in Skopje claimed that there were between 230,000 and 270,000 Macedonians living in northern Greece, while the Athens government claimed there were around 100,000 Greeks in the Republic of Macedonia.[15].

The Macedonian Diaspora

Further information: Macedonian Diaspora
File:MacedoniansGERberlin.png
Macedonian celebration in Berlin, Germany

Significant Macedonian communities can also be found in the traditional immigrant-receiving nations, as well as in Western European countries. It should be noted that census data in many European countries (such as Italy and Germany) does not take into account the ethnicity of émigrés from the Republic of Macedonia:

  • Argentina: Many Macedonians of Argentina are the descendants of the "pečalbari" (seasonal workers) who came to Argentina in the early 20th century.[citation needed] Many decided to stay in Argentina setting up Macedonian colonies in the Pampas and other regions.[citation needed] Most Macedonians can be found in Buenos Aires, the Pampas and Córdoba. An estimated 30,000 Macedonians can be found in Argentina.[8]
  • Australia: The official number of Macedonians in Australia by birthplace or birthplace of parents is 83,893 (2001). The main Macedonian communities are found in Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle, Canberra and Perth. (The 2006 Australian Census included a question of 'ancestry' which, according to Members of the Australian-Macedonian Community, this will result in a 'significant' increase of 'ethnic Macedonians' in Australia. However, the 2006 census recorded 83,983 people of Macedonian (ethnic) ancestry.) See also Macedonian Australians;
  • Canada: The Canadian census in 2001 records 37,705 individuals claimed wholly or partly Macedonian heritage in Canada [16] , although community spokesmen have claimed that there are actually 100,000-150,000 Macedonians in Canada [17] (see also Macedonian Canadians);
Macedonian girls in traditional costumes.

Other significant ethnic Macedonian communities can also be found in the other Western European countries such as Austria, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, United Kingdom, etc. Also in Uruguay, with a significant population in Montevideo.

Culture

Main article: Macedonian culture (Slavic)

The culture of the Macedonian people is characterized with both traditionalist and modernist attributes. It is strongly bound with their native land and the surrounding in which they live. The rich cultural heritage of the Macedonians is accented in the folklore, the picturesque traditional folk costumes, decorations and ornaments in city and village homes, the architecture, the monasteries and churches, iconostasis, wood-carving and so on. The culture of Macedonians can roughly be explained as a Balkanic, closely related to that of Serbs and Bulgarians.

Architecture

Architecture in Ohrid.

The typical Macedonian village house is presented as a construction with two floors, with a hard facade composed of large stones and a wide balcony on the second floor. In villages with predominantly agricultural economy, the first floor was often used as a storage for the harvest, while in some villages the first floor was used as a cattle-pen.

The stereotype for a traditional Macedonian city house is a two-floor building with white façade, with a forward extended second floor, and black wooden elements around the windows and on the edges.

Economy

In the past, the Macedonian population was predominantly involved with agriculture, with a very small portion of the people who were engaged in trade (mainly in the cities). But after the creation of the People’s Republic of Macedonia which started a social transformation based on Socialist principles, a middle and hard industry was being created.

Identities

See also: Macedonian Question

Macedonians are people with a unique identity derived from an influence of different cultures. The large majority identify themselves as Orthodox Christians, who speak a Slavic language, and share similarities in culture with their Balkan neighbours.

Prior to the beginning of the Macedonian awakening

Greek ethnographic map of south-eastern Balkans, showing the Macedonian Slavs as a separate people, by Professor George Soteriadis, Edward Stanford, London, 1918.

The concept of a distinct "Macedonian" ethnicity is seen as a relatively new arrival to the milieu of peoples that is the Balkans. The first records of people who called themselves Macedonians in ethnic connotation occurred in the late 19th century. Previously, any reference to "Macedonians" in medieval and early modern times tended to be used as a regional description rather than a distinct ethnic designation. Such examples include the Greek Macedonian dynasty which at one stage ruled the Byzantine Empire. References have also been made to Macedonian Slav rebellions against Byzantine rule,[57] but these have been interpreted by most scholars as non-specific, regional designations. The first ethnographic data pertaining to the Macedonian region as a whole emerged during Ottoman rule. These censuses lack any reference to a specific "Macedonian" ethnicity, but only records the population as either Greek or Bulgarian, as well as other minorities — Turks, Aromanians, Jews and Albanians.

