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
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time; however, it came to be defined as the modern geographical region by the mid-19th century. Today the region is considered to include parts of six Balkan countries: all of North Macedonia, large parts of Greece and Bulgaria, and smaller parts of Albania, Serbia, and Kosovo. It covers approximately 67,000 square kilometres (25,869 sq mi) and has a population of around five million. Greek Macedonia comprises about half of Macedonia's area and population.
The kingdom of Macedon with its provinces
Distribution of ethnic groups in Macedonia in 1892 (Deutsche Rundschau für Geographie und Statistik – German Bevieiofor Geography and Statistics)
Distribution of ethnic groups in the Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor in 1910 (Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd, New York)
Saint Gregory Palamas Cathedral in Thessaloniki