Macedonians (Greek)
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- This article is about Greeks associated with Macedonia. For the people of ancient Greece, see Ancient Macedonians and for the unrelated, Slavic ethnic group, see Macedonians (ethnic group). For other meanings, see Macedonian.
"I myself am a Macedonian, and another two and a half million Greeks are Macedonians."
Macedonians (alternative names: Greek Macedonians or Macedonian Greeks) is the term by which ethnic Greeks originating from Macedonia, particularly Greek Macedonia, are known. In Greek historical literature, they are often referred to as Μακεδόνες (Macedonians).[2]
Macedonians (Greek) compose the vast majority of the population of the Greek region of Macedonia. The 2001 census for the total population of the Macedonia region in Greece shows 2,625,681.[3]
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[edit] Background
- See also: Greek Struggle for Macedonia and Demographic history of Macedonia
During the Ottoman domination of Macedonia, Greek Macedonians reportedly constituted in both the 19th century and early 20th century the majority of the Christian population in the vilayets of Selânik (Thessaloniki) and Manastır (Bitola).[4] Approximately 100,000 Greeks were recorded in the 1941 census of Axis occupied Yugoslavia.[5]
Many Greek Macedonians have emigrated to Australia, mostly from Florina, Kastoria and Kozani, primarily between the years 1924 - 1974.[2] The Greek Macedonian community in Melbourne has been reported to have been in conflict with the Slavic Macedonian community over the usage of cultural symbols, such as the Vergina Sun,[1] which is used by both groups. Such incidents heightened during the years 1992 - 1995 when the naming dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia had just begun.[6]
[edit] Self-determination
- See also: Macedonia naming dispute
According to various public manifestations in Greece[6] and the Greek diaspora,[2] the Macedonians have a strong regional identity. This was emphasized by the Prime Minister of Greece, Kostas Karamanlis, who in January 2007 during a meeting of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg declared that:
I myself am a Macedonian, and another two and a half million Greeks are Macedonians.[7]
Similar terms include Pontian Greeks or Pontians (Greeks from Pontus) and Greek Epirotes or Epirotes (Greeks from Epirus).
Bulgarians and Aromanians from Macedonia are reported to use the term "Macedonian" in the same way, to denote geography rather than ethnicity.[8][9][10]
[edit] See also
- List of Macedonians (Greek)
- Greece
- Macedonia (region)
- Macedonia (Greece)
- Macedonia naming dispute
- Greek Struggle for Macedonia
- Demographic history of Macedonia
[edit] References
- ^ a b In July 1995, Greece lodged a request with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for exclusive intellectual property rights to the Vergina Sun. "Greece petitions for int'l rights to Vergina Star", ANA, 31 July 1995. See also WIPO registrations: [1], [2], [3].
- ^ a b c Jupp, J. The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins, Cambridge University Press, October 1, 2001. ISBN 0-521-80789-1, p. 147.
- ^ (Greek) General Secretariat of National Statistical Service of Greece (zip xls). 2001 census. Retrieved on July 21, 2006.
- ^ Glenny, The Balkans; Ottoman census of Hilmi Pasha, 1904
- ^ Mustairas G., Yugoslavia and Macedonia, Athens 1988 - p. 54.
- ^ a b Liotta, P. H. and Simons, A. Thicker than Water? Kin, Religion, and Conflict in the Balkans, from Parameters, Winter 1998, pp. 11-27
- ^ ΕΡΤ online Stark message to Skopje, 2007-01-24. Retrieved on 2007-01-25
- ^ British Council — Bulgaria. Macedonians of Bulgaria. Retrieved on September 11, 2006.
- ^ Ethnologue. Report for Macedo-Romanian language. Retrieved on August, 3, 2006.
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary Unabridged — Draft Revision (Mar. 2005) — "Macedo-"
[edit] Bibliography
- Peter Mackridge, Eleni Yannakakis, eds., Ourselves and Others: The Development of a Greek Macedonian Cultural Identity since 1912, 1997, ISBN 1-85973-133-3.
