Contents
Macedonians (ethnic group)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Македонци
Makedonci
Gjorgjija Pulevski[1] · Metodija Andonov-Čento
Milčo Mančevski · Katarina Ivanovska · Goran Pandev
Total population
2,000,000 - 2,500,000[2]
Regions with significant populations
Macedonia
1,297,981
[3]
Australia
83,978 - 200,000
[4][5]
Italy
78,090
[6]
Germany
62,295 - 85,000
[5][7]
Switzerland
61,304 - 63,000
[5][8]
United States
51,891 - 200,000
[5][9]
Brazil
45,000
[10]
Canada
37,055 - 150,000
[5][11]
Turkey
31,518
[12]
Argentina
30,000
[10]
Serbia
25,847
[13]
Austria
13,696 - 15,000
[5][14]
Netherlands
10,000 - 15,000
[5]
Czech Republic
11,623
[15]
United Kingdom
9,000
[5]
Hungary
7,253
[15]
Bulgaria
5,071 - 25,000(est.)
[16][17]
Albania
4,697 - 35,000 (est.)
[18]
Slovakia
4,600
[19]
Croatia
4,270
[20]
Slovenia
3,972
[21]
Sweden
3,669 - 15,000
[5][22]
Belgium
3,419
[23]
Denmark
3,349 - 12,000
[5][24]
Norway
3,045
[25]
France
2,300 - 15,000
[26]
Bosnia and Herzegovina
2,278
[27]
Poland
2,000 - 4,500
[28][29]
Russia
1,000
[28]
Greece
962 (2001 census) to 10,000–30,000 (1999 est.)
[30][31]
Montenegro
819
[32]
Languages
Religion
predominantly Macedonian Orthodox; some Muslim
The Macedonians (Macedonian: Македонци; transliterated: Makedonci) – also referred to as Macedonian Slavs[33] – 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
The ancestry of present-day Macedonians is mixed: their linguistic and cultural origins stem largely from the 6th century migrations of various Slavic tribes to southeast Europe, yet genetically they are an amalgamation of the various peoples and civilizations that have inhabited the area throughout history. Some early 20th century researchers as William Z. Ripley, Coon[34] and Bertil Lundman[35] described the Slavic speakers in Macedonia as Bulgarians, and often placed both populations in a common racial subgroup. Other authors, like H. N. Brailsford, described Slavic speakers from Macedonia as related to both 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.[36]
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,[37] Gustav Weigand,[38] 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.[39][40] 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[41] 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.[42] Macedonians are most closely related to other Balkanians as Croats, Serbs, Greeks, Bulgarians and Romanians.[43][44][45][46] It is also corroborated that there is some non-European inflow in modern Macedonians.[47]
Population
