Figure 1.-- The photo was taken in Macedonia duriung the late-19th or early-20th century. Macedonia at the time was an area claimed by Bulgaria, the Ottomans, the Greeks, and the setrbs. Possession varied during the Balkan Wars and World War I, until Allied and Serbian armies reconquered the area (1918) and it became part of Yugoslavia. We see a family scene in front of a home. We assume that they are Muslim by the man's clothing and the caps worn by two boys. We don't know the relations between the people. The fact that there is only a man could mean that it is a polygamous family, but we cannot be sure about that.

The modern borders of the Republic of Macedonia include by Kosovo, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Albania. This is reflected in the etnicity of the country. Macedonians comprise about 65 percent of the population. Macedonians (Македонци) are also referred to as Macedonian Slavs/Slavic Macedonians. They are a southern Slavic ethnic group native to Macedonia meaning the southern Baltics. They speak the Macedonian language, a southern Slavic language. Today two-thirds of all ethnic Macedonians live in the Republic of Macedonia. The rest mostly live in neigboring countries. Albanians make up most of the rest of the population--about 25 percent, concentrated in the nothwest boredering on Albania. Other ethic groups include Turks (4 percent), Roma (3 percent), Serbs (2 percent), and others (including Bosniaks and Vlachs). Macedonia The small Jewish community was murdered in the Holocaust. The ethnic make up of Macedonia has varied over time. Ancient Macedonia was more of a Greek people, culturally and ethically. Slavs did not enter the Balkans about a millenia later. The area of modern Macedonia has been part of major empires, the Greeks, Roman, Byzantue, and Ottoman. After World War I it became part of Yugoslavia. As a result, the ethnic composition has varied. And as part of larger empires, ethnic groups tended to mix. Thus before modern Macedinia was created the population was more varied than is the case today. This is true of all the republics formed out of Yugosalvia. This process began with the Balkan nationlist movements (19th century) and the disolution of the Ottoman Empire (1919) and ended with the disolution of Yugoslavia (1991).

Created: 11:30 PM 8/31/2017
Last updated: 11:30 PM 8/31/2017