Greeks in North Macedonia


in North Macedonia form an ethnic minority, whose precise size is a few hundred per official estimates and ranges higher in Greek estimates.

Current status

Greeks are mainly settled now in the cities of Gevgelija and Bitola. Today most Greeks in the country are political refugees who fled Greece due to the Greek Civil War and their descendants. Ethnologue also cites Greek as an "immigrant language" in the Republic of North Macedonia.
The most recent census recorded 422 individuals declaring their ethnicity as Greek.

Alternative estimates

The Greek right-wing party Popular Orthodox Rally claims via questions presented in the Greek Parliament that there are more than 100,000 Greeks that now live in the country. This number is not supported officially by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to a Greek research, the Greek population of North Macedonia in 1996 made up 2% of the total population, consisting of approximately 42,000 individuals.

Aromanian controversy

The controversy surrounding a Greek minority within the Republic of North Macedonia stems from the statistical treatment of Aromanian population groups, who in their majority have historically identified themselves as Greeks as part of the Rum millet. A large number of Greek-identifying Vlachs left the region after the Balkan Wars, with Florina in Greece witnessing the arrival of a large Greek-speaking commercial population from Monastiri. The present-day community is a remnant of the formerly larger Aromanian Greek community of the part of Macedonia that fell within the borders of the Kingdom of Serbia after the Balkan Wars. Representatives of Aromanian Associations of Bitola, Krusevo and Gevgelija take place in the Panhellenic Reunion of Aromanians every year and representatives of Sarakatsani Association of Skopje take place in the Panhellenic Congress of Sarakatsani, every two years. On the other hand, the Aromanians in North Macedonia are an officially recognized minority group numbering ca. 10,000 people.

Notable historical personalities

The following people were born during Ottoman times in what is today North Macedonia: