Geographical distribution of the Macedonian language
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The geographical distribution of speakers of Macedonian refers to the total number of native speakers of
Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...
, an East South Slavic language that serves as the official language of
North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
. Estimates of the number of
native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...
and
second language A person's second language, or L2, is a language that is not the native language (first language or L1) of the speaker, but is learned later. A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a fo ...
speakers of Macedonian varies; the number of native speakers in the country ranges from 1,344,815 according to the 2002 census in North Macedonia to 1,476,500 per linguistic database ''
Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...
'' in 2016. Estimates of the total number of speakers in the world include 3.5 million people. Macedonian is studied and spoken as a
second language A person's second language, or L2, is a language that is not the native language (first language or L1) of the speaker, but is learned later. A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a fo ...
by all ethnic minorities in the country. Outside of the country, Macedonian is spoken as a native language by migrant communities throughout the
Balkan Peninsula The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, predominantly by Macedonians who live in the geographical region of Macedonia and post- Yugoslav countries. The actual number of Macedonian native and second language speakers in the region of Macedonia is difficult to establish due to political policies of
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
,
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
and
Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
. Several
Macedonian dialects The dialects of Macedonian comprise the Slavic languages, Slavic dialects spoken in the Republic of North Macedonia as well as some variety (linguistics), varieties spoken in the wider geographic region of Macedonia (region), Macedonia. They are pa ...
are also considered dialects of the
Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...
or
Bulgarian language Bulgarian (, ; bg, label=none, български, bălgarski, ) is an Eastern South Slavic language spoken in Southeastern Europe, primarily in Bulgaria. It is the language of the Bulgarians. Along with the closely related Macedonian la ...
, which further hinders establishing the number of native speakers of Macedonian. Macedonian is also spoken in
continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...
, predominantly in countries of Western and Northern Europe. Other speakers can also be found in the rest of the world, predominantly
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. A 1964 estimate of the emigrant population put the number of Macedonian speakers outside the Balkans at approximately 580,000 people.


North Macedonia

In North Macedonia, according to the 2002 census, among the country's total population of 2,022,547 people, 1,344,815 spoke Macedonian as a native tongue. The number of native speakers in the capital
Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...
included 341,340 people. According to data from the census, speakers of Macedonian are the majority in all regions of North Macedonia, except the North-Western regions, which are predominantly populated by native speakers of
Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
. Macedonian is the native language of 70% of all inhabitants of the country. In addition to the Macedonian population, ethnic Albanians,
Serbians The term Serbians in English is a polysemic word, with two distinctive meanings, derived from morphological differences: * Morphology 1: Serb-ian- s, derived from the noun ''Serb'' and used interchangeably to refer to ethnic Serbs, thus having ...
,
Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
,
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
and
Aromanians The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Alba ...
speak the language to various degrees as secondary speakers. American linguist
Victor Friedman Victor A. Friedman (born October 18, 1949) is an American linguist, Slavist. He is the Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Service Professor in Humanities at the University of Chicago. He holds an appointment in the Department of Linguistics and an ...
estimated there were 3.5 million speakers in 2001. The annual linguistic database ''
Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...
'' estimated that there were 1,476,500 native speakers of Macedonian in 2016.


Geographical region of Macedonia

The areal span of Macedonian that was formed with the settlement of
Slavic people Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
to the
Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
s covered the historico-geographical region of Macedonia until the beginning of the 20th century. This territory includes
Vardar Macedonia Vardar Macedonia ( Macedonian and sr, Вардарска Македонија, ''Vardarska Makedonija'') was the name given to the territory of the Kingdom of Serbia (1912–1918) and Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) roughly corresponding to t ...
– the territory corresponding to today's
North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
– and the bordering regions that were conquered by
Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
(
Mala Prespa Mala Prespa ( Macedonian and bg, Мала Преспа, ) is a term used to denote a geographical area in eastern Albania, part of the wider region of Prespa. It is located on the western shore of Lake Prespa along the southeastern edge of Alba ...
and Gollobordë),
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
( Greek Macedonia; north region of current-day Greece) and
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
( Pirin Macedonia; South-West region of current-day Bulgaria) after the
Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...
. Macedonian is predominantly spoken in Vardar Macedonia on the territory of North Macedonia. Speakers of Macedonian dialects of Bulgarian have a Bulgarian linguistic and national sense of identity and in Greece, following the
Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...
, the number of speakers decreased to a negligible number due to historical events and policies. According to the official census of 2011, the number of speakers of Macedonian in Albania was 4,443, and 1,404 in Bulgaria (2011). The number of speakers of Macedonian in North Macedonia and regions and territories that are part of the historical region of Macedonia include:


