Languages of the Republic of Macedonia
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The official language of North Macedonia is
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 ...
, while
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 ...
has co-official status. Macedonian is spoken by roughly two-thirds of the population natively, and as a second language by much of the rest of the population. Albanian is the largest minority language. There are a further five national minority languages:
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
, Bosnian, and Aromanian. The
Macedonian Sign Language Macedonian Sign Language ( mk, македонски знаковен јазик, translit=makedonski znakoven jazik or mk, македонски гестовен јазик, links=no, translit=makedonski gestoven jazik, label=none) is the sign la ...
is the country's official sign language.


Statistics

According to the 2002 census, North Macedonia had a population of 2,022,547. A total of 1,344,815 Macedonian citizens declared they speak Macedonian, 507,989 speak Albanian, 71,757 speak Turkish, 38,528 speak Roma, 6,884 speak Aromanian, 24,773 speak Serbian, 8.560 speak Bosnian and 19,241 speak other languages.


Language policy


Macedonian (official and national)

The language policy in North Macedonia is regulated by the 7 Article of the Constitution of North Macedonia and the Law of languages. According to the national constitution:


Albanian language

The Albanian language is used as co-official along with Macedonian in the municipalities where speakers of Albanian consist at least 20% of the population or more. As of the 2021 census, Albanian speakers meet or exceed this 20% threshold in 24 municipalities. The new law from 2019 extended the official use of Albanian over the entire country, easing communication in Albanian with the institutions. Under the new legislation, Macedonian continues to be the primary official language, while Albanian may be used now as a second one, including at a national level in official matters. The legislation stipulates also all public institutions in the country will provide Albanian translations in their everyday work. Despite since 2019 the usage of Albanian language being no longer geographically limited, the Macedonian language with the Cyrillic alphabet remains the only official language throughout the whole territory of North Macedonia and its international relations, per Macedonian Government.


Minority languages

Some minority languages are co-official, along with Macedonian, in the municipalities (''opštini'') where they are spoken by at least 20% of the municipal population. Turkish is co-official in Centar Župa,
Karbinci Karbinci ( mk, ) is a village in North Macedonia. It is a seat of the Karbinci municipality. Demographics According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 673 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the village include:Macedonian Census (2002) ''B ...
,
Konče Konče ( mk, ; Turkish Konçe) is a village in North Macedonia. It is the seat of Konče Municipality. Demographics According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 967 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the village include:Macedonian Census ...
, Plasnica, and Vasilevo. Romani is co-official in
Šuto Orizari Šuto Orizari ( mk, , Balkan Romani: ''Shuto Orizari''), often shortened as ''Šutka'' ( mk, Шутка, sq, Shutkë), is a neighbourhood in the City of Skopje, North Macedonia, and the seat of Šuto Orizari Municipality. It is often regarded ...
.


List of languages


Macedonian

Macedonian (, ''makedonski jazik'') is a South Slavic language, spoken as a first language by approximately 1.4–2.5 million people, principally in North Macedonia and the Macedonian diaspora. It is the official language in North Macedonia and a recognized minority language in parts of Albania, Romania and Serbia.
Standard Macedonian Standard Macedonian or literary Macedonian ( mk, книжевен македонски јазик or македонски литературен јазик) is the standard variety of the Macedonian language and the official language of North Mace ...
was implemented as the official language of 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 ...
in 1945 and has since developed a thriving literary tradition. Most of the codification was formalized during the same period.


Albanian

Albanian () is an
Indo-European language The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...
spoken by over 7.3 million people world-wide, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western North Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and Greece. Albanian is also spoken in centuries-old Albanian-based dialect speaking communities scattered in southern Greece, southern Italy, Sicily, Ukraine and the Albanian diaspora. Within North Macedonia, Albanian is spoken in western and northern parts of the Republic. As of January 2019 it has become the co-official language in North Macedonia.


Turkish

Turkish (''Türkçe'') is the most populous of the Turkic languages, with over 70 million native speakers. Speakers are located predominantly in Turkey, with smaller groups in Germany, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Cyprus (mostly in the occupied North of the island), Greece (mostly in
Western Thrace Western Thrace or West Thrace ( el, υτικήΘράκη, '' ytikíThráki'' ; tr, Batı Trakya; bg, Западна/Беломорска Тракия, ''Zapadna/Belomorska Trakiya''), also known as Greek Thrace, is a Geography, geograp ...
), and other parts of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia. Small Turkish-speaking communities can be found in several places in North Macedonia, such as
Vrapčište Vrapčište ( mk, , tr, Vrapçişte, sq, Vrapçisht) is a village and seat of the municipality of Vrapčište, North Macedonia. History A policy of Turkification of the Albanian population was employed by the Yugoslav authorities in cooperatio ...
, Skopje and
Gostivar Gostivar ( mk, Гостивар , Albanian and Turkish: ''Gostivar''), is a city in North Macedonia, located in the upper Polog valley region. It is one of the largest municipalities in the country with a population of 81,042, and the town also ...
. Turkish speakers are above the 20% threshold for local official use in Plasnica Municipality (97%), Centar Zupa (59%),
Karbinci Municipality Karbinci ( mk, ) is a municipality in the eastern part of North Macedonia. '' Karbinci'' is also the name of the village where the municipal seat is found. Karbinci Municipality is part of the Eastern Statistical Region. Geography The municipal ...
(25%), Vasilevo Municipality (23%), and Konče Municipality (22%) as of the 2021 census.2021 census, municipality by mother tongue
/ref>