Most of the ethnographers and travellers during Ottoman rule classified Slavic speaking people in Macedonia as Bulgarians. Examples include the 17th Century traveller Evliya Celebi in his Seyahatname - Book of Travels to the Ottoman census of Hilmi Pasha in 1904 and later. However, they also remarked that the language spoken in Macedonia had somewhat of a distinctive character — often described as a "Western Bulgarian dialect". [19] Evidence also exists that certain Macedonian Slavs, particularly those in the northern regions, considered themselves as Serbs[20] and the Greek Idea predominated in southern Macedonia where it was supported by substantial part of the Slavic population. However, at the beginning of 20th Century there were some ethnographers like the Serb Jovan Cvijić[58] and the Russian Alexander F. Rittih,[59] that qualified the Slavic-speaking population of Macedonia as a separate ethnicity. Although references are made referring to Slavs in Macedonia being labeled as 'Bulgarians', scholars such as Walter Pohl and John Fine suggest that ethnicity in Medieval times was more fluid than what we see it to be today, an understanding derived from nineteenth century nationalistic ideals of a homogeneous nation-state. In historical times, ethnicity was more a function of "political loyalty" than apparent tribal origins[60][61]. Furthermore, later nobles from Macedonia might claimed Bulgarian identity to bolster their prestige by establishing links with the powerful First Bulgarian Empire.


The Macedonian Question

File:Misirkov-ZaMakedonskiteRaboti.jpg
The front cover of the book "On Macedonian Matters" by Krste Misirkov published in 1903.

According to some authors, during Ottoman rule, most of the Christian population of Macedonia didn’t have a formed national identity. This was due to the Millet system implemented by the Ottomans, which separated the populations of the empire according to religion, rather than ethnic origins; sufficing to say that they were Slavic-speaking Orthodox Christians. Some defined the Macedonian population as an archaic Slavic mass, without a formed national identity, influenced by Byzantine traditions.[62] Other authors from the first half of 20th century maintain that the majority of Macedonians had always been considered Bulgarian both by themselves and by their neighbours.[63]

With the beginning of the Greek national renaissance, and after the creation of the modern Greek state, the Slavic-speaking people of Macedonia were considered to be Greek, because the Greek Patriarchy was given the exclusive right to manage the religious and political life of the Christians within the Ottoman Empire. [64]. After the beginning of the Bulgarian awakening, a lot of people from Macedonia saw a chance to struggle against the Greek religious dominance, and joined the Bulgarian Exarchate which conducted matters in Bulgarian, which was the most closely related language to to theirs, and therefore seen as more appealing by some.[65] New, Bulgarian schools were opened beside the existing Greek ones. Afterwards, Serbia also started opening propagandist schools, and soon in the beginning of the 20th century, Macedonia became an arena in which Bulgarian, Greek and Serbian educational and church institutions were struggling for the assimilation of the local population. [66][67]

From Gjorgi Pulevski's "Dictionary of Three languages: Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish" published in 1875.

Knowing that the Ottoman Empire rather grouped people together along religious orientation,[68] those Macedonians that were under the jurisdiction of the Greek Patriarchate were considered Greeks, those under the Bulgarian Exarchate were considered Bulgarians, and those under Serbian Patriarchate as Serbs. After 1871 the majority of the Slav-speakers were under the influence of the Bulgarian Exarchate and its education system, thus in the early 20th century and beyond, were regarded as Bulgarians, whatever that meant.[69].[70][71] According to some authors the term "Bulgarian", within the context of Macedonian inhabitants, could have referring to any Slavic speaking Christian, regardless of specific ethnic orientation[72].

In general, national awakening in the Balkans developed later compared to Western Europe, developing last of all in Macedonia. By this time Greece and Serbia had already declared themselves as independent Kingdoms, Bulgaria being autonomous. Continued Turkish oppression in Macedonia was coupled by polarising influences from Macedonia's neighbours. As each country vied to expand further, i.e. into Macedonia, they attempted to persuade the Macedonian population into allegiance. The forum of this persuasion was via provision of education and church services. During Ottoman rule, the Greeks became dominant within the Orthodox millet, however with the majority of Macedonians being illiterate, they were effectively insulated from Hellenization. Later, most Macedonians turned to the growing Bulgarian Exarchate and its education system due to the affinity of the languages compared to Greek.

