Macedonia (terminology)

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Macedonia

The contemporary geographical region of Macedonia is not officially defined by any international organisation or state. In some contexts it appears to span five current sovereign countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, and Serbia. For more details see the boundaries and definitions section in Macedonia (region).

This article is about the use of the name Macedonia and its derivatives. For the region spanning several countries in South-Eastern Europe please see Macedonia (region). For other uses of the term, see Macedonia.

The definition of Macedonia is a major source of confusion and debate because of the overlapping use of the term to describe geographical, political and historical areas, languages and peoples. Ethnic groups inhabiting the area use different terminology for the same entity, or the same terminology for different entities, which is often confusing to other inhabitants of the region and foreigners alike.

Historically, the region has presented markedly shifting borders across the Balkan peninsula. Geographically, no single definition of its borders or the names of its subdivisions is accepted by all scholars and ethnic groups. Demographically, it is mainly inhabited by four ethnic groups, three of which self-identify as Macedonians: one Slavic group does so at a national level, while a Bulgarian and a Greek one do so at a regional level. Linguistically, the names and origins of the languages and dialects spoken in the region are a source of controversy. Politically, the use of the name Macedonia has led to a diplomatic dispute between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia. Despite intervention from the United Nations, the dispute is still pending full resolution.

Regardless of the borderless, historic nature of the region, Macedonia can be safely considered as lying in the heart of the Balkan peninsula. Therefore, the reason for this polyonymy, heteronymy and confusion can be summarised in Winston Churchill's words: "The Balkan region has a tendency to produce more history than it can consume."^[1]

[edit] Etymology

Main article: Etymology of the name "Macedonia"

There are three theories for the etymology of the name Macedonia. According to ancient Greek mythology, Macedon was the name of the first phylarch (tribal chief) of the tribe that initially settled western, southern and central Macedonia and founded the kingdom of Macedon. Αccording to Herodotus, the Makednoí were a tribe of the Dorians.^[2] The name probably derives from the adjective μακεδνός makednós, meaning "tall", which Homer uses for a poplar tree,^[3] and which the grammarian Hesychius of Alexandria records as a Doric word meaning "large" or "heavenly"^[4] It has been commonly suggested that both the Macedonians (Makedónes) and their Makednoí tribal ancestors were regarded as tall people.^[5] A third hypothesis suggests that the name Makedónes may mean "highlanders", from an unattested ancient Macedonian bahuvrihi *μακι-κεδόνες *maki-kedónes "of the high earth".^[6] According to the World Book Encyclopedia, the names Macedonia and Macedonians derive from the Greek word Macednon which means high — a reference to the group's mountainous homeland.

[edit] In history

Historical Macedonia
Ancient Macedon	Roman Province
Byzantine province (approximate borders)	Ottoman period (approximate)
"If it were not confusing, it would not have been Macedonia."[18]
Ancient Macedon: Approximate borders of the kingdom before expansion to conquer the whole known world, according to archaeological findings and historic references. Roman province: Macedonia occupied areas outside the contemporary geographical area to the West (approximate borders of maximum extent). There was also a late antique diocese of Macedonia. Byzantine province: Macedonia excluded Thessaloniki and occupied only the Eastern part of the contemporary geographical area (approximate borders). Ottoman period: During the first four centuries of the Ottoman period, western scholars thought of Macedonia in terms of Greco-Roman geography.[19] The Ottoman Empire did not have an administrative unit by that name.[19] In the early 19th century, the definition of Macedonia by most scholars, approximately matched the contemporary region, with occasional farther variations.[19]

The region of Macedonia has been home to several historical political entities; the main ones are given below. The borders of each of these entities were different. The area occupied by ancient Macedon approximately coincided with contemporary Macedonia in Greece.^[7]

