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| Total population | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serb 35,939 Macedonians 1.78% of Macedonian population (2002) [1] |
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| Regions with significant populations | ||||||||||||||||||
| Čučer-Sandevo: 2426 Serbs (28.6%) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | ||||||||||||||||||
| Related ethnic groups | ||||||||||||||||||
Serbs are the fifth largest, and one of the constitutional peoples of the Republic of Macedonia. According to the 2002 census, about 36,000 inhabitants of the Republic of Macedonia declare themselves Serb. They are predominantly situated in the north.
The region was part of the Serbian Grand Principality, Kingdom and Empire, beginning in the 11th century. With the Battle of Kosovo (1389), and subsequent fall of Serbia (1459–1540), the region of Macedonia, as well as the other regions inhabited by Serbs, were conquered by the Ottomans. The South Slavic Orthodox people now lived under a foreign (Muslim) power, and were all regarded as one and the same people in Ottoman eyes, atrocities and tax increases prompted several mass migrations into the north, the Habsburgs. Minor revolts took place in Macedonia, although the liberation of these lands were to be organized in the late 19th and early 20th century. In the decades before the Balkan Wars, a struggle was fought between Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia on the conquest and national assimilation of the region. During this time a Macedonian identity emerged in the local Slavs, who were divided by the Bulgarian or Serbian Orthodox Church. By 1913, Serbia had captured most of present-day Macedonia, which subsequently was unified in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Socialist Yugoslavia with other South Slavic peoples. In 1991, with the outbreak of the Yugoslav Wars, the Socialist Republic of Macedonia became independent.
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The territory of today's Republic of Macedonia was part of the medieval Serbian Empire, and today a concentration of Serbs are found in the borderlands with Serbia, most notably in Staro Nagoričane.
The Serb population of Macedonia is based on the medieval populations as well as later relocated or migrated ethnic Serbs. The Serbs of Macedonia follow the Serbian Orthodox Church, with their see of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, as opposed to Macedonians who claim a different origin (disputed) who follow the unrecognized Macedonian Orthodox Church.
The Macedonian Serbs have no problems with the Macedonian people, rather with the government of Macedonia as well as minor discrimination from the Albanians. Many of the Macedonian Serbs that have origin from outside of the Republic have been denied citizenship, and a lack of education in the Serbian language is a cause of instability.[2]
Serb authors claim that the archeological findings at the Bargala site near Štip suggest that the 6th and 7th century Slavic pottery[3] bears the most resemblance to pottery connected to the Serbs on the Danube.[4] The archeological evidence attest that Macedonia was settled with a later wave of Slavs, attributed to the Serbs, in 575-625.[5]
Serbian sources from the period of 1282 to 1392, including the elaborate Dušan's Code do not make mention of an Macedonian ethnos, nor does Bulgarian, Byzantine or any other contemporary or later sources.
The Sclaveni (South Slavs) pillaged the Balkans as early as the 520s. The South Slavic territories were called Sclaviniae (lit. Slav lands), and were from times independent from the Byzantine Empire.[6] In 577 some 100,000 Slavs poured into Thrace and Illyricum, pillaging cities and settling down.[7] By the 580s, as the Slav communities on the Danube became larger and more organised, and as the Avars exerted their influence, raids became larger and resulted in permanent settlement. By 581, many Slavic tribes had settled the land around Thessaloniki, though never taking the city itself, creating a Macedonian Sclavinia. In 586 AD, as many as 100,000 Slav warriors raided Thessaloniki.[8] In De Administrando Imperio, the Serbs trace their origin to the migration of the White Serbs led by the Unknown Archont, who took the protection of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (610-641).[9] The Serbs, who lived in Macedonia[10] (around Servia, which derived its name from the Serbs) subsequently settled the lands that would become the early Serbian Principality. Constans II conquered Sclavinia in 656-657, "capturing many and subduing them",[11] he also resettled Serbs from the Vardar area to Asia Minor, to a city named Gordoservon (Greek: Γορδοσερβα, City of Serbs).[12][13]
