Gorani (ethnic group)
Gorani on Gora map
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (60,000 (est.)) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Kosovo
|
10,265 (2011 census) |
 Serbia
|
7,767 (2011 census) |
 Macedonia
|
10,000+ |
 Albania
|
2,000+ |
 Croatia
|
428 (2011 census) |
 Montenegro
|
197 (2011 census) |
| Languages | |
| Našinski dialect, Bosnian, Serbian, Albanian | |
| Religion | |
| Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Bosniaks, Bulgarians, Torbeši, Pomaks, Serbs | |
The Goranci (meaning "highlanders", [ɡɔrǎːntsi]; Serbian Cyrillic: Горанци) or Gorani (pronounced [ɡɔ̌rani]; Горани) are a Slavic Muslim ethnic group inhabiting the Gora region - the triangle between Kosovo,Albania, and Macedonia. They number an estimated 60,000 people, and speak a transitional South Slavic dialect, called Našinski (simply meaning 'ours').
The ethnonym Gorani, meaning "highlanders", is derived from the Slavic toponym gora, which means "hill, mountain". Another autonym of this people is Našinci, which literally means "our people, our ones".
They have been claimed by Serbs, Bosniaks, Bulgarians and Macedonians but the general view is that they should be treated as a distinct minority group, which is their own view of themselves. By the last censuses at the end of 20th century in Yugoslavia they have declared themselves to be Muslims by nationality.
In the mid-1980s, the Macedonian press labeled them Torbeši (Macedonian Muslims).
In Albania, they are known by the Albanians with several exonyms, pejoratives, such as Bulgareci ("Bulgarians"),Torbeshë ("bag carriers"), Poturë ("turkified", from po-tur, literally not Turk but, "turkified", used for Islamized Slavs) and Goran.
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Wikipedia