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Ethnic Macedonians

Macedonians
Македонци
Makedonci
Total population
c. 2–2.2 million
Regions with significant populations
Republic of Macedonia Macedonia 1,297,981
 Australia 83,978–200,000
 Italy 92,847 (2009)
 Germany 62,295–85,000
  Switzerland 61,304–63,000
 United States 57,200–200,000
 Brazil 45,000
 Canada 37,055–200,000
 Turkey 31,518 (2001 census)
 Argentina 30,000
 Serbia 22,755 (2011 census)
 Austria 20,135
 Netherlands 10,000–15,000
 Czech Republic 11,623
 United Kingdom 9,000
 Hungary 7,253
 Albania 5,512 (2011)
 Slovakia 4,600
 Croatia 4,138
 Slovenia 3,972 (2002)
 Sweden 4,491 (2009)
 Belgium 3,419 (2002)
 Denmark 3,349–12,000
 Norway 3,045
 France 2,300–15,000
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2,278 (2005)
 Poland 2,000–4,500
 Bulgaria 1,654 (2011)
 Montenegro 900 (2011)
 Greece 5,000-10,000
 Romania 1,264 (2011 census)
 Russia 325 (2010) – 1,000 (est.)
Languages
Macedonian
Religion
Predominantly Orthodox Christianity
(Macedonian Orthodox Church), minority Islam (Macedonian Muslims)
Related ethnic groups
Other South Slavic peoples, especially the Bulgarians

The Macedonians (Macedonian: Македонци; transliterated: Makedonci), also known as Macedonian Slavs or Slavic Macedonians, are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the region of Macedonia. They speak the Macedonian language, a South Slavic language. About two thirds of all ethnic Macedonians live in the Republic of Macedonia and there are also communities in a number of other countries.

The "origins" of Macedonians are varied and rich. In antiquity, much of central-northern Macedonia (the Vardar basin) was inhabited by Paionians who expanded from the lower Strymon basin. The Pelagonian plain was inhabited by the Pelagones, an ancient Greek tribe of Upper Macedonia; whilst the western region (Ohrid-Prespa) was said to have been inhabited by Illyrian peoples. During the late Classical Period, having already developed several sophisticated polis-type settlements and a thriving economy based on mining, Paeonia became a constituent province of the Argead - Macedonian kingdom. Roman conquest brought with it a significant Romanization of the region.

During the Dominate period, 'barbarian' federates were at times settled on Macedonian soil; such as the Sarmatians settled by Constantine (330s AD) or the (10 year) settlement of Alaric's Goths. In contrast to 'frontier provinces', Macedonia (north and south) continued to be a flourishing Christian, Roman province in Late Antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Linguistically, the South Slavic languages from which Macedonian developed are thought to have expanded in the region during the post-Roman period, although the exact mechanisms of this linguistic expansion remains a matter of scholarly discussion. Traditional historiography has equated these changes with the commencement of raids and 'invasions' of Sclaveni and Antes from Wallachia and western Ukraine during the 6th and 7th centuries. However, recent anthropological and archaeological perspectives have viewed the appearance of Slavs in Macedonia, and throughout the Balkans in general, as part of a broad and complex process of transformation of the cultural, political and ethno-linguistic Balkan landscape after the collapse of Roman authority. The exact details and chronology of population shifts remain to be determined. What is beyond dispute is that, in contrast to Bulgaria, northern Macedonia remained "Roman" in its cultural outlook into the 7th century, and beyond. Yet at the same time, sources attest numerous Slavic tribes in the environs of Thessaloniki and further afield, including the Berziti in Pelagonia. Apart from Slavs and late Byzantines, the settlement of Kuver's Pannonian "Bulgars"- a mix of Roman Christians, Bulgars and Avars- populated the Keramissian plain around Bitola in the late 7th century. Later pockets of settlers included Magyars in the 9th century,Armenians in the 10th-12th centuries,Cumans in the 11th-13th centuries, and Saxon miners in the 14th and 15th centuries.


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