Romani

Balkan Romani ( rom, romani ćhib) is one of several related languages of the Romani people, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family. Many varieties of Romani are divergent and sometimes considered languages of their own. The largest of these are
Vlax Romani Vlax Romani is a dialect group of the Romani language. Vlax Romani varieties are spoken mainly in Southeastern Europe by the Romani people.Norbert Boretzky and Birgit Igla. Kommentierter Dialektatlas des Romani. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag 200 ...
(about 900,000 speakers),
Balkan Romani Balkan Romani, Balkaniko Romanes, or Balkan Gypsy is a specific non-Vlax dialect of the Romani language, spoken by groups within the Balkans, which include countries such as Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, ...
(700,000), Carpathian Romani (500,000) and
Sinti Romani The Sinti (also ''Sinta'' or ''Sinte''; masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintesa'') are a subgroup of Romani people mostly found in Germany and Central Europe that number around 200,000 people. They were traditionally Itinerant groups in Eu ...
(300,000). In North Macedonia, Balkan Romani is spoken.
Šuto Orizari Šuto Orizari ( mk, , Balkan Romani: ''Shuto Orizari''), often shortened as ''Šutka'' ( mk, Шутка, sq, Shutkë), is a neighbourhood in the City of Skopje, North Macedonia, and the seat of Šuto Orizari Municipality. It is often regarded ...
is the largest Romani-speaking settlement in the country.


Serbian language

Serbian (српски, ''srpski'') is a standardized register of the Serbo-Croatian languageDavid Dalby, ''Linguasphere'' (1999/2000, Linguasphere Observatory), pg. 445, 53-AAA-g, "Srpski+Hrvatski, Serbo-Croatian". spoken by Serbs, mainly in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and North Macedonia. It is official in Serbia and one of the official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is the principal language of the Serbs. Serbian speakers do not form greater than the 20% needed threshold for official use in any municipality as of the 2021 census. The two municipalities with the highest percentage of Serbian speakers are Staro Nagoričane (9.6%) and Čučer-Sandevo (8.6%).


Bosnian language

Bosnian (''bosanski'', босански) is another standardized register of Serbo-Croatian, spoken by
Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry ...
. As a standardized form of the
Shtokavian dialect Shtokavian or Štokavian (; sh-Latn, štokavski / sh-Cyrl, italics=no, штокавски, ) is the prestige dialect of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language and the basis of its Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin standards. It ...
, it is one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Most of the Bosnian-speaking Macedonian citizens live in the Vardar region, though they do not form greater than the 20% threshold in any municipality in the country. The municipalities with the highest percentages of Bosnian speakers are Petrovec Municipality (19%), Dolneni Municipality (15.3%), Gradsko Municipality (11%), and
Studeničani Municipality Studeničani Municipality ( mk, , sq, Studeniçan) is a municipality in central North Macedonia. '' Studeničani'' is the name of the village where the municipal seat is found. It is located in the Skopje Statistical Region. Geography The mu ...
(7.4%), as of the 2021 census.


Aromanian

Aromanian (''Limba Armãneascã'') or ''Vlach'' is a Balkan Romance language spoken in several pockets across Southeastern Europe. Its speakers are called Aromanians or "Vlachs" (which is an exonym in widespread use to define the communities in the Balkans). It shares many features with modern
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
, having similar morphology and syntax, as well as a large common vocabulary inherited from Latin. An important source of dissimilarity between Romanian and Aromanian is the adstratum languages: while Romanian has been influenced to a greater extent by the Slavic languages, Aromanian has been more influenced by the Greek language, with which it has been in close contact throughout its history. The largest Aromanian-speaking community in North Macedonia can be found in the town of Kruševo (3.7% of the municipal population). In North Macedonia, the language is known as 'Vlach' (влашки јазик, ''vlaški jazik'').


Sign language

The
Macedonian sign language Macedonian Sign Language ( mk, македонски знаковен јазик, translit=makedonski znakoven jazik or mk, македонски гестовен јазик, links=no, translit=makedonski gestoven jazik, label=none) is the sign la ...
( mk, македонски знаковен јазик, translit=makedonski znakoven jazik or / ) is a sign language of the deaf community in North Macedonia. As all sign languages, the Macedonian sign language is also based on gestures and body movements, particularly movements with the hands. The precise number of signers in North Macedonia is not known, but 6,000 people in 2012 requested signed news on Macedonian television. The learning and the usage of the language, as well as the rights of the deaf community in North Macedonia are regulated by a national law.
Закон за употреба на знаковниот јазик, Службен весник на Република Македонија, број 105, 21 август 2009, Скопје
'


Foreign languages

Many people speak a foreign language. A rapidly declining share of the population, consisting almost entirely of elderly people, has knowledge of Serbo-Croatian,
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
or
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
. Russian is also well-known. Among the younger population, English is extremely common, along with knowledge of Serbo-Croatian and some German.


See also

* Demographics of North Macedonia


References


External links


Languages of Macedonia
on Ethnologue. {{DEFAULTSORT:Languages Of The Republic Of Macedonia