The Gorani or Goranci, are a Slavic Muslim ethnic group inhabiting the Gora region—the triangle between Kosovo, Albania, and North Macedonia. They number an estimated 60,000 people, and speak a transitional South Slavic dialect, called Goranski. The vast majority of the Gorani people adhere to Sunni Islam.
Mosque in Restelica
Gorani girls in folk costume
Elderly Gorani woman in traditional clothing
Young Gorani dancing at village festival
The Torbeši are a Macedonian-speaking Muslim ethnoreligious group in North Macedonia and Albania. The Torbeši are also referred to as Macedonian Muslims or Muslim Macedonians. They have been culturally distinct from the Orthodox Christian Macedonian community for centuries, and are linguistically distinct from the larger Muslim ethnic groups in the greater region of Macedonia: the Albanians, Turks and Romanis. However, some Torbeši also still maintain a strong affiliation with Turkish identity and with Macedonian Turks. The regions inhabited by these Macedonian-speaking Muslims are Debarska Župa, Dolni Drimkol, Reka, and Golo Brdo.
Female folk dance of Torbeši in the village of Gorno Kosovrasti, near Debar
The Old Mosque of Rostuša