Macedonia is traditionally an emigrational region from which emigrational movement of the Macedonian people and movement to the transoceanic and other countries took place toward the mid 19th century. Such movements were especially emphasized during the second half of the 19th century and were known as “pechalba” (going abroad for economic reasons). With a ranging scale and intensity they have continued till the present day. Thus, according to some data, the first group of “pechalbari” (people who went to work abroad) reached the North American continent in 1885, and Australia in the 1920’s. However, individuals who had joined groups of pechalbari from the neighboring and other countries had crossed the ocean even before that.
The wave of emigration from Macedonia, mainly from the traditionally emigrational regions: Florina, Bitola, Prespa, Castoria, Edessa, Tetovo, Ohrid, Thessalonica, Struga, Prilep, and other parts of Macedonia, intensified following the Ilinden Uprising in 1903. Nevertheless, emigration of the Macedonians from their country gained greater dimensions during the period that followed the partitioning of Macedonia, throughout the Balkan and First World Wars.
This was above all, the result of the unbearable political, economic, social, and security position of the Macedonian population. Therefore, according to some data during this period from all three parts of the partitioned Macedonia, about 60% of the emigrated Macedonians came from the Aegean part; 30 % came from the Vardar part; and 10 % from the Pirin part. According to the Special Commission of the UN for the Balkans, in its report of 13 May, 1949, a total of 232,000 Macedonians emigrated from Aegean Macedonia. In their place the Greek authorities brought Greek refugees (prosvigi) from Asia Minor and colonized the Aegean part of Macedonia.
Emigration to the Transatlantic countries intensified perceptibly following the Second World War, especially after the defeat of the Democratic Army in the Civil War in Greece, on whose side the Macedonian population from Aegean Macedonia had participated massively finally hoping to get its national and social rights. At the same time, the liberalization of the former SFRY policy on going abroad to work in other countries lead to emigration of a large number of citizens of what was then the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. However, the scale, dynamics, and character of the migratory movements from the beginning till the present day, vary in form and content and correspond to the phases of the social, economic, and political development of Macedonia, as well as to the changes in the migration policies of the countries to which they migrated.
The number of Macedonian migrants increases from year to year as a result of the migration movements, the growing birthrate, and other factors. There is no complete and more precise information regarding the number of Macedonians in the Balkans and the Macedonian emigrants in the transatlantic countries, the European Union, and other countries. Official statistical data, on the other hand, regarding the number of Macedonian emigrants throughout the world, are unrealistic for many reasons. Thus, according to them, in the USA there are 20,365 Macedonians (US Census Bureau, 1990,) in Canada there are approximately 54,000 Macedonians; in Australia there are 42,199 Macedonians (according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia); in the Federal Republic of Germany there are 49,400 legal residents (according to the central Statistics Bureau of SRG, 1999); in Switzerland 53,907 are legal residents; in Belgium 2,059 are legal residents; in the Netherlands there are 577 (according to the Dutch Bureau of Statistics;) in the Great Dukedom of Luxembourg there are 358; in Italy there are 21,988 (according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia;) in Austria there are 21 (“Statistic Austria”;) in Poland there are 150 Macedonian families (according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia;) and in the Former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia there are 47,200 according to the official census. On the other hand, according to an Austrian source, approximately seven million people lived in ethnic Macedonia at the beginning of the last, the twentieth, century. However, some more realistic estimates show that, in addition to the Macedonian population in the Republic of Macedonia (1,378,687 – according to the 1994 census) more than 300,000 live in Bulgaria, approximately 250,000 live in Greece, more than 150,000 live in Albania, and approximately 70,000 live in Serbia and Monte Negro. It has also been estimated that since the 19th century about 600 – 700, 000 Macedonians from every part of Macedonia migrated to various countries around the world. Without complete statistical and other information
it is quite difficult to determine the exact number realistically. Nevertheless, there are estimates that approximately 500,000 Macedonian immigrants live in the USA, Canada, and Australia. Of these, about 150,000 live in the USA, close to 150,000 are in Canada, and over 200,000 are in Australia and New Zealand. The majority of these come from Aegean Macedonia, and the Republic of Macedonia, while a small number come from the Macedonian part in Bulgaria and Albania. On the other hand, according to an Austrian source, approximately seven million people lived in ethnic Macedonia at the beginning of the last century.
It has been estimated that approximately 150,000 residents of Macedonian origin live in the European Union alone (Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Great Britain, followed by Slovenia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, the Ukraine, and Russia,) and other countries. There are also a large number of ethnic Albanians from Macedonia in the European Union. There is also a certain number of settlers of Macedonian origin who live in South America, Egypt, Israel, South Africa, Uzbekistan, and Turkey where there is a large number of Macedonian Muslims and ethnic Turks from Macedonia. There are Macedonians who live in Pakistan that refer to themselves as descendents of the army of Alexander the Great. Namely, on the Himalayas in the easternmost part of Pakistan, there is a tribe that differs from every other tribe around it. They are tall and blond. They have their own autonomous country which they call Hanza, or Hanza-kut, and speak a burushaski language and consider themselves Macedonians, descendents of Alexander. The Constitution of this Himalayan country states that they are descendents of Alexander the Great and his generals. Their flag is red and has a golden eight-ray Sun. In recent times they adopted the Islamic religion, but have retained their old traditions.
Modern economic emigration gained great intensity in the nineties of the previous century (XX) when more than 100, 000 of the residents of Macedonia (including Macedonians, ethnic Albanians, and others) left the country. This can be seen from available data from the last census of the population of the Republic of Macedonia. According to it, in 1994 173,611 persons were abroad, of which approximately 50,000 left in the period 1989 – 1994. There are a number of indications that show that these migratory movements continue with the same intensity even today. This is evident from the high level of negative net migration of 7,438 persons annually in the period 1994 – 1996, and the available data from foreign sources. For instance, according to data of the European Council, only in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland in the period 1996-1999 the number of Macedonian residents increased by approximately 41,000 people.
As regards the social and qualification structure of the Macedonian emigrants in the transatlantic countries we need emphasize that in the past the majority of them came from the villages, were of a difficult economic state, had a low level of education, and little skilled qualifications, unlike today’s emigrants who mainly have completed tertiary education and are professionally skilled. Hence, in the past the main reason for emigrating was to provide for a living and save material reserves for the family. A small number of emigrants left their native country due to political reasons, as well as the tradition of going abroad.
By Slave Nikolovski-Katin
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