Akritas (, before 1955: Μπούφι – ''Boufi''; Bulgarian and , ''Buf'') is a village the Florina Regional Unit,

Western Macedonia Western Macedonia (, ) is one of the thirteen Regions of Greece, administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the western part of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia. Located in north-western Greece, it is divided into the regional units of Greece ...

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. The new modern Greek name of the village Akritas is a toponym with national or patriotic associations based on historical contexts in the wider region.. A large Christian village, it was recorded in an Ottoman document of the late 15th century. The population was 2,200 in 1912. A Greek police lieutenant in 1934 wrote to the prefect of Florina and described Boufi as "a centre of anti–Greek propaganda". Children spoke and wrote in the

Bulgarian language Bulgarian (; , ) is an Eastern South Slavic, Eastern South Slavic language spoken in Southeast Europe, primarily in Bulgaria. It is the language of the Bulgarians. Along with the closely related Macedonian language (collectively forming the ...

, the Bulgarian national anthem was known by the young men and the village was strongly influenced by a Macedonian–Bulgarian diaspora organisation in the US. He stated many villagers identified themselves as Macedonians and not Greeks, while the language they used was referred to as Macedonian instead of Bulgarian. In the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War () took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II, consisted of a Communism, Communist-led uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. The rebels decl ...

, Boufi was a

Slavophone The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Earl ...

village and during the conflict some 200 village children were removed with force to Florina by soldiers from the Greek government. Several older children without their parents fled to Yugoslavia and others crossed the border with their mothers. Pre–war and post–war immigration from Akritas led to the formation of a diaspora and most of the village population lives abroad in the northern suburbs of

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. Akritas had 190 inhabitants in 1981. In fieldwork done by anthropologist Riki Van Boeschoten in late 1993, Akritas was populated by Slavophones. The

Macedonian language Macedonian ( ; , , ) is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch. Sp ...

was spoken in the village by people over 30 in public and private settings. Children understood the language, but mostly did not use it. Table 3: Akritas, 190; S, M2; S = Slavophones, M = macédonien" In the late 20th century, several of the child refugees who had immigrated to either Australia or

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had difficulties obtaining official documents to enter Greece due to names of villages such as Boufi being changed into Akritas.. Some Macedonians living in

Bitola Bitola (; ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki border crossing ...

who were born in Akritas have returned as adults to the village for visits in the 1990s and remaining locals informed them about details on land ownership and home construction. In the early 21st century, the village had 100 inhabitants.

References

{{Florina div Populated places in Florina (regional unit) Florina