Greek Macedonia

In Greece, there is no official statistical measure that reports the number of people who have a Macedonian national identity or who speak Macedonian. In the beginning of the 20th century and until the Balkan Wars, the number of Slavophones in the geographical region of Greek Macedonia included 350,000 people (including approximately 41,000 Muslim Slavs). As a result of the
population exchange between Greece and Turkey The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey ( el, Ἡ Ἀνταλλαγή, I Antallagí, ota, مبادله, Mübâdele, tr, Mübadele) stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at ...
that took place in 1923, and following migration of the Slavic population, caused by the Greek Civil War in the period of 1946–1949, there were approximately 250,000 "Slavophone Greeks" remaining in the country according to the 1951 census. The approximate number of speakers of Macedonian in Greece in the 2000s, according to several different sources ranges between 10,000 and 250,000 people: * 10,000–50,000 (according to
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices Country Reports on Human Rights Practices are annual publications on the human rights conditions in countries and regions outside the United States, mandated by U.S. law to be submitted annually by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of ...
, 2001); * 80,000–120,000 (according to German linguist
Harald Haarmann Harald Haarmann (born 1946) is a German linguist and cultural scientist who lives and works in Finland. Haarmann studied general linguistics, various philological disciplines and prehistory at the universities of Hamburg, Bonn, Coimbra and Bang ...
, 2002); * up to 200,000 (according to dates published by Russian linguist Rina Pavlovna Usikova, including the number of all Greek Macedonians, regardless of their knowledge of Macedonian). In Greece, speakers of Macedonian are located predominantly in the Northern regions of the country and in prefectures in the peripheral administrative divisions. Speakers of Macedonian can be found in the prefectures of
Central Macedonia Central Macedonia ( el, Κεντρική Μακεδονία, Kentrikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the geographical and historical region of Macedonia. With a populat ...
, including Pella,
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
, partially Kilkis (South region), Imathia (Northern region) and Serres (several villages); in the periphery of Western Macedonia, including Florina (70–72 villages), Kastoria (77 villages), partially Kozani (North-Western part); and in the periphery of Epirus in
Ioannina Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...
(several villages). The number of native speakers and Macedonian language use in these regions has decreased and only a small minority of residents profess a Macedonian ethnic identity. Several
Macedonian dialects The dialects of Macedonian comprise the Slavic languages, Slavic dialects spoken in the Republic of North Macedonia as well as some variety (linguistics), varieties spoken in the wider geographic region of Macedonia (region), Macedonia. They are pa ...
are native to the Greek region of Macedonia, including
Lerin Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the ...
, Lower Prespa, Maleševo-Pirin, Nestram-Kostenar, Kostur, Korča, Solun-Voden and the
Ser-Drama-Lagadin-Nevrokop dialect The Ser-Drama-Lagadin-Nevrokop dialect is a dialect currently treated both in the contexts of the southeastern group of Bulgarian dialects and the southeastern subgroup of dialects of the Macedonian. Prior to the codification of standard Mac ...
. However, according to Riki van Boeschoten, the Slavic dialects of Eastern Greek Macedonia are closer to
Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...
, and the Central dialect used in the area between
Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...
and Salonica is an intermediate between Macedonian and Bulgarian. Peter Trudgill also classifies certain peripheral dialects in the far east of Greek Macedonia as part of the
Bulgarian language Bulgarian (, ; bg, label=none, български, bălgarski, ) is an Eastern South Slavic language spoken in Southeastern Europe, primarily in Bulgaria. It is the language of the Bulgarians. Along with the closely related Macedonian la ...
area.
Victor Friedman Victor A. Friedman (born October 18, 1949) is an American linguist, Slavist. He is the Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Service Professor in Humanities at the University of Chicago. He holds an appointment in the Department of Linguistics and an ...
considers those
Macedonian dialects The dialects of Macedonian comprise the Slavic languages, Slavic dialects spoken in the Republic of North Macedonia as well as some variety (linguistics), varieties spoken in the wider geographic region of Macedonia (region), Macedonia. They are pa ...
, spoken east from Kilkis, to be transitional to the Bulgarian language. Some Greek Macedonians after the civil war of 1946–1949 moved to countries of
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
and the former
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. Around 40,000 Macedonians from the Greek region of Macedonia migrated to countries of Eastern Europe, including: Albania,
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
,
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
,
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and to Soviet Union countries such as
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
,
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
and
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
. A part of the Slavic Greeks also migrated to Australia, the United States and Canada. In the 1970s, some Macedonians repatriated from emigration regions to their historical homeland and they mostly returned to the Yugoslav
SR Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалистичка Република Македонија, Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia or Yugoslav Macedonia, was ...
.


Bulgarian Macedonia

In Bulgaria, speakers of Macedonian are located in the South-Western part of the country, predominantly in the region of Blagoevgrad. According to the 2011 Bulgarian census, 1404 persons in Bulgaria (561 of them in
Blagoevgrad Province Blagoevgrad Province ( bg, област Благоевград, ''oblast Blagoevgrad'' or Благоевградска област, ''Blagoevgradska oblast''), also known as Pirin Macedonia or Bulgarian Macedonia ( bg, Пиринска Маке ...
) declared Macedonian as their native language. The Macedonian language has been subject to different views in Bulgaria through history. Its existence as a
minority language A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities. With a total number of 196 sovereign states recognized internationally (as of 2019) and ...
was recognized in
Communist Bulgaria The People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB; bg, Народна Република България (НРБ), ''Narodna Republika Balgariya, NRB'') was the official name of Bulgaria, when it was a socialist republic from 1946 to 1990, ruled by the ...
shortly following
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. This led to its declaration as official in the region of Pirin Macedonia in 1947, which also included the publishing of newspapers and books in Macedonian and introducing the language as a subject in schools. Following the Tito–Stalin split taking place at the end of 1947, the Bulgarian government and Academy of Sciences turned slowly back to their pre-1946 view that Macedonian was a variant of Bulgarian and that the Slavic population in Blagoevgrad was Bulgarian. After 1958, Macedonian in Bulgaria was restricted to home use only. Changes in attitudes about the existence of the Macedonian ethnicity were also reflected in the number of people reporting to be Macedonian in censuses in the Pirin region: 252,908 in 1946, 178,862 in 1956 and 8,750 in 1965 following complete suppression of the language. Although there is not a clear separating isogloss between the two languages, the influence of both standards during the time, but also the strong Serbo-Croatian linguistic influence over Macedonian dialects in Yugoslav era, led to a horizontal cross-border dialectal divergence. Jouko Lindstedt has assumed that this dividing line maybe in fact the
Yat border Yat or jat (Ѣ ѣ; italics: ) is the thirty-second letter of the old Cyrillic alphabet and the Rusyn alphabet. There is also another version of yat, the iotified yat (majuscule: , minuscule: ), which is a Cyrillic character combining a ...
, which goes through geographical Macedonia along the VelingradPetrich
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
line. There are two dialects in Bulgaria that are considered Macedonian (transitional to Bulgarian) by Friedman and other linguists in North Macedonia as Božidar Vidoeski and Blaže Koneski: the Maleševo-Pirin (widely spoken in most of
Blagoevgrad Province Blagoevgrad Province ( bg, област Благоевград, ''oblast Blagoevgrad'' or Благоевградска област, ''Blagoevgradska oblast''), also known as Pirin Macedonia or Bulgarian Macedonia ( bg, Пиринска Маке ...
in Bulgaria and
Delčevo Delčevo ( mk, Делчево ) is a small town in the eastern mountainous part of North Macedonia. It is the municipal seat of the eponymous municipality. A festival in celebration of revolutionary leader Goce Delčev) is held every year on Au ...
region in the North Macedonia) and the
Ser-Drama-Lagadin-Nevrokop dialect The Ser-Drama-Lagadin-Nevrokop dialect is a dialect currently treated both in the contexts of the southeastern group of Bulgarian dialects and the southeastern subgroup of dialects of the Macedonian. Prior to the codification of standard Mac ...
s. Bulgarian linguists consider these dialects to be Bulgarian. In the context of Bulgarian dialectology, the Ser-Drama-Lagadin-Nevrokop dialects are situated East of the Yat boundary and thus are considered to belong to the Eastern Bulgarian dialects.


Albanian Macedonia

In Albania, the Macedonophone population lives in the eastern regions of the country, with the largest number of speakers found in the region of
Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the eighth most populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population is 75,994 (2011 census), in a total area of . It stands on a plateau some ...
. It is the primary language in the Pustec district and other populations can be found in Mala Prespa and Golo Brdo. Macedonian is taught and spoken among the Macedonian minority in Albania. It is taught as a school subject in some primary schools is used for some official purposes. There is one Macedonian radio station and news-journal in circulation.


Post-Yugoslav countries

In post- Yugoslav countries, speakers of Macedonian do not form regions with compact communities. An exception to this is the
ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
of
Gorani people The Gorani (, ) or Goranci (, ), are a Slavic Muslim ethnic group inhabiting the Gora region—the triangle between Kosovo, Albania, and North Macedonia. They number an estimated 60,000 people, and speak a transitional South Slavic dialect, c ...
, members of which populate the South-West region of
Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
and the bordering region of Albania. The
Gora dialect The Gorani or Goranski, also Našinski ("Our language") language, is the variety of South Slavic spoken by the Gorani people in the border area between Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Albania. It is part of the Torlakian dialect group,Browne, ...
s are defined by Macedonian linguists, among whom Božidar Vidoeski, as part of the Macedonian dialectical system. In
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
and
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
, however, these dialects, linguists such as Dalibor Brozović and Pavle Ivić, consider these dialects part of the
Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...
language while Bulgarian linguists include the Goran dialects in the Western Bulgarian dialectal area. The Gorani people however do not have an ethnic and linguistic self-identity, and during the 2011 census in Kosovo, they either listed their language as Goranski (also known as
Našinski The Gorani or Goranski, also Našinski ("Our language") language, is the variety of South Slavic spoken by the Gorani people in the border area between Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Albania. It is part of the Torlakian dialect group,Browne, ...
), as well as
Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...
and Bosnian. In the region of Gora in Kosovo, there were 10.265 Gorani people. In Serbia, the number of Gorani people included 7.767 according to the 2011 census. The
Government of Kosovo sr, Влада Косова / Vlada Kosova , border = , image = , caption = , date = , polity = Kosovo , address = Government Building, Pristina , leader_title = Prime Min ...
began to teach Macedonian after it acquired Macedonian-language textbooks and grammar books for the Gorani population. According to this census, Macedonian populations constitute a significant majority in several villages of Vojvodina,
Dužine Dužine () is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Plandište municipality, in the South Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority (54,33%) with a present Macedonian (31,05%) and Slovenian (8,21%) minority. ...
, Plandiste and
Jabuka Jabuka, meaning ''apple'' in Serbo-Croatian, may refer to: Places * Jabuka (island), a Croatian island * Jabuka, Croatia, a village near Trilj * Jabuka (mountain), a mountain and plateau on the border between Serbia and Montenegro * Jabuka, Pan ...
. In total, there are 12.706 speakers of Macedonian in Serbia and the number of ethnic Macedonian includes 22.755 people Thousands of ethnic Macedonians migrated to
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
in the 1960s and 1970s. Currently there is no specific program to educate students in Macedonian. Yet there are attempts to introduce Macedonian language classes into areas where there is a significant minority. The total number of speakers of Macedonian in other ex-Yugoslav countries includes more than 10,000 people according to data from censuses. In Croatia, 3.519 people declared Macedonian as their native tongue (2011) In
Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
, the number of Macedonian speakers included 4.525 and 4.760 people in 1991 and 2002, respectively. In
Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...
, Macedonians are only represented by a small community, totaling 569 people in the 2011 census. In
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
most Macedonian people live in
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...
and
Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...
, although there are no exact numbers of the speakers of Macedonian there. According to the Yugoslav census of 1991, 1.950 Macedonians lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The number of speakers of Macedonian in ex-Yugoslav countries is summarized below:


