Macedonians (ethnic group)
Macedonians are a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group native to the region of Macedonia in Southeast Europe. They speak Macedonian, a South Slavic language. The large majority of Macedonians identify as Eastern Orthodox Christians, who share a cultural and historical "Orthodox Byzantine–Slavic heritage" with their neighbours. About two-thirds of all ethnic Macedonians live in North Macedonia and there are also communities in a number of other countries.
Georgi Pulevski is the first known person, who in 1875 put forward the idea on the existence of a separate (Slavic) Macedonian language and ethnicity.
Krste Misirkov in 1903 attempted to codify a standard Macedonian language and appealed for eventual recognition of a separate Macedonian nation when the necessary historical circumstances would arise.
Dimitar Vlahov played a crucial role in the adoption of the Resolution of the Comintern on the Macedonian question that, for the first time by an international organization, recognized the existence of a separate Macedonian nation, in 1934
Metodija Andonov-Čento was the first president of the Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia after the Second World War.
Macedonian is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken as a first language by around 1.6 million people, it serves as the official language of North Macedonia. Most speakers can be found in the country and its diaspora, with a smaller number of speakers throughout the transnational region of Macedonia. Macedonian is also a recognized minority language in parts of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, and Serbia and it is spoken by emigrant communities predominantly in Australia, Canada and the United States.
Krste Petkov Misirkov (pictured) was the first to outline the distinctiveness of the Macedonian language in his book Za makedonckite raboti (On the Macedonian Matters), published in 1903.
Macedonian police car, with the Macedonian word Полиција (Policija), for "police".