Historical claims on Macedonia region

Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece all had, in their views, "historical rights" over the territory of Macedonia. Greece held the view that modern Greeks are culturally and linguistically the closest living relatives of the ancient Macedonians. From this, they regarded themselves as the rightful inheritors of ancient Macedonia's legacy and territory. The Bulgarians claimed Macedonia because it had been a part of the medieval Bulgarian Empire, as well of the Bulgarian Exarchate since 1874. Bulgaria had even been granted Macedonia in the 1878 Treaty of San Stefano. Likewise, Serbia also invoked its medieval legacy; the city of Skopje served as the capital of Stefan Dušan's 14th century Serbian Empire. The dispute continued between 1878 and 1912 when these rival views succeeded in dividing the Slavic-speaking population of Macedonia into three distinct parties, the pro-Serbian, the pro-Greek or the pro-Bulgarian one.

Macedonian awakening

Krste Misirkov.[1]
See also: National awakening of the ethnic Macedonians

The national awakening of the ethnic Macedonians gathered pace in the late 19th century and early 20th century — this is the time of the first expressions of ethnic nationalism by limited groups of intellectuals in Belgrade, Sofia, Istanbul, Thessaloniki and St. Petersburg. These individuals propagated the unique character of the Slavic speaking population of Macedonia (region), that is, that the Slavic-speakers of Macedonia compose a separate ethnicity which is different from Serbian and Bulgarian. The activities of these people was registered by Petko Slaveykov[73] and Stojan Novaković[74]

The first author that propagated the separate ethnicity of the Macedonians was Georgi Pulevski, who in 1875 published "Dictionary of Three languages: Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish", in which he wrote:

"What do we call a nation"? "People who are of the same origin and who speak the same words and who live and make friends of each other, who have the same customs and songs and entertainment are what we call a nation, and the place where that people lives is called the people's country. Thus the Macedonians also are a nation and the place which is theirs is called Macedonia."

On the other hand Theodosius of Skopje, a priest who have hold a high ranking positions within the Bulgarian Exarchate was chosen as a bishop of the episcopacy of Skopje in 1885. As a bishop of Skopje, Theodosius renounced de facto the Bulgarian Exarchate and attempted to restore the Archbishopric of Ohrid and to separate the episcopacies in Macedonia from the Exarchate.[75] During this time period Metropolitan Bishop Theodosius of Skopje made several pleas to the Bulgarian church to allow a separate Macedonian church, he viewed this as the only way to end the turmoil in the Balkans.

In 1903 Krste Misirkov published his book On Macedonian Matters in which he laid down the principles of the modern Macedonian nationhood and language. This book is considered by ethnic Macedonians as a milestone of the ethnic Macedonian identity and the apogee of the process of Macedonian awakening. In his article "Macedonian Nationalism" he wrote:

"I hope it will not be held against me that I, as a Macedonian, place the interests of my country before all... I am a Macedonian, I have a Macedonian's consciousness, and so I have my own Macedonian view of the past, present, and future of my country and of all the South Slavs; and so I should like them to consult us, the Macedonians, about all the questions concerning us and our neighbours, and not have everything end merely with agreements between Bulgaria and Serbia about us – but without us."

File:Partizani Bitola.JPG
Macedonian partisans liberating the city of Bitola.
File:Kolona Makedonki Partizani.JPG
Macedonian from Greece fighting in the Greek Civil War.

The next great figure of the Macedonian awakening was Dimitrija Čupovski, one of the founders of the of the Macedonian Literary Society, established in Saint Petersburg in 1902. In the period 1913-1918, Čupovski published the newspaper Македонскi Голосъ (Macedonian Voice) in which he and fellow members of the Petersburg Macedonian Colony propagated the existence of a Macedonian people separate from the Greeks, Bulgarians and Serbs, and sought to popularize the idea for an independent Macedonian state.