The "Sclaviniae of Macedonia" (Sclavenias penes Macedoniam) were conquered in 785 by Constantine VI (r. 776–797), meanwhile, a Serbian Principality was established to the northwest. Almost a century before that, in 681, Bulgars formed Bulgaria which subsequently annexed Slav territories. According to Serb authors, although the Slavs of the Bulgarian khanate were kin to the rest of the South Slavs, a distinction was made early on by Byzantine writers; the term Sclavinia comes to denote the Slavs from the Adriatic to the Rhodopes, distinguishing it from Bulgaria.[14][15]
Almost the whole of Macedonia was incorporated in Bulgaria in the mid 9th century during the rule of Khan Presian and his first minister Isbul.[16][17] Between 929 and 931 the elder brother of Emperor Peter I, Michael, rebelled in Macedonia to take over the throne but was defeated.[16] Serbian sources, however, speak of two unsuccessful uprisings against the Bulgarian overlords.[18]
In 969, the Cometopuli manages to insurrect the western Bulgar realm, in the meantime in 971-972, Bulgaria (Catepanate of Bulgaria) and Serbia (Catepanate of Ras) is conquered by John Tzimiskes, Tzimiskes conquered and burned down Bulgar capital Preslav, capturing Bulgarian Tsar Boris II. In 973 the Byzantines conquer Macedonia. In 976 the Cometopuli brothers again manages to take the region from the Byzantines. Tsar Samuel (976-1018) manages to take the Theme of Bulgaria and Serbia in 986 and continues to rule as the "Tsar of Bulgaria", although historians are in dispute[19][20] over the ethnic and national affiliation of the Cometopuli and their state.[19][21] The political center of the Bulgarian realm was moved to Macedonia, Ohrid served as capital and seat of the Bulgarian Patriarchate.
The Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitos wrote in about 950 that the city of "Ta Serbia" situated north-west from Thessaloniki, derived its name from its Serbian founders in early 7th century. In 10th century the city is mentioned as "Srpchishte" in the manuscript by the Byzantine author John Zonara.[9][22]
In 1092, Grand Prince Vukan defeated an army sent by Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Alexios I responded by sending a much larger army, but it was stopped by Serbian envoys wanting to negotiate. Peace was concluded, and Alexios returned to tackle the plundering Cumans. Vukan however, immediately violated the treaty, launching an operation in the Vardar region, conquering the cities of Vranje, Skopje and Tetovo, with much loot. Vukan then sent messengers to Skopje, attempting to justify his actions as a consequence of unjust administration by the Byzantines. Alexios once again accepted peace, this time with the promise of Serbian hostages (a sign of definite peace), he returned to Constantinople and tasked the local leaders to repair the damaged structures on the border. Vukan did not send the hostages as promised, prompting Alexios to send John Komnenos, his nephew and commander of Dyrrhachium, towards Serbia. Vukan bought time by once again promising peace and hostages, only to simultaneously prepare an attack against them. In the night the Byzantine camp was surprise-attacked, with the majority of Byzantine soldiers being killed. Vukan went on to loot Skopje, Gornji- and Donji Polog, then ravaging Vranje and finally returning to Serbia. Alexios sent a last army, entering Lipljan without resistance, Vukan's messengers offered a conclusive peace and the previously promised hostages, and as Alexios had more problems in other places of the Empire, peace was agreed in 1094, and Vukan surrendered twenty hostages, including his cousins (or nephews) Uroš and Stefan Vukan.[23]
In 1189 the regions of Skopje and Tetovo was conquered by Stefan Nemanja.[24][25]
