The population and religions in the Republic of Macedonia

The first official census was held in 1948, which recorded 762,120 Macedonians, 197,423 Albanians, 95,987 Turks and 9,508 Vlachs in the Socialist Federal Republic of Macedonia.

In Spring 1994, a Council of Europe supervised census was held in the Republic of Macedonia, according to which there are 1,936,877 citizens in Macedonia: Macedonians accounted for 66.5 per cent or 1,288,330 people. Albanians numbered 442,914 in total with a little over 300,000 possessing regular citizenship and over 120,000 with unregulated citizenship, thus Albanians account for between 17 and 22.9 per cent of the population. There were 77,252 Turks, 4.0 per cent; 43,732 Roms, 2.3 per cent; 39,260 Serbs, 2.0 per cent; and 8,467 Vlachs or 0.43 per cent. Others, including Croatians, Bulgarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Russians, Romanians, Greeks, Ukrainians, Poles, Italians and Germans, were 34,960 or 1.81 per cent.

The Macedonians are predominantly Orthodox Christians while the Albanians and the Turks are Muslims except for some Catholic and Orthodox villages. There are also Muslim Macedonians called "Torbesh".

Language in the Republic of Macedonia

Although the Cyrillic alphabet had its genesis in the spoken Macedonian language of the ninth century, there was no standardized written Macedonian language until the end of World War II. Initially, the dialect of northern Macedonia was considered to be chosen as the standard language of the new republic. However, it was too close to the Serbian. In the end, the Bitola-Veles dialect was chosen as the standard.

The alphabet of the Macedonian language was accepted on May 3, 1945 and the orthography on June 7, 1945. The first grammar was published in 1946 and orthography in 1951. The Macedonian Cyrillic alphabet, including 31 letters, is read and pronounced as it is written, ie phonetically. The first reading books in this manner were published in 1946. In the same year, the Macedonian Language Department was opened in the Philosophy Faculty of the University of Skopje. The "Krste Misirkov Institute" was founded in order to develop the literary Macedonian.

By the 1970s, the major questions of Macedonian culture had been resolved. The Macedonian literary language had achieved a standard form widely accepted by the Macedonian population, and the Macedonian Orthodox Church had been established fully independent of the Serbian Church.38

The evolution of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization

Towards the end of the 19th century, as elsewhere in the Balkans at that time, Socialist thought emerged in Macedonia combined with nationalism. The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) was founded in 1893. There were two wings in the IMRO from its outset, Verhovists (Federalists) and Centralists. Centralists were in favour of union with Bulgaria. Thus almost from the outset the IMRO was fatally divided in its aims between those who wanted a separate Macedonian state either independent or within some form of federation and those who wanted Macedonia for Bulgaria.

In 1903, IMRO led the unsuccessful Ilinden revolt against the Ottomans. In 1908, the left wing of the IMRO established the Federative People's Party. After 1924, IMRO came under the control of Sofia. During the interwar period, the IMRO degenerated into a terrorist band, and in the 1930s it was expelled from Bulgaria. IMRO collaborated with the German and Bulgarian authorities during the occupation of Macedonia by Bulgaria (with the permission of Nazi Germany) during World War II. This was in contrast to the Macedonian people who fought against fascism.

Current political situation

Given the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the emergence of ethnic strife there, the people of the Republic of Macedonia have displayed a remarkable democratic maturity in the last three years. On October 18, 1991, Macedonia declared its sovereignty and independence after a popular referendum. So far it has managed to avoid the violence in other parts of former Yugoslavia.

The Macedonian Parliament is called the Sobranie. It has 120 seats. The first national elections were held in November 1990. The latest elections were held in October 1994.

The following parties operate in Macedonia.

1. Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM): (Formerly the League of Communists of Macedonia - Party for Democratic Renewal). This is the party of the former communists. SDSM considers the Republic of Macedonia as a multi-national and multi-religious state, and advocates a market economy.

It had 31 deputies in the previous Sobranie. In the 1994 elections it won 58 seats and formed part of the Alliance for Macedonia which won 87 seats in total.

2. Liberal Party (LP): The Liberal Party advocates free market principles and integration with the European Union. In the 1994 elections it won 29 seats and formed part of the governing Alliance for Macedonia.

3. Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP). The PDP is an Albanian party aiming at full equality of the Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia. In the 1994 elections the PDP won 10 seats.

4. Socialist Party of Macedonia (SPM): In the 1994 elections it won 8 seats.

5. Democratic Peoples Party (NDP) is also an Albanian Party. It holds 4 seats.

6. Democratic Party of Macedonia: The party has one seat.

7. Party for Complete Emancipation of Roms: The party has one seat.

8. Social Democratic Party of Macedonia: The party has one seat.

9. Democratic Party of Turks: The party has one seat.

10. Independents: There are seven independents in the Sobranie.

11. IMRO-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE): A nationalist right wing party. It is neutral toward Bulgaria except in regard to the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria and Bulgaria's non-recognition of the Macedonian ethnicity. It is critical of Greece and Serbia, and is anti Albanian separatism. It was represented with 35 deputies in the previous Sobranie, making it the main opposition.

In the current parliament it holds no seats after boycotting the elections.
12. Serbian Democratic Party (DSS): DSS is the party of the Serbs. It gave its full support to the Bosnian Serbs.

Between 1990 and 1994 the SDSM, RJM-LP and PDP formed a coalition government. The coalition parties are known not to have extreme political leanings. The government thus represented the moderate forces in the Republic.

The 1994 elections were won by the Alliance for Macedonia which consists of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia and the Liberal Party, thus continuing the rule of the moderate forces.

There are five Albanian ministers in the present Government and several Albanian junior ministers.

Current economic situation

The economic blockade which Greece applied to the Republic of Macedonia continues to badly hurt the economy of that landlocked country. Greece even blocked the transport of urgent medicine. Thessaloniki was the most important export-import port for Macedonia. The Republic of Macedonia is now trying to establish Adriatic-Black Sea railway and maritime trade routes, the mooted East-West corridor.

The loss of trading partners in the former Yugoslav republics, in part through international sanctions on Serbia, caused landlocked Macedonia to lose 70 per cent of its export market. Shipments of wine, metal products, textiles, electronics, meat and vegetables have been devastated. Unemployment in the Republic of Macedonia rose above 25 per cent.

The re-orientation from a planned economy to a market economy, as in the case of other former Yugoslav republics and former Eastern Bloc countries, is another difficult problem.

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