After the Balkan Wars, following division of the region of Macedonia amongst the Kingdom of Greece, the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Serbia, and after World War I, the idea of belonging to a separate Macedonian nation was further spread among the Slavic-speaking population. The suffering during the wars, the endless struggle of the Balkan monarchies for dominance over the population increased the Macedonians' sentiment that the institutionalization of an independent Macedonian nation would put an end to their suffering. On the question of whether they were Serbs or Bulgarians, the people more often started answering: "Neither Bulgar, nor Serb... I am Macedonian only, and I'm sick of war."[76][77]

The first revolutionary organization that promoted the existence of a separate ethnic Macedonian nation was Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United),[78] composed of former left-wing Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) members. This idea was internationalized and backed by the Comintern which issued in 1934 a declaration supporting the development of the entity.[79] This action was attacked by the IMRO, but was supported by the Balkan communists. The Balkan communist parties supported the national consolidation of the ethnic Macedonian people and created Macedonian sections within the parties, headed by prominent IMRO (United) members. The sense of belonging to a separate Macedonian nation gained credence during World War II when ethnic Macedonian partisan detachments were formed, and especially after World War II when ethnic Macedonian institutions were created in the three parts of the region of Macedonia,[80] including the establishment of the People's Republic of Macedonia within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ).

History

Main article: History of the Macedonian people

The history of the ethnic Macedonians is closely associated with the historical and geographical region of Macedonia, and is manifested with their constant struggle for an independent state. After many decades of insurrections and living through several wars, the Macedonians in World War II managed to create their own country.

Symbols

See also: Flags of the Republic of Macedonia
  • The official Coat of Arms
    The official Coat of Arms
  • The Flag of the Republic of Macedonia
    The Flag of the Republic of Macedonia
  • Sun: The official flag of the Republic of Macedonia, adopted in 1995, is a yellow sun with eight broadening rays extending to the edges of the red field.
  • Coat of Arms: After independence in 1992, the Republic of Macedonia retained the coat of arms adopted in 1946 by the People's Assembly of the People's Republic of Macedonia on its second extraordinary session held on July 27, 1946, later on altered by article 8 of the Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Macedonia. The coat-of-arms is composed by a double bent garland of ears of wheat, tobacco and poppy, tied by a ribbon with the embroidery of a traditional folk costume. In the center of such a circular room there are mountains, rivers, lakes and the sun; where the ears join there is a red five-pointed star, a traditional symbol of communism. All this is said to represent "the richness of our country, our struggle, and our freedom".

Unofficial symbols

  • Lion: The lion first appears in 1595 in the Korenich-Neorich coat of arms, where the coat of arms of Macedonia is included among with those of eleven other countries. On the coat of arms is a crown, inside a yellow crowned lion is depicted standing rampant, on a red background. On the bottom enclosed in a red and yellow border is written "Macedonia". Later versions of these coat of arms include a more detailed crown and lion with the word "Macedonia" written in a scroll like style. A modern version of the historial lion has also been added to the emblem of several political parties, organizations and sports clubs.
  • Vergina Sun: (official flag, 1992-1995) The Vergina Sun is occasionally used to represent the Macedonian people by the diaspora through associations and cultural groups. The Vergina Sun is believed to have been associated with ancient Macedonian kings such as Alexander the Great and Philip II, although it was used as an ornamental design in Greek art long before the Macedonian period. The symbol was discovered in the Greek region of Macedonia and Greeks regard it as an exclusively Greek symbol, unrelated to Slavic cultures and it is copyrighted under WIPO as a State Emblem of Greece [21]. The Vergina sun on a red field was the first flag of the independent Republic of Macedonia, until it was removed from the state flag under an agreement reached between the Republic of Macedonia and Greece in September 1995.[81] Nevertheless, the Vergina sun is still used [22] unofficially as a national symbol by some groups in the country along with the new state flag.

Macedonians through history

See also

References

Template:Reflist-2

Further reading

  • Brown, Keith, The Past in Question: Modern Macedonia and the Uncertainties of Nation, Princeton University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-691-09995-2.
  • Brunnbauer, Ulf (2004). "Fertility, families and ethnic conflict: Macedonians and Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia, 1944-2002". Nationalities Papers. 32 (3): 565–598. doi:10.1080/0090599042000246406. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  • Cowan, Jane K. (ed.), Macedonia: The Politics of Identity and Difference, Pluto Press, 2000. A collection of articles.
  • Danforth, Loring M., The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World, Princeton University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-691-04356-6.
  • Karakasidou, Anastasia N., Fields of Wheat, Hills of Blood: Passages to Nationhood in Greek Macedonia, 1870-1990, University Of Chicago Press, 1997, ISBN 0-226-42494-4. Reviewed in Journal of Modern Greek Studies 18:2 (2000), p465.
  • Mackridge, Peter, Eleni Yannakakis (eds.), Ourselves and Others: The Development of a Greek Macedonian Cultural Identity since 1912, Berg Publishers, 1997, ISBN 1-85973-138-4.
  • Poulton, Hugh, Who Are the Macedonians?, Indiana University Press, 2nd ed., 2000. ISBN 0-253-21359-2.
  • Roudometof, Victor, Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian Question, Praeger Publishers, 2002. ISBN 0-275-97648-3.
  • Κωστόπουλος, Τάσος, Η απαγορευμένη γλώσσα: Η κρατική καταστολή των σλαβικών διαλέκτων στην ελληνική Μακεδονία σε όλη τη διάρκεια του 20ού αιώνα (εκδ. Μαύρη Λίστα, Αθήνα 2000). [Tasos Kostopoulos, The forbidden language: state suppression of the Slavic dialects in Greek Macedonia through the 20th century, Athens: Black List, 2000]