In the late 1200s, Strez, a Bulgarian royalty of the Asen dynasty, fled to Serbia after a feud with Emperor Boril, who had taken the throne. Strez was for a time a Duke under Stefan Nemanjic and had by 1209 conquered most of Macedonia; from the Struma valley in the east, which bordered lands controlled by Boril, to Bitola and perhaps Ohrid in the west, and from Skopje in the north to Veria in the south. While Strez quickly gained the support of the local population and possibly inherited the remaining administration from Boril's rule, Serbian units nevertheless remained in his domains, either to guarantee his loyalty or with the intent to oust him and annex his lands.[26] In 1215 the region is taken by the Latins and Despotate of Epirus. In 1223, Theodore Komnenos ruled Macedonia as Despot of Epirus (proclaimed Emperor) with his Greek, Serb and Albanian lieutenants, who held lands to the Serbian border beyond Arban, Debar and Skoplje.[27]
In 1230, Theodore was defeated and captured by Emperor Ivan Asen II in the battle of Klokotnitsa, and lands west of Adrianople were once again part of Bulgaria; all the way to Durazzo, Ivan Asen wrote in a memorial column that he conquered "His [Theodore Komnenos'] whole land from Odrin (Adrianople) to Drach (Durazzo), also Greek, Albanian and Serb" after the victory. Between 1246 and 1265, John Vatatzes conquered Macedonia from the Adrianople to the Vardar, while the Bulgarian emperor Michael I Asen had the towns west of the Vardar: Veles, Prilep and Ochrid. In 1252 John overcame Michael, and most of Macedonia towards the border of Serbia became a Nicaean province. After the 13th century, the Bulgarian empire lost Macedonia.[28]
Demetrios Chomatenos (Archbishop of Ohrid from 1216 to 1236) registered the naming culture of the South Slavs in Byzantine lands. In the 11th and 12th century, family names became more common and stable in Byzantium, adapted by the majority of people in Byzantine Macedonia, Epirus and other regions (including women, sometimes even monks), not only aristocrats. The South Slavs, however, maintained the tradition of only giving a personal name, sometimes with a Patronymic. There are only two cases of family names used by South Slavs during this time; Bogdanopoulos and Serbopoulos, both Slavic names with the Greek suffix -opoulos (όπουλος, originating in Peloponnese in the 10th century)[29]
In 1258, Uroš I of Serbia took Skoplje, Prilep and Kičevo from the Byzantines, but lost them shortly after in 1261. Serbia's conquest of the areas south of the Shara mountain chain, on the plains of Polog, and in Byzantine dominated places like Skoplje and later Serres (Slavic: Ser) began with the expansion of Serbian King Milutin in 1282. With the victory over the Bulgarian army near Velbazhd (today's Kyustendil, Republic of Bulgaria) in 1331, the Morava and upper Vardar basins were secured for the Serbian state.
In a chrysobull dated 1294 of Andronicus II, the kataphrylax of Serres, "Jovan the Serb" was mentioned (Ἱωάννης ό Σἐρβος).[30] A Byzantine Serb military family of Thessaloniki, Deblitzenos, produced several soldiers holding titles such as pronoia, tzaousios, of which is also mentioned in documents of the Emperor.[31]
In 1330, the Bulgarians attacked Serbia to stop the Serb penetration in Macedonia but were defeated in the battle of Velbazhd and while Bulgaria did not lose territory to Serbia, it could not prevent the latter from conquering Macedonia from the Byzantine Empire which had descended into a disastrous civil war. Of the event, both Dushan and his father recall that the Bulgarian emperor went against "Our country, against the lands of our fathers" and "Serbian territory" in relation to Macedonia.[32]
By 1345, the whole of Macedonia and parts of western Thrace were under the newly-established Serbian Empire. After these successes Dušan the Mighty proclaimed himself Emperor in 1345 at Serres and was solemnly crowned in Skopje on April 16, 1346 as "Emperor and autocrat of Serbs and Romans" (Greek Bασιλεὺς καὶ αὐτoκράτωρ Σερβίας καὶ Pωμανίας) by the Serbian Patriarch Joanikije II with the help of the Bulgarian Patriarch Simeon and the Archbishop of Ohrid, Nicholas.[33]
Settling of Serb military and upper class citizens in Veria is mentioned in 1350, after Dušan the Mighty had conquered the town in between 1343–47 and driven out all the inhabitants in fear of a revolt. Kantakouzenes asserts the Veria Serbs numbered 30 nobles and 1,500 soldiers, with their families.[31]
The Ottoman invasion of Serbia was challenged at the river Marica in 1371 by Serbian Macedonia-stationed noblemen Vukašin and Uglješa, both of whom led armies from their statelets, at the river Maritsa (southeastern part of the Republic of Bulgaria) which ended in Serbian defeat (the place was named Sirf-Sindughi-"Serbian Defeat" by the invading Turks).