[edit] In early history

Main articles: History of the region of Macedonia and Macedon

The ancient kingdom of Macedon had more or less definite borders, although the question of whether the upland areas, like Lyncestis, were part of the kingdom or independent states tended to be fought out under most of the Macedonian kings. Under Philip II of Macedon, Macedonia expanded markedly, growing to include Chalcidice, and northward to the Danube; Philip personally controlled much of Greece. Under Alexander, Macedon expanded within decades to an Empire, occupying most of the known world; one part of it then became the Hellenistic kingdom of Macedonia. After the Roman conquest following the Macedonian Wars, the Roman Senate established a province of Macedonia, which had various borders in different centuries. The Roman provincial system stopped working at the fall of the Roman Empire, and when the Byzantines set up a theme of Macedonia, it was much further to the East, excluding even Chalcidice, to say nothing of Thessalonica. The Ottoman Empire did not use Macedonia as the name of an administrative unit.

Historical political entities which have used the name Macedonia were:

• Macedon, the ancient kingdom, existed in the northernmost part of ancient Greece, bordering the kingdom of Epirus on the west and the region of Thrace to the east. The first Macedonian state emerged in the 8th or early 7th century BCE. Its notable ruler Alexander the Great conquered all of the known world to the east of Greece until his early death in 323 BCE. The kingdom lasted until the Romans divided it into four republics in 168 BCE.^[8]

• The Romans had two different entities called Macedonia, at different levels:
  • Macedonia was formed into a Roman province in 146 BC. Its boundaries were shifted from time to time for Roman administrative convenience, but it usually extended west to the Adriatic. Diocletian divided it into Macedonia prima and Macedonia salutaris.
  • The provinces were only part of the Roman Diocese of Macedonia, organized some time around 300; authorities differ, but it certainly existed under Constantine. In addition to the two Macedonian provinces, it included Epirus vetus, Epirus nova, Thessaly, Achaea, and Crete - almost all of modern Greece and the present Republic, as well as much of Albania. Both the diocese and the provinces ceased to function as administrative units when the late Roman Empire lost control of the Balkans around 600 or 700.

• Macedonia, during the Byzantine period, was a new theme organised by Empress Irene, out of the Theme of Strymon, stretching of Adrianople and the Evros valley east along the Sea of Marmara (ancient Macedonia was the Theme of Thessalonica). John I Tzimisces replaced this with a ducate of Adrianople, which included much of his Bulgarian conquests.^[9]

• The Ottomans held Macedonia for five centuries; they did not keep Macedonia as an administrative unit. The region of European Turkey lying between Thessaly and Serbia continued to be called Macedonia, however. In 1904, when most of it was placed under international administration, it contained the districts of Salonica, Monastir, Üsküb, Kossovo, Drama, and Serres. In 1912–3, this was divided among the Balkan states.^{[10][11][12][13]}

[edit] In modern history

Main article: History of modern Macedonia

Since the early stages of the Greek Revolution, the provisional government of Greece claimed Macedonia as part of Greek national territory, but the Treaty of Constantinople (1832), which established a Greek independent state, set its northern boundary between Arta and Volos.^[14] When the Ottoman Empire started breaking apart, Macedonia was claimed by all members of the Balkan League (Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria), and by Romania. Under the Treaty of San Stefano that ended the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78 the entire region, except Thessaloniki, was included in the borders of Bulgaria, but after the Congress of Berlin in 1878 the region was returned to the Ottoman Empire. The armies of the Balkan League advanced and occupied Macedonia in the First Balkan War in 1912. Because of disagreements between the allies about the partition of the region, the Second Balkan War erupted, and in its aftermath the arbitrary region of Macedonia was split into definite borders. The political entities that existed or still exist in this region, under the name Macedonia are:

• Macedonia (as a region of Greece) refers to a region of three peripheries in northern Greece, incorporated in 1913, as a result of the Balkan Wars, between the Ottoman Empire and the Balkan League.^[15]
• Macedonia (as a People's Republic within Yugoslavia) used to refer to the People's Republic of Macedonia established in 1946, later known as the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, one of the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, renamed in 1963.^[16]
• Macedonia (as a contemporary sovereign state) refers^N-[3] to the conventional short form name of the Republic of Macedonia, which held a referendum and established its independence from Yugoslavia on September 8, 1991.^[17]

