Damon Mcknight
The population of Macedonians in Australia has a long history, with the first wave of immigration taking place in the 1920s and 1930s, and the largest wave occurring after World War II and the Greek Civil War. The Macedonian diaspora refers to ethnic Macedonian emigrants and their descendants, and Australia is a primary destination for these emigrants. As of the 2021 Australian census, Macedonian is the most-spoken Eastern European language in Australia, with 41,786 Australian residents listed as having been born in North Macedonia. The state of Victoria has the largest Macedonian community in Australia, with 49,429 people of Macedonian ancestry, followed by Greater Melbourne, with over 40,000 people of Macedonian descent.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Macedonian population in Australia | 41,786 (2021 Census) |
| Macedonian speakers in Victoria (1986) | 24,090 |
| Macedonian speakers in Victoria (1996) | 32,949 |
| People in Victoria with Macedonian ancestry (2021) | 49,429 |
| People in Victoria with Macedonian ancestry (2006) | 37,434 |
| People in Melbourne with Macedonian descent | 40,000+ |
| Macedonian immigrants in Australia before WWII | Negligible |
| Macedonian immigrants in Australia after WWII and the Greek Civil War | Thousands |
| Macedonian immigrants in Australia in the 1920s and 1930s | Many |
| People who claimed Macedonian ancestry in Australia (2001) | 81,898 |
| People who claimed Macedonian ancestry in Australia (2006) | 83,978 |
| People of Macedonian descent in Perth | 350 |
| Macedonian emigrants globally (1964 estimate) | 580,000+ |
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What You'll Learn
Macedonian Australians
During the 1960s and 1970s, thousands of Macedonians from the Socialist Republic of Macedonia joined the existing population. By 1986, there were 24,090 Macedonian speakers in Victoria, reaching a peak in 1996 with 32,949 people using Macedonian at home. As of 2006, 37,434 people in Victoria had either full or partial Macedonian ancestry. There are now over 40,000 people in Greater Melbourne of Macedonian descent, making up around one percent of the population. The Macedonian community in Victoria is the largest in Australia, with 49,429 people of Macedonian ancestry, of which 19,025 were born in Macedonia.
The Macedonian community in Australia is well-established, with many cultural and religious traditions. For example, Macedonians celebrate Easter, although the date varies each year. They also have a unique naming tradition, with people having a personal name and family name, but no middle name. Family names often have different suffixes for males and females, with masculine endings such as 'ski' or 'ov/ev' and female endings like 'ska' or 'ova/eva'. Women usually take their husband's family name at marriage, with a feminine suffix.
The Macedonian diaspora consists of ethnic Macedonian emigrants and their descendants in countries like Australia, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. A 1964 estimate put the number of Macedonian emigrants at over 580,000. The diaspora is the result of either voluntary departure or forced migration over the past century. There have been six major waves of emigration, with the first wave occurring when Macedonian Slavic-speaking immigrants in the first half of the 20th century were considered Bulgarian or Macedonian Bulgarian. Many Macedonian Bulgarians came to the United States, and some also identified as Macedonians, although this was primarily a regional designation.
The sense of a separate Macedonian identity gained popularity after World War II, with the establishment of the People's Republic of Macedonia. This was further encouraged by Macedonian intellectuals living abroad in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who propagated the idea that Slavic-speakers in Macedonia composed a separate ethnicity from Serbs, Bulgarians, and Greeks.
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Macedonian emigration waves
The Macedonian diaspora is the consequence of either voluntary departure or forced migration over the past 100 years. It is claimed that there were six major waves of emigration.
The first wave of Macedonian emigration occurred after the failure of the Ilinden Uprising in 1903. Many people fled to other parts of the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria, Russia, the United States and Canada. From the 1880s to the 1920s, many Macedonians emigrated mainly to Greece, with large settlements in Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Turkey and the United States.
The second wave of emigration happened during the period from World War I to the Great Depression when Macedonians fled Serbian rule and moved to Western Europe for industrial labour jobs, mainly in France, West Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. This trend repeated in the early 1950s to late 1970s.
The third wave of emigration occurred after World War II and the Greek Civil War, when thousands of Macedonians fled, were evacuated, or emigrated. Many Macedonians from Greece came to Australia, particularly Victoria, and they are known as Aegean Macedonians.
The fourth wave of emigration happened in the 1960s and 1970s when thousands of Macedonians from the Socialist Republic of Macedonia joined the Aegean Macedonians in Australia. During this time, Yugoslavia lifted restrictions on emigration, and many ethnic Macedonians within Yugoslavia left for primary destinations such as Australia, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States.
The fifth wave of emigration occurred after the breakup of Yugoslavia, when thousands of Macedonians emigrated to Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and North America.
The sixth wave of Macedonian emigration is ongoing, with North Macedonia facing constant emigration. In recent decades, Macedonians have sought Bulgarian citizenship as a means to facilitate emigration to Western European countries. According to a 2021 survey, 58% of young Macedonian people stated their intention to leave the country.
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Macedonian Australians in Victoria
Macedonian Australians are Australian citizens of Macedonian descent. The migration of Macedonians to Australia can be divided into several waves. The first wave of Macedonians to arrive in Australia came in the late 19th century, when itinerant workers heard about the discovery of gold and made their way to places like Kalgoorlie and Broken Hill. Many Macedonians also arrived in the 1920s and 1930s, although larger numbers came to Australia after World War II and the Greek Civil War. The largest wave of immigration was during the 1960s and 1970s, with Macedonians settling in industrial districts and suburbs like Fitzroy in Melbourne and Rockdale in Sydney. They also settled in Wollongong and Newcastle, in the Melbourne suburb of Thomastown, and in isolated parts of Australia.
Macedonians have been migrating to Victoria since the late 1880s. The largest group of Aegean Macedonians can be found in Victoria, with the second-largest group in Western Australia. In 1982, KUD Jane Sandanski was established in St Albans, Victoria, and is still in operation today. By 1986, there were 24,090 Macedonian speakers in Victoria, which reached a peak in 1996 with 32,949 people using Macedonian at home. As of 2006, 37,434 people in Victoria had either full or partial Macedonian ancestry, and there are currently over 40,000 people in Greater Melbourne of Macedonian descent, making up around 1% of the population. The City of Whittlesea is home to the largest Macedonian community in Victoria, with 13,979 people, followed by the City of Brimbank with 5,447 people.
The Macedonian community in Victoria is well-established, with most of the population arriving from 1961 to 1980. They migrated to reunite with family or pursue economic opportunities, and the migration of skilled professionals from Macedonia continued during the 1980s and 1990s. The Macedonian community throughout Australia has been decreasing due to some return migration and a lack of new arrivals. The community celebrates various cultural and religious holidays that are significant to their heritage and identity, such as Easter.
The Macedonian community in Victoria is concentrated in Melbourne's northern and western suburbs. They have established several churches, such as St. George in Fitzroy, Melbourne's first independent Macedonian Orthodox church inside Australia and outside of Macedonia. Other churches include St. Ilija, St. Dimitrija, St. Nikola, St. Mary, St. Petka, and in Geelong, St. John the Baptist. The first Macedonian Orthodox monastery, St. Kliment Ohridski - Chudotvorec, was built in the vicinity of King Lake. The community also values home ownership, with 88.6% owning their dwellings compared to 71.7% of the Australian-born population.
The Macedonian community in Australia views the Macedonian Orthodox Church as a "Guardian" of Macedonian identity, its people, and cultural traditions. They have faced some challenges, such as the naming dispute between the Republic of Macedonia and Greece, which led to the vandalization of some churches and sporting centres in Melbourne with racist and violent graffiti. The community organised rallies in support of retaining the name Macedonia.
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Macedonian Australians in Western Australia
Macedonian Australians are Australian citizens of Macedonian descent. Many arrived in the 1920s and 1930s, although larger numbers came to Australia after World War II and the Greek Civil War. The largest wave of immigration was during the 1960s and 1970s. As of the 2021 Australian census, Macedonian is the most-spoken Eastern European language in Australia. In 2001, 81,898 people claimed Macedonian ancestry, and in 2006 this rose to 83,978.
The Macedonian diaspora is the consequence of either voluntary departure or forced migration