This defeat, which culminated with the fall of Skoplje (Skopje) in 1392, Trnovo in 1393, in combination with the consequences of Serbian defeat at Kosovo Polje in 1389 led to large influx of Turks and Islam. The Turks converted Christian Serbs and Bulgarians who later became known as Torbeshi and Pomaks. In the middle of the 17th century, grand vizier Mehmed Köprülü successfully converted peoples of the Danube region, notably the Serbs of Debar (Dibra) in Western Macedonia.[34]
The Patriarchate of Peć (Serbian Patriarchate, Serbian Orthodox Church) had spiritual power extending Macedonia which continued the Serbian consciousness in a part of the South Slavic people of the region.[35]
In the second half of the 15th century, Serbian scribe Vladislav Gramatik considered Macedonia "Serb land". On February 15, 1515, a Serb youth is burned alive by the Ottomans because he refused to renounce his faith (convert to Islam), the Serbian Orthodox Church venerate him as Saint George of Kratovo (Sveti Djordje Kratovac).[36]
In 1557, Mehmed Sokolović, an Ottoman commander of Serb origin, restores the Serb Patriarchate, appointing his still Christian brother, Makarije, as the Patriarch. Tetovo, Skoplje, Shtip and Radovishte are placed under the Serb church, while Ochrid, Monastir, Debar and Prilep remains under the Archbishopric of Ochrid (Greek).[37] All missions to Russia from Macedonia were described as "Serbian", the first of which was in 1585, by Visarion, the Metropolitan of Kratovo and his entourage of monks from other places.[37] In 1641, the Metropolitan of Skoplje, Simeon, travels to Russia and signs himself as "of the land of Serbia".[37] In 1687 a petition of Jeftimije, Metropolitan of Skoplje; "of the Serbian lands of the Church of Skoplje".[37] Although, unquestionably, the preceding were all under the Serb see, similarly clergy from the southern, Ecumenical dioceses, too described themselves as Serbs.[37] In 1625, Sergius of Greben mentions that he had been "consecrated by Nektarije, Archbishop of Ochrida, in the land of Serbia".[37] In 1634, Archbishop Avram of Ochrid replies that they came from "the Serbian country, from the town of Ochrida", similarly, in 1643, German of Kremenec says he is from the Serbian country, from Kostur, In 1648, "the Serb Dimitrje Nikolajev" from Kostur.[37] In 1704, "Serb Bratan Jovanov came to Russia from the land of Macedonia".[37]
The great migration of Serbs in the 17th century after the collapse of Austrian-led campaign also de-populated parts of Northern Vardar Macedonia (today's Republic of Macedonia). Vast numbers of Serbs from Macedonia left to accede into Habsburg service in the Military Frontier and Vojvodina. The refugees took part and adapted themselves as an integral part of Serbians in Vojvodina, Hungary and Austria.
In 1766, the Serbian Patriarchate is abolished, the former dioceses becoming part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which had Greek liturgy. In 1872 the Bulgarian Exarchate, deemed schismatic, is recognized by the Ottoman Empire, and subsequently two thirds of the population of Macedonia joins the Exarchate.
In the 19th century, the ethnic Serbian areas outside (south) of the Principality of Serbia were designated by Serbian cartographers as "Old Serbia", claiming that the inhabitants of this region (Kratovo, Skopje, Ovche Polje) described their native districts as "Serbian lands".[38]
Most schools in Macedonia had disappeared by the Serbo-Turkish wars in 1876. In the mid 1890s it was claimed that they were around 100 Serbian schools in Macedonia, though attendance was low. A school was opened in Skopje in 1892, but soon closed after Bulgarians complained that the required city quarters were lacking, the same happened in Kumanovo. Two new schools opened in 1893 and by 1896 the Serbian influence reached its peak but had declined by the turn of the century.[39]
According to Serbian authors, after the Treaty of San Stefano, the populations of the counties of Kumanovo, Skopje, Palanka, Kratovo, Chustendil, Kochani, Strumica, Ishtip, Veles, Debar, Kichevo and Prilep sent deputations and appeals to Prince Milan of Serbia, imploring him to not abandon Macedonia to the Bulgarians and to assign the region to Serbia. The Congress of Berlin saw petitions from around Macedonia: "As Serbs of true and pure stock, of the purest and most intrinsically Serbian country.... We for the last time implore on our knees.... That we may in some manner and by some means be freed from the slavery of five centuries, and united with our country, the Principality of Serbia, and that the tears of blood of the Serbian martyrs may be stanched so that they, too, may become useful members of the European community of nations and of the Christian world; we do not desire to exchange the harsh Turkish slavery for the vastly harsher and darker Bulgarian slavery, which will be worse and more intolerable than that of the Turks which we are at present enduring, and will compel us in the end either to slay all our own people, or to abandon our country, to abandon our holy places, and graves, and all that we hold dear...."[40]
The newly-founded Serbian state started a campaign of educational patronage and propagandistic activity in Macedonia, but as the Macedonia became a Macciavelian ground for propaganda, various absurd forms of ethic conversion, helped by the propaganda of all south Balkan states soon made a the situation largely chaotic, promoting Serbian geographer Jovan Cvijić to exclaim that "nationality for the Macedonian Slavs is understood like a political party affiliation".