[edit] In geography

Macedonia (as a current geographical term) refers to a region of the Balkan peninsula in south-eastern Europe, covering some 60,000 or 70,000 square kilometers. Although the region's borders are not officially defined by any international organization or state, in some contexts, the territory appears to correspond to the basins of (from west to east) the Haliacmon (Aliákmonas), Vardar / Axios and Struma / Strymónas rivers, and the plains around Thessaloniki and Serres.

French geographical map of the wider Macedonia (region) as seen by Bianconi, 1885. Most other maps of that period have similar borders, differing slightly from each other; a few maps restrict the region to its southern part. Enlarge.

In a historic context, the region presents markedly shifting borders across the Balkan peninsula, since borders were loosely defined according to the administrative requirements of its conquerors. Under the Ottoman conquest, which lasted five centuries, Macedonia was not an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire.^[18] H.R. Wilkinson, the geographer, suggests that the region "defies definition", but that many mappers agree "on its general location".^[19] Macedonia was well enough defined in 1897 for Gladstone propose "Macedonia for the Macedonians", implying all the inhabitants of the region, irrespectively of their ethnicity.^[20] The Balkan nations began to proclaim their rights to it after the Treaty of San Stefano in 1878, and its subsequent revision.

Many ethnographic maps were produced in this period of controversy; these differ primarily in the areas given to each nationality within Macedonia. This was in part a result of the choice of definition: an inhabitant of Macedonia might well have different nationalities depending on whether the basis of classification was denomination, descent, language, self-identification or personal choice. In addition, the Ottoman census, taken on the basis of religion, was misquoted by all sides; descent, or "race", was largely conjectural; inhabitants of Macedonia might speak a different language at the market and at home, and the same Slavic dialect might be called Serbian "with Bulgarian influences", Macedonian, or West-Bulgarian.

These maps would also differ somewhat in the boundaries given to Macedonia. Its only inarguable limits were the Aegean Sea and the Serbian and Bulgarian frontiers (as of 1885); where it bordered on Old Serbia, Albania, and Thrace (all parts of Ottoman Rumelia) was debatable.^[19]

The Greek ethnographer Nicolaides, the Austrian Meinhard, and the Bulgarian Kǎnčev accepted the Šar Mountains and the Crna hills; as had scholars before 1878.^[19] The Serb Gopčevič preferred a line much further south, assigning the entire region from Skopje to Strumica to "Old Serbia"; and some later Greek geographers have agreed to a more restricted Macedonia.^[19] In addition, maps might vary in smaller details: as to whether this town or that was Macedonian. One Italian map included Prizren, where Nicolaides and Meinhard had drawn the boundary just south of it. On the south and west, Grevena, Korçë, and Konitsa varied from map to map; on the east, the usual line is the lower Mesta / Nestos river and then north or northwest, but one German geographer takes the line so far west as to exclude Bansko and Nevrokop / Gotse Delcev.^[19]

Extremist ethnic Macedonian nationalists of the "United Macedonia" movement have expressed irredentist claims to what they refer to as "Aegean Macedonia" (in Greece),^[21][22][23] "Pirin Macedonia" (in Bulgaria),^[24] "Mala Prespa and Golo Bardo" (in Albania),^[25] and "Gora and Prohor Pchinski" (in Serbia).^[26] Greek Macedonians, Bulgarians, Albanians and Serbs form the overwhelming majority of the population of each part of the region respectively. These fringe groups have received no official encouragement from the government of the Republic of Macedonia, especially since 1995 when a constitutional amendment was added stating that there were no territorial claims on neighbouring countries. However, schoolbooks and official government publications in the Republic have shown the country as part of an unliberated whole.^{[27][28][29][30][31][32][33]}