Northern and Western Europe

Macedonian serves as the first or second language of many migrant communities and second-generation children in countries of
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
 —
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and others. According to data by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, in 2008, there were around 284.600 Macedonians in Western, South-Western and Northern Europe, including 75–85,000 in Germany, 63,000 in Switzerland, 50,000 in Italy and 12–15,000 in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. The total number of speakers of Macedonian in Northern and Western Europe includes:


North America

Macedonian is present as the first or second language in migrant communities and second-generation children in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. According to data by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia in 2008, the number of the Macedonian diaspora in the US and Canada numbered 350,000 people, 150,000 of which lived in the latter country. In the US, the largest concentrations of Macedonian speakers is in the states of
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
(mostly in
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
), northern
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
and southern
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, and
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. The number of speakers of Macedonian in the US and Canada includes:


Australia and New Zealand

Macedonian has had a long history in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, from the ''pečalbari''/seasonal workers to the mass migrations of ethnic Macedonians from Greece and the Republic of North Macedonia. The 1976 census reported that 16,691 people spoke Macedonian at home. By 1986 this number had risen significantly to 45,610. The 1991 census reported 64,428 people speaking the language at home. The language continued to increase in use with 71,371 speakers in 1996 and 71,994 speakers in 2001. The same year, Macedonian was the ninth most spoken language at home in Australia other than
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
. The first actual decline in language usage occurred in 2006 when only 67,831 people declared they spoke Macedonian at home. According to the 2011 census, 68.846 people spoke Macedonian as a first language while according to other statistics, the total number of Macedonian speakers numbered 200,000. According to data published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, the number of speakers of Macedonian in Australia and New Zealand includes 215,000 people, 15,000 of which are situated in the latter country. In 2001 the largest concentration of speakers were in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
: 30.831,
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
: 19.980,
Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...
: 7.420,
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
: 5.772 and Newcastle: 2.095. Other concentrations include
Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
,
Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in the south-eastern region of New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the ...
,
Shepparton Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparton, ...
,
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...
and
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
. It is possible to choose Macedonian as a study option in the
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
Higher School Certificate and the
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...
VCE. The language is also offered at
Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...
. The number of speakers of Macedonian in Australia and New Zealand includes:


Other countries

Other countries include negligible number of Macedonian speakers. In
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, according to data from the 2010 census, there were 507 speakers of Macedonian In the past, Macedonian was spoken in several countries of Eastern Europe and the
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
due to the migration of Slavic Greek Macedonians following the Greek Civil War (1946–1949). However, the number of speakers of Macedonian in those countries significantly reduced since many displaced Macedonians migrated back to the
Socialist Republic of Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалистичка Република Македонија, Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia or Yugoslav Macedonia, was ...
or to the region of Greek Macedonia. The number of speakers of Macedonian in Central and Eastern European countries includes:


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Geographical Distribution Of The Macedonian Language Macedonian language
Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...