After the Serbo-Turkish war in 1876-78, the assembling of 65 of the most notable men of the districts of Kumanovo, Kriva Palanka, Kochane, Ishtip, Veles, Prilep, Bitola, Ochrid, Kichevo and Skoplje sent an appeal to the Serbian commander of Macedonian volunteers (Serbo-Turkish war) M.S. Milojevic, asking for the arming and leading towards an insurrection.[41] In 1880, the populations of the counties Kichevo, Porech, Bitola and Prilep engaged in a 6-month long uprising that ended in failure, known as the Brsjak Revolt.[41][42]
At the end of the 19th century, the liberated countries started actively to process the Christian population in European Turkey. In the beginning, there were unarmed, propagandic, cultural and likewise activities. Later, the activities would transition into a revolt against the Ottoman Empire, and between the rebel bands. Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia claimed Macedonia as legitimate owners.
Greece pointed at its Antique and Roman/Byzantine province of Macedonia. Bulgaria pointed at its holding of Macedonia during Simeon I and Asen II. Serbia pointed at its material heritage, endowments of the Nemanjić and Mrnjavčević eras, and the identity preserved in many regions; traditions such as Krsna Slava (Serbian Orthodox tradition) and linguistical bonds (see Macedonian language).[43]
In 1886, the Society of Saint Sava was formed, which aimed to aid the Serbian cause in Macedonia. Serbian consulates were opened in Skoplje (Skopje) in 1887, Pristina in 1889, Bitolj (Bitola) in 1889, and Prizren in 1896.
As of 1903, the Serbian Chetniks, men like Jovan Stojković Babunski, Micko Krstić, Jovan Dolgač, Gligor Sokolović, Vasilije Trbić confronted Turkish, Albanian and Bulgarian (VMRO-led) military formations together with their squads called "Četa"-mobile volunteer units strongly armed with personal weapons.[44]
The Young Turks Revolution of 1908 created slightly better conditions for the expression of Serbian cultural life in Geographic Macedonia. Serbian publishing of books, religious calendars, newspapers briefly flourished. The "Assembly of Ottoman Serbs" was held in Skoplje and Serbs had their deputies in the Ottoman parliament.
During the Balkan Wars (1912–1913) Serbia liberated most of the southern Serbs by taking over the vast land including today's Vardar Macedonia and northern Albania (its ally Greece initially winning over the lands immediately south), much at the grievances of the Bulgarian population in Macedonia. The period from 1913-1914 is a period of turmoil and the central government in Belgrade implemented plenty of unpopular measures, most of which were found to be oppressive to the Bulgarian majority in Vardar Macedonia.
The IMRO deported Macedonian Serbs; The Serbian community of Veles faced massive deportations, of the 25,000 Serbs of Skopje only 2,000 remained by the beginning of 1942. The IMRO was active in the deportation and punitive expeditions against ethnic Serbs.[45]
120,000 Serbs were forced into exile by Josip Broz Tito's Partisan forces after they have opted for Serbian rather than Macedonian identity in 1944.[46] The population of Serbs in Macedonia which did not lend itself to Macedonization, representing compact population in the region of Skopska Crna Gora and having significant presence in Kumanovo, Skoplje, Tetovo, and surroundings was artificially separated from Yugoslav Serbia.