Geographical Macedonia

Major sub-regions:        Aegean MacedoniaN-[1] (or Greek Macedonia)        Pirin MacedoniaN-[2] (or Bulgarian Macedonia)        Vardar Macedonia (formerly Yugoslav Macedonia)

Minor parts:        Mala Prespa and Golo Bardo (in Albania)        Gora and Prohor Pchinski (in Serbia)

The region of Macedonia is commonly divided into three major and two minor sub-regions.^[34] The name Macedonia appears under certain contexts on the major regions, while the smaller ones are traditionally referred to by other local toponyms:

[edit] Major sub-regions

The region of Macedonia is commonly split geographically into three main sub-regions, especially when discussing the Macedonian Question. The terms are used in non-partisan scholarly works, although they are also used in ethnic Macedonian literature of an irredentist nature:^[35]

• Aegean Macedonia^N-[1] (or Greek Macedonia) is a term that refers to an area in the south of the Macedonia region. The borders of the area are, overall, those of ancient Macedonia in Greece. It covers an area of 34,200 km²^[36] (for discussion of the reported irredentist origin of this term, see Aegean Macedonia).
• Pirin Macedonia^N-[2] (or Bulgarian Macedonia) is an area in the east of the Macedonia region. The borders of the area approximately coincide with those of Blagoevgrad Province in Bulgaria.^[34] It covers an area of 6,449 km².^[37]
• Vardar Macedonia (formerly Yugoslav Macedonia) is an area in the north of the Macedonia region. The borders of the area are those of the Republic of Macedonia.^[34] It covers an area of 25,333 km².^[38]

[edit] Minor parts

In addition to the above named sub-regions, there are also two smaller regions, in Albania and Serbia respectively. These regions are also considered geographically part of Macedonia. They are referred to by ethnic Macedonians as follows,^[35] but typically aren't referred to by non-partisan scholars.

Mala Prespa and Golo Bardo is a small area in the west of the Macedonia region in Albania, mainly around the Lake Ohrid. It includes parts of the Korçë, Pogradec and Devoll districts. These districts in whole occupy about 3,000 km², but the area concerned is significantly smaller.

Gora and Prohor Pchinski are minor parts in the north of the Macedonia region in Serbia. They roughly correspond to the Serbian district of Dragash (435 km²) and the monastery of Prohor Pčinjski.

[edit] In demographics

Main article: Demographic history of Macedonia

The region, as defined above, has a total population of about 5 million. The main disambiguation issue in demographics is the self-identifying name of two contemporary groups. The ethnic Macedonian population of the Republic of Macedonia self-identify as Macedonian on a national level, while the Greek Macedonians self-identify as both Macedonian on a regional, and Greek on a national level. This disambiguation problem has led to a wide variety of terms used to refer to the separate groups, more information of which can be found in the terminology by group section.

The self-identifying Macedonians (collectively referring to the inhabitants of the region) that inhabit or inhabited the area are:

As an ethnic group, Macedonians refers^N-[3] to the majority of the population of the Republic of Macedonia. Statistics for 2002 indicate the population of ethnic Macedonians within Republic of Macedonia as 1,297,981.^[38][41] On the other hand, as a legal term, it refers to all the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia, irrespective of their ethnic or religious affiliation.^[38] However, the preamble of the constitution^[17] distinguishes between "the Macedonian people" and the "Albanians, Turks, Vlachs, Romanics and other nationalities living in the Republic of Macedonia", but for whom "full equality as citizens" is provided. As of 2002 the total population of the country is 2,022,547.^[41]

As a regional group in Greece, Macedonians refers to ethnic Greeks living in regions referred to as Macedonia, and particularly Greek Macedonia. This group composes 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.^[42]

The same term in antiquity described the inhabitants of the kingdom of Macedon,^[20] including their notable rulers Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great who self-identified as Greeks.^[43]

As a regional group in Bulgaria, Macedonians refers to the inhabitants of Bulgarian Macedonia, who in their vast majority self-identify as Bulgarians at a national level and as Macedonians at a regional, but not ethnic level.^[40] As of 2001, the total population of Bulgarian Macedonia is 341,245, while the ethnic Macedonians living in the same region are 3,117.^[44] The Bulgarian Macedonians also self-identify as Piriners (пиринци, pirintsi)^[45] to avoid confusion with the neighboring ethnic group.

