Macedonians in Slovenia are ethnic Macedonians who reside in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. According to the official census of 2002, there are 3,972 declared Macedonians in Slovenia, with 4,760 listing

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...

as their mother tongue.

Immigration

During the years of the Yugoslav federation, many Macedonians migrated to the

Socialist Republic of Slovenia The Socialist Republic of Slovenia ( sl, Socialistična republika Slovenija, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Sociali ...

. Most of them came from the east of the

Socialist Republic of Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалистичка Република Македонија, Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia or Yugoslav Macedonia, was ...

and they settled mainly in the town of

Kranj Kranj (, german: Krainburg) is the third-largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 37,941 (2020). It is located approximately northwest of Ljubljana. The centre of the City Municipality of Kranj and of the traditional region of Upper Carniol ...

and the capital

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

. Macedonian communities can be also found in larger towns such as Jesenice, Nova Gorica,

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...

and

Celje ) , pushpin_map = Slovenia , pushpin_label_position = left , pushpin_map_caption = Location of the city of Celje in Slovenia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Cou ...

. Around 450 Macedonians reside in the

Celje ) , pushpin_map = Slovenia , pushpin_label_position = left , pushpin_map_caption = Location of the city of Celje in Slovenia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Cou ...

region.

Culture

There are three larger cultural associations in

. The biggest ones are KUD Makedonija from

, KUD Kiril i Metodij from

and Kud Biljana from

.MKD Biljana-http://www.mkd-biljana.si/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=6, They were founded in the 1990s after

become an independent republic. Cultural Associations were founded to encourage learning of the Macedonian language, heritage and customs for those living in Slovenia. They mainly gather Macedonians for major holidays like

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

, Ilinden and

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

. Each association has its own center for gatherings and folklore acts. There is also a Macedonian language school in Kranj which is targeted at younger Macedonians.

Religion

Macedonians in Slovenia are predominantly of

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

religion. Due to the lack of priests there is only one

Macedonian Orthodox Church The Macedonian Orthodox Church – Archdiocese of Ohrid (MOC-AO; mk, Македонска православна црква – Охридска архиепископија), or simply the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC) or the Archdiocese o ...

, which opens only on some occasions; for weekly mass adhererants of the church use the

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...

. The first Macedonian church organization was the MCO (Македонски црковен одбор/''Makedonski crkoven odbor''). The first meeting was held on April 13, 1993, where there was talk about establishing a

. Good communications have been established between the Macedonian Orthodox Church and

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, which is the predominant denomination in Slovenia. Many Macedonians also use the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Community was leased the church St.Marija Roženveska which is located in centre of Kranj. It is used by Macedonians only on bigger holidays.Naše Sonce-http://www.mkd-kim.si/vesnik/nase%20sonce%20-%20st%201%20-%20december%201997.pdf

Media

There is just one newspaper which is written for Macedonians in Slovenia called ''Naše Sonce'' (Наше Сонце, ''lit. Our Sun''). It is printed by the cultural association of St.Cyril and Methodi whose office is in

. The first edition was printed on December 1, 1997. The newspaper mainly writes about problems and activities of Macedonians living in

Notable people

* Irena Joveva, Member of the European Parliament *

Sašo Filipovski Sašo Filipovski (born 6 September 1974) is a Macedonian-Slovenian professional basketball coach. Coaching career His coaching career started back in 1996 when he was an assistant coach of Union Olimpija for seven seasons until 2003. He then bec ...

, basketball coach * Vlado Ilievski, basketball player for Macedonia national team with a Slovenian passport *

Emilija Stojmenova Duh Emilija Stojmenova Duh (born 25 December 1985) is a Macedonian-Slovenian electrical engineer and politician. She is the current minister for digital transformation of the Republic of Slovenia. Youth and education She was born in Vinica, North M ...

, Minister for Digital Transformation

References

External links

KUD Biljana Maribor KUD Makedonija Lubljana SMMD
{{Portal bar, North Macedonia, Slovenia Macedonian diaspora North Macedonia–Slovenia relations