Immediately after the liberation from the occupying forces, in 1945, the requests to become a part of the newly formed federal unit of Serbia came from some regions of Macedonia in spite of the terror of the new Macedonian government. The typical example was the plea of the rural population in the Vratnica municipality, Tetovo district. In a letter to the minister for Serbia in the Government of the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia the inhabitants of these villages stated: "We, the Serbs from the Vratnica municipality have never felt otherwise but as Serbs, the same as our ancestors, and it has been so for centuries. Because of that we suffered extremely during the occupation both in the last World War and in this one that ended recently. During the occupation in this war, 41 Serbs were executed by firing squads, some were Interned and there was not a single Serb between the age of 15 and 66 that was not beaten and molested to exhaustion." The inhabitants in the Vratnica municipality also complained about the new Macedonian officials and listed the main reasons such as: "In our district the administrative authorities are mostly constituted of the persons who were Fascist collaborators, the persons who welcomed the German army with delight, the persons who held religious service of thanksgiving when the German armada was victorious though the Germans never requested such things from the city dwellers." Even an example is given: during the occupation the village representative in the Vratnica municipality was Andra Hristov from Tetovo (in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia he was a clerk in the Tetovo district court, but then his surname was Serbian - Ristić), who is now said to be "...an official of the people's administration authorities in Skopje.[47]
In September 1991, during the start of the Yugoslav Wars, SR Macedonia holds a referendum of which 72% eligible voters approved independence by 95%, the Albanians and Serbs in the country boycotted the referendum.[48] In 1992 Serbs of Kumanovo organized themselves in associations and political parties and held demonstrations in support of the Serbian cause in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia. Serbian Radical Party sympathizers in Macedonia made an effort to establish a "Serbian Autonomous Region of Kumanovo Valley and Skopska Crna Gora". In January 1993, 500 Macedonian Serb nationalists gathered in the town of Kučevište, north of Skopje, to protest the police repression against ethnic Serbs on New Year's Eve when 13 Serbian youths were injured. Macedonian Serbs asserted they were mistreated by Macedonian authorities.[49]
The post-war years were characterized by the loss of national institutions like the proclamation of the non-recognized Macedonian Orthodox Church in 1958-1967, that would try to erase the Serbian Orthodox character of Macedonia. Several Serbian Orthodox monasteries have been seized by the MOC, however in the regions with prevailing numbers of Serbs, the Serbian Orthodox Church still has jurisdiction. Further problems between the two arose when Archbishop Jovan VI of Ohrid, the Serbian Orthodox Archbishop of Macedonia, was arrested and sentenced to prison, found Prisoner of conscience by Amnesty.[50] Jovan and other Serbian Orthodox clergymen have been physically attacked and several churches and monasteries in use by the SOC in Macedonia have been destroyed.[51] Since World War II several educational institutions in the Serbian language and common cultural centers have been closed.
Today's number of Serbs, according to the 2002 census in the Republic of Macedonia, is 35,939.
During the medieval Serbian Empire and Serbian rule of Macedonia, the notable people were Serbs, Greeks, Vlachs (Aromanians), Arvanites (Albanians) and Bulgarians.
in the 19th century, several German and Austrian ethnografists showed a cluster of Serb people in the areas surrounding Bitola towards Albania. Serbian ethnografists claimed a larger Serb presence in north of Ohrid and Prilep. American researches show clusters of Serbs, ranging from Serbian border down to the Greek border.
Ottoman census of Hilmi Pasha in 1906 show a minority of Serbs spread over Macedonia, forming 1.39% or 13,150 of the population. Also, Ottoman censuses divided the population according to its religious adherence, so followers of the Serbian Orthodox Church were counted as Serbs.[53]
| Muslims (Turks and Albanians) | 423,000 (41.71%) | |
| Greeks | 259,000 (27.30%) | |
| Bulgarians | 178,000 (18.81%) | |
| Serbs | 13,150 (1.39%) | |
| Others | 73,000 (7.72%) |
Serb presence in Rumelia, estimations 1869,[54] 1897[55] and 1904 [56]:
The number of Serbs of Macedonia has fallen from the 1971 census, when they constituted 46,465 (2.85%). In the 2002 census there were 35,939 (1.78%).
| Census Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 2002 | 35,939 (1.78%) |
| 1994 | 39,620 (2.04%) |
| 1991 | 42,755 (2.1%) |
| 1981 | 44,613 (2.3%) |
| 1971 | 46,465 (2.85%) |
The Serbs of the Republic of Macedonia are generally concentrated along the northern border with Serbia. They form substantial populations in Kumanovo and Skopje. Although there is another large concentration in south-eastern Gevgelija and Dojran regions. The population with the highest percentage of Serbs is the Čučer-Sandevo municipality with 2426 Serbs or roughly 28.6% of the population.
| Municipality | Population | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Kumanovo municipality | 9,062 | 8.6% |
| Aerodrom municipality | 3,085 | 4.3% |
| Čučer-Sandevo municipality | 2,426 | 28.6% |
| Karpoš municipality | 2,184 | 3.7% |
| Gazi Baba municipality | 2,097 | 2.9% |
| Centar municipality | 2,037 | 4.5% |
| Gjorče Petrov municipality | 1,730 | 4.2% |
| Kisela Voda municipality | 1,426 | 2.5% |
| Butel municipality | 1,033 | 2.9% |
| Staro Nagoričane municipality | 926 | 19.1% |
| Ilinden municipality | 912 | 5.7% |
| Valandovo municipality | 630 | 5.4% |
| Negotino municipality | 627 | 3.3% |
| Čair municipality | 621 | 1% |
| Rosoman municipality | 409 | 9.9% |
| Dojran municipality | 277 | 8% |
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