Macedo-Romanians can be used as an alternative name for Aromanians, people living throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Northern Dobruja, Romania. According to Ethnologue, their total population in all countries is 306,237.^[46] This not very frequent appellation is the only one with the disambiguating portmanteau, both within the members of the same ethnic group and the other ethnic groups in the area.^[47] To make matters more confusing, Aromanians are often called "Machedoni" by Romanians, as opposed to the citizens of Macedonia, who are called "Macedoneni".

The ethnic Albanians living in the region of Macedonia, as defined above, are mainly concentrated in the Republic of Macedonia (especially in the northwestern part that borders Kosovo and Albania), and less in the Albanian minor sub-region of Macedonia around the Lake Ohrid. As of 2002, the total population of Albanians within the republic is 509,083 or 25.2% of the country's total population.^[41]

It should be noted that the ancient Macedonian religious sect derived their name from their founder, Bishop Macedonius I of Constantinople, not from the geographical region of Macedonia.

[edit] In linguistics

As language is one of the elements tied in with national identity, the same disputes that are voiced over demographics are also found in linguistics. There are two main disputes about the use of the word Macedonian to describe a linguistic phenomenon, be it a language or a dialect:

On the first hand, the origins of the Ancient Macedonian language are currently debated. It is as yet undetermined whether the language / dialect was a Greek dialect related to Doric Greek^[51][52] and/or Aeolic Greek^[53] dialects among others, a sibling language of ancient Greek forming a Greaco-Macedonian or Hellenic supergroup, or an independent Indo-European language close to Greek, Thracian and Phrygian languages.^[54] The scientific community generally agrees that, although some sources are available (e.g. Hesychius' lexicon, Pella curse tablet)^[55] there is no decisive evidence for supporting either hypothesis.^[56]

On the other hand, the (south Slavic) Macedonian language^N-[3] is unrelated to the Ancient Macedonian language. It currently suffers from two main disputes. The first dispute is over the name (alternative ways of referring to this language can be found in the terminology by group section). The second dispute is over the existence of a Macedonian language distinct from Bulgarian, the denial of which is a position supported by nationalist groups,^[57] but also, less vehemently, by ordinary Bulgarians. Further information on this can be found in the Macedonian language article.

Today, Macedonian is also a dialect of Modern Greek, a language of the Indo-European family. Additionally, Macedo-Romanian is an Eastern Romance language, spoken in Southeastern Europe by the Aromanians.^[47]

[edit] In politics

The controversies in geographic, linguistic and demographic terms, are also manifested in international politics. Among the autonomous countries that were formed as a result of the Yugoslavian split in the 1990s, was the (until then) subnational entity of SFRJ, by the official name of Socialist Republic of Macedonia, the others being Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. The peaceful break-away of that nation, resulted in a necessary change for its name, to signify disassociation from federal Yugoslavia.

Political Macedonia

Μακεδονία (Macedonia) (Macedonia in Greece)

Македонија (Macedonia) (Republic of Macedonia)

Republic of Macedonia^N-[3] is the constitutional name^[17] of the sovereign state which occupies the northern part of the geographical region of Macedonia. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is a term used to refer to this state by the main international organisations, including United Nations,^[58] European Union,^[59] NATO,^[60] IMF,^[61] WTO,^[62] IOC,^[63] World Bank,^[64] EBRD,^[65] OSCE,^[66] FIFA,^[67] and FIBA.^[68] The term was introduced in 1993 by the United Nations, following a naming dispute with Greece. Some countries use this term as a stop-gap measure, pending resolution of the naming dispute.

