Macedonians (ethnic group)

Macedonians
Македонци
Makedonci

Total population
c. 2–2.2 million
Regions with significant populations
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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Wikipedia