Macedonian American
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
(61,332 |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| New York metropolitan area,Metro Detroit, Ohio, and other metros in the Northeastern and Upper Midwestern United States | |
| Languages | |
| American English, Macedonian | |
| Religion | |
| Macedonian Orthodox | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Macedonians, Macedonian Canadians |
(61,332
Macedonian Americans (Macedonian: Македонски Американци, Makedonski Amerikanci) is an American ethnic group of Macedonian heritage.
The first Macedonian American immigrants came from the border regions in the north of what is today Greek Macedonia, primarily the regions near Kastoria (Kostur), Florina (Lerin), and the south-west of the Republic of Macedonia, notably around Bitola. In the first half of 20th century they were considered and identified as Bulgarians or as Macedonian Bulgarians.
It is estimated that around 50,000 Macedonians emigrated to the United States between 1903 and 1906, but the outbreak of the Balkan Wars and World War I curtailed the flow. Around 20,000 remained in the U.S., and the rest returned home. The immigrants were predominantly peasants, with the remainder including craftsmen, workers, and intellectuals. Immigration restarted after the wars; most of the new immigrants were ethnic Macedonians from Greece, many of whom had been expelled from Greek Macedonia in the 1920s. Since the 1920s and 1930s the Macedonian language has been recorded in American censuses. Around 50,000-60,000 Macedonians had emigrated to the US by the end of World War II.
The aftermath of the war led to a fresh round of Macedonian immigration, primarily from Greece, as a consequence of ethnic Macedonians being expelled by the post-war Greek government or otherwise encouraged to leave after the Greek civil war of 1946-49. 70,000 emigrated to Canada, Australia, the U.S., and other European countries.
After Yugoslavia liberalized its emigration policies in 1960, another 40,000 Macedonians emigrated during the period 1960-77. Most have been economic migrants rather than political dissidents. At that time most of the Americans born of Macedonian Bulgarian descent have hardly any knowledge of Bulgaria and increasingly began to identify themselves simply as Macedonians.
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