Greece and the Republic of Macedonia each consider this name a compromise:^[69] it is opposed by some Greeks for containing the Greek self-identifying name Macedonia, and by many in the Republic of Macedonia for not being the short self-identifying name.^[70] Greece uses it in both the abbreviated (FYROM or ΠΓΔΜ)^N-[1] and spellout form (πρώην Γιουγκοσλαβική Δημοκρατία της Μακεδονίας).

Macedonia refers also to a geographic region in Greece, divided in the three administrative sub-regions (peripheries) of West, Central, and East Macedonia. The region is overseen by the Ministry for Macedonia–Thrace. The capital of Greek Macedonia is Thessaloniki, which is the largest city in the region of Macedonia. Thessaloniki is also the joint capital city ("συμπρωτεύουσα"-symprotévousa)^[71] of Greece, the capital being Athens.

[edit] Names in the languages of the region

Macedonia

Albanian:	Maqedonia		Macedonian:	Македонија (Makedonija)
Armenian:	Մակեդոնիա (Makedonia)		Romany:	Makedoniya
Aromanian:	Machidunia		Russian:	Македония (Makedonija)
Bulgarian:	Македония (Makedonija)		Serbian:	Македонија, Makedonija
Greek:	Μακεδονία (Makedhonia)		Turkish:	Makedonya
Ladino:	Makedonia, מקדוניה‎		Ukrainian:	Македонія (Makedonija)

[edit] Terminology by group

All these controversies have led ethnic groups in Macedonia to use terms in conflicting ways. Despite the fact that these terms may not always be used in a pejorative way, they may be perceived as such by the receiving ethnic group. Both Greeks and ethnic Macedonians generally use all terms deriving from Macedonia to describe their own regional or ethnic group, and have devised several other terms to disambiguate the other side, or the region in general.

A proportion of Bulgarians and ethnic Macedonians have extremist views about their inter-relatedness. On the one hand, extremist ethnic Macedonians^[72] seek to deny the possibility of any national, linguistic and historical relatedness to the Bulgarians. On the other hand, extremist Bulgarians seek to downplay this distinctiveness,^[73] and are often supported by extremist Greeks.^[74] Bulgarians and ethnic Macedonians seek to deny the self-identification of the Slavic speaking minority in northern Greece,^[75] which mostly self-identifies as Greek. Extremists on all sides have been known to fabricate and reproduce falsified information, along with denying genuine information and propagating unscientific and pseudoscientific theories.^[76][77][78]

Certain terms are in use by these groups as outlined below. Any denial of self-identification by any side, or any attribution to Macedonia related terms by third parties to the other side, can be seen as highly offensive. General usage of these terms follows:

[edit] Bulgarian Gărkomani (Гъркомани) is a derogatory term used to refer to the largest portion of the Slavic-speaking minority of Macedonia in Greece who self-identify as Greeks.[79] Macedonian and the Slavic dialects of Greece are considered dialects of Bulgarian by Bulgarian linguists, not independent languages or dialects of other languages (e.g. Serbian). This is also the popular view in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian government, however, has officially recognized the language as the constitutional language of the Republic of Macedonia.[80] Macedonism (Македонизъм) is a term referring to the political ideology or simply views that the Slavs of Macedonia are an ethnic group separate from Bulgarians, with their own separate language, history and culture. It is also used to describe what Bulgarians view as the falsification of their history whether by Macedonian or foreign scholars who subscribe to the Macedonist point of view. It carries strong negative connotations.[81] (see Macedonism). Macedonistics (Македонистика) is a term, generally synonymous with disciplines such as study of the origins of the Macedonian language and history of the Macedonian people conducted in the Republic of Macedonia and in former Yugoslavia. It is generally considered in Bulgaria to be a kind of pseudoscience. Macedonist (Македонист) is a term for a person (typically ethnic Macedonian) who believes that Macedonian Slavs are not ethnic Bulgarians but a separate ethnic group, directly descended from the ancient Macedonians. It is a more negatively charged synonym of "Macedonian nationalist". More rarely it is used for someone associated with the study of the origins of the Macedonian language and history of the Macedonian people (not necessarily from the Republic of Macedonia or Yugoslavia), whose studies support the official historical doctrine of the Republic of Macedonia or former Yugoslavia.[81] Old Bulgarian (Старобългарски) is the name Bulgarians give to the Old Church Slavonic language used in the Ohrid Literary School among others. In contrast, Old Church Slavonic is rarely referred to by Macedonians as Old Macedonian, but is referred to as Old Slavic.[82]