Notes

  1. ^ a b People that are considered to be Bulgarians in Bulgaria and Macedonians in the Republic of Macedonia
  2. ^ Nasevski, Boško (1995). Македонски Иселенички Алманах '95. Skopje: Матица на Иселениците на Македонија. pp. 52 & 53. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ 2002 census
  4. ^ 2006 Census
  5. ^ a b c d e f Population Estimate from the MFA
  6. ^ Foreign Citizens in Italy, 2007
  7. ^ 2006 figures
  8. ^ a b c d e Population Estimate from the MFA Cite error: The named reference "autogenerated1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  9. ^ 2005 Figures
  10. ^ 2007 Community Survey
  11. ^ Nasevski, Boško (1995). Македонски Иселенички Алманах '95. Skopje: Матица на Иселениците на Македонија. pp. 52 & 53. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ 2006 census
  13. ^ 2001 census
  14. ^ Nasevski, Boško (1995). Македонски Иселенички Алманах '95. Skopje: Матица на Иселениците на Македонија. pp. 52 & 53. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ 2002 census
  16. ^ 2001 census - Tabelle 13: Ausländer nach Staatsangehörigkeit (ausgewählte Staaten), Altersgruppen und Geschlecht — page 74
  17. ^ a b 1996 Estimate
  18. ^ 2001 census, CEDIME-SE report and Kanev, Krassimir (1998b). “Konventsiyata za maltsinstvata i zdraviyat smisul” [The Minorities’ Convention and Common Sense], Ethno Reporter, No.1, 1998, (Sofia: International Initiative for Minority Rights).
  19. ^ Center for Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe — Southeast Europe (CEDIME-SE) - Macedonians of Bulgaria
  20. ^ http://www.fes.hr/E-books/pdf/Local%20Self%20Government/09.pdf Artan Hoxha and Alma Gurraj "LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT AND DECENTRALIZATION: CASE OF ALBANIA. HISTORY, REFORMES AND CHALLENGES" "...According to latest Albanian census conducted in April 1989, 98 % of Albanian population are Albanian ethnic. The remaining 2% (or 64816 people) belong to ethnic minorities: the vast majority is composed by ethnic Greeks (58758 ); ethnic Macedonians (4697)...",[1], Joshua Project
  21. ^ OECD Statistics
  22. ^ 2002 census
  23. ^ 2002 census
  24. ^ 2006 census
  25. ^ "Belgium population statistics". www.dofi.fgov.be. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
  26. ^ 2008 census
  27. ^ 2008 figures
  28. ^ 2003 census,Population Estimate from the MFA
  29. ^ 2005 census
  30. ^ a b Makedonci vo Svetot
  31. ^ Polands Holocaust: Ethnic Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide in the Second Republic, 1918-1947, page 260
  32. ^ a b "Data on immigrants in Greece, from Census 2001" (PDF). Migrants in Greece. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
  33. ^ "Greece – Report about Compliance with the Principles of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (along guidelines for state reports according to Article 25.1 of the Convention)". Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) & Minority Rights Group – Greece (MRG-G). 1999-09-18. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
  34. ^ Montenegrin 2003 census - [2]
  35. ^ 2002 census
  36. ^ "Macedonian Slavs" can be translated into Macedonian as Македонски Словени (Makedonski Sloveni). "Slavs" is the primary qualifier used by scholars in order to disambiguate the ethnic Macedonians from all other Macedonians in the region (see Google scholar for instance). Krste Misirkov himself used the same qualifier numerous times in one of the first ethnic Macedonian patriotic texts "On Macedonian Matters" (most of the text in English here). The Slav Macedonians in Greece were happy to be acknowledged as "Slavomacedonians". A native of Greek Macedonia, a pioneer of Slav Macedonian schools in the region and a local historian, Pavlos Koufis, wrote in Laografika Florinas kai Kastorias (Folklore of Florina and Kastoria), Athens 1996, that (translation by User:Politis),

    "[During its Panhellenic Meeting in September 1942, the KKE mentioned that it recognises the equality of the ethnic minorities in Greece] the KKE recognised that the Slavophone population was ethnic minority of Slavomacedonians]. This was a term, which the inhabitants of the region accepted with relief. [Because] Slavomacedonians = Slavs+Macedonians. The first section of the term determined their origin and classified them in the great family of the Slav peoples."

    However, the current use of "Slavomacedonian" in reference to both the ethnic group and the language, although acceptable in the past, can be considered pejorative and offensive by some ethnic Macedonians living in Greece. The Greek Helsinki Monitor reports:
    : "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness. Unfortunately, according to members of the community, this term was later used by the Greek authorities in a pejorative, discriminatory way; hence the reluctance if not hostility of modern-day Macedonians of Greece (i.e. people with a Macedonian national identity) to accept it."

  37. ^ in his book The Races Of Europe
  38. ^ Lundman, Bertil J. - The Races and Peoples of Europe (New York: IAAEE. 1977)[3]
  39. ^ MACEDONIA: Its races and their future. H. N. Brailsford, London, 1906. p. 101
  40. ^ Пътуване по долините на Струма, Места и Брегалница. Битолско, Преспа и Охридско. Васил Кънчов (Избрани произведения. Том I. Издателство "Наука и изкуство", София 1970) [4]
  41. ^ (ETHNOGRAPHIE VON MAKEDONIEN, Geschichtlich-nationaler, spraechlich-statistischer Teil von Prof. Dr. Gustav Weigand, Leipzig, Friedrich Brandstetter, 1924, Превод Елена Пипилева)[5]
  42. ^ "Macedonia :: History. -- Encyclopaedia Britannica". Retrieved 2007-08-27.
  43. ^ Coon, Carleton Stevens. The Races of Europe. Greenwood Press Reprint. ISBN 0-8371-6328-5., Chapter XII, section 15[6]
  44. ^ Rebala K et al. (2007), Y-STR variation among Slavs: evidence for the Slavic homeland in the middle Dnieper basin, Journal of Human Genetics, 52:406-14
  45. ^ Petlichkovski A, Efinska-Mladenovska O, Trajkov D, Arsov T, Strezova A, Spiroski M (2004). "High-resolution typing of HLA-DRB1 locus in the Macedonian population". Tissue Antigens. 64 (4): 486–91. doi:10.1111/j.1399-0039.2004.00273.x. PMID 15361127.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  46. ^ Ivanova M, Rozemuller E, Tyufekchiev N, Michailova A, Tilanus M, Naumova E (2002). "HLA polymorphism in Bulgarians defined by high-resolution typing methods in comparison with other populations". Tissue Antigens. 60 (6): 496–504. doi:10.1034/j.1399-0039.2002.600605.x. PMID 12542743.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  47. ^ Bulgarian Bone Marrow Donors Registry—past and future directions — Asen Zlatev, Milena Ivanova, Snejina Michailova, Anastasia Mihaylova and Elissaveta Naumova, Central Laboratory of Clinical Immunology, University Hospital "Alexandrovska", Sofia, Bulgaria, Published online: 2 June 2007 [7]
  48. ^ "European Journal of Human Genetics - Y chromosomal heritage of Croatian population and its island isolates".
  49. ^ Semino, Ornella (2000). "The Genetic Legacy of Paleolithic Homo sapiens sapiens in Extant Europeans: A Y Chromosome Perspective" (PDF). Science. 290: 1155–59. doi:10.1126/science.290.5494.1155. PMID 11073453.
  50. ^ Tissue Antigens. Volume 55 Issue 1 Page 53-56, January 2000.HLA-DRB and DQB1 polymorphism in the Macedonian population.
  51. ^ 60 000 чакат да станат българи, 10 септември 2008 / News.dir.bg
  52. ^ Artan Hoxha and Alma Gurraj, Local Self-Government and Decentralization: Case of Albania. History, Reforms and Challenges. In: Local Self Government and Decentralization in South — East Europe. Proceedings of the workshop held in Zagreb, Croatia 6 April 2001. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Zagreb Office, Zagreb 2001, pp 194-224 [8].
  53. ^ Second congress of the political party of Macedonians in Greece. Vesnik Dnevnik
  54. ^ Report about Compliance with the Principles of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (Greece) - GREEK HELSINKI MONITOR (GHM)...those with a Macedonian national identity can be estimated to between 10,000-30,000. Indeed, the political party “Rainbow” which was created in 1994 and has campaigned for the recognition of a national Macedonian minority, received 7,300 votes in 1994 and 5,000 in 1999, two elections it contested alone: these figures correspond to some 7,000-10,000 citizens of all (not just voting) ages. One can estimate that besides this “hard core” there may be other citizens voting for mainstream parties that also espouse this identity, hence the above estimate.
  55. ^ The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World, (a) pg. 221 (b) pg. 51, by Loring M. Danforth, ISBN 0-691-04356-6
  56. ^ http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/fr/index/themen/01/07/blank/key/01/01.Document.20578.xls
  57. ^ The Balkans: From Constantinople to Communism. D P Hupchik
  58. ^ Цвиич, Йован. Неколика проматраньа о етнографjи македонских словена. Београд, 1906, с. 4.
  59. ^ 20.11.1914 "Македонскiй Голосъ" - Кто такие Македонцы?
  60. ^ Walter Pohl. (p. 13-24 in: Debating the Middle Ages: Issues and Readings, Ed. Lester K. Little and Barbara H. Rosenwein, Blackwell Publishers, 1998)Ethnic boundaries are not static, and even less so in a period of migrations. It is possible to change one's ethnicity... Even more frequently, in the Early Middle Ages, people lived under circumstances of ethnic ambiguity.
  61. ^ John V A Fine. When Ethnicity Did Not Matter in the Balkans. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-11414-x. Pg 3 most South Slavs metioned with specific national-type names mentioned in our sources were such by political affiliation, namely that the individuals named so served the given state's ruler, and cannot be considered ethnic Serbs, Croats or whatever
  62. ^ Балканско полуострво и јужнословенске земље. Јован Цвијић, Београд. (page 92-95)
  63. ^ Swire, Joseph. Albania: the Rise of the Kingdom, London 1929, p. 114
  64. ^ Histoire de la Grèce moderne. Nikolaos Svoronos
  65. ^ The Balkans. From Constantinople to Communism. Dennis Hupchik
  66. ^ За македонската нација. Драган Ташковски
  67. ^ "Shoot the Teacher!" Education and the Roots of the. Macedonian Struggle. Julian Allan Brooks.
  68. ^ The Balkans
  69. ^ (Brubaker 1996: 153; Ruhl 1916: 6; Perry in Lorrabee 1994: 61)
  70. ^ The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica. [9]
  71. ^ Carnegie Endowment for International peace.REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION. To Inquire into the causes and Conduct OF THE BALKAN WARS, PUBLISHED BY THE ENDOWMENT WASHINGTON, D.C. 1914 [10]
  72. ^ The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World — Loring M. Danforth, ISBN13: 978-0-691-04356-2
  73. ^ "The Macedonian question" published 18 January 1871
  74. ^ Балканска питања и мање историјско-политичке белешке о Балканском полуострву 1886-1905. Стојан Новаковић, Београд, 1906.
  75. ^ Theodosius of Skopje Centralen D'rzhaven istoricheski archiv (Sofia) 176, op. 1. arh.ed. 595, l.5-42 - Razgledi, X/8 (1968), p.996-1000.
  76. ^ Историја на македонската нација. Блаже Ристовски, 1999, Скопје.
  77. ^ "On the Monastir Road". Herbert Corey, National Geographic, May 1917 (page.388)
  78. ^ The Situation in Macedonia and the Tasks of IMRO (United) - published in the official newspaper of IMRO (United), "Македонско дело", N.185, April 1934
  79. ^ Резолюция о македонской нации (принятой Балканском секретариате Коминтерна — Февраль 1934 г, Москва
  80. ^ History of the Balkans, Vol. 2: Twentieth Century. Barbara Jelavich, 1983.
  81. ^ Floudas, Demetrius Andreas; ""A Name for a Conflict or a Conflict for a Name? An Analysis of Greece's Dispute with FYROM",". 24 (1996) Journal of Political and Military Sociology, 285. Retrieved 2007-01-24.

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