[edit] Greek Macedonia (Μακεδονία) can refer to the region of Macedonia or Macedonia in Greece depending on the context — usually the first being disambiguated.[83] Macedonian (Μακεδόνας) refers to an ethnically Greek Macedonian.[83] Ancient Macedonian (Αρχαίος Μακεδόνας) refers to an Ancient Macedonian.[83] Macedonian Slav, Slavic Macedonian or SlavomacedonianN-[5] (Σλαβομακεδόνας) refers to a member of the Macedonian ethnic group. Macedonian Slavic, Slavic Macedonian or SlavomacedonianN-[5] (Σλαβομακεδονικά) refers to the Macedonian language.[84] Republic of Skopje (Δημοκρατία των Σκοπίων) refers to the Republic of Macedonia.[85] State of Skopje (Κράτος των Σκοπίων) refers to the Republic of Macedonia.[86] Skopje, or Skopia (Σκόπια) refers to either the Republic of Macedonia or its capital city of Skopje.[87] Skopjan, or Skopian (Σκοπιανός) refers to a member of the Macedonian ethnic group living in the Republic or outside it, not in Greece.[87] Skopianika (Σκοπιανικά) refers to the Macedonian language.[88] Slavophone (Σλαβόφωνος) refers to a member of the Slavic speaking minority in Greece, which mainly consists of Greek-identifying Slavic-speakers,[89] but also Bulgarians and ethnic Macedonians. Bulgaroskopian (Βουλγαροσκοπιανός) is a derogatory term used to refer to ethnic Macedonians.[74] Pseudomacedonian (Ψευδομακεδόνας) is a term used to refer to Slavic Macedonians, and asserts their nationhood is contrived.[90]

[edit] Ethnic Macedonian Macedonia (Македонија) can interchangeably refer to either the region of Macedonia or the Republic of Macedonia.[91] Macedonians (Македонци) generally refers to the Macedonian ethnic group associated with the Republic of Macedonia, neighbouring countries and abroad.[91] Aegean Macedonia (Егејска Македонија — Egejska Makedonija) refers to Macedonia in Greece (as defined by the administrative division of Greece).[92][93] Pirin Macedonia (Пиринска Македонија — Pirinska Makedonija) refers to the Blagoevgrad Province of Bulgaria (as defined by the administrative division of Bulgaria).[93] Old Macedonian (Старомакедонски) is one of the names ethnic Macedonians give to the Ancient Macedonian language.[94] Bugarashi (бугараши) or bugarofili (бугарофили) are derogatory terms used to refer to people in the Republic of Macedonia self-identifying as Bulgarian, or having a pro-Bulgarian orientation.[95], [96] Egejci (Егејци) is а term sometimes used to refer to people living in the Republic of Macedonia and abroad that are originating from the Aegean Macedonia (today’s Greece).[97] Grkomani (гркомани) is a derogatory term used to refer to the largest portion of the Slavic-speaking minority of Macedonia in Greece who self-identify as Greeks.[98] Srbomani (србомани) or srbofili (србофили) are derogatory terms used to refer to people in the Republic of Macedonia self-identifying as Serbian, or having a pro-Serb orientation.[95], [99]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

[edit] See also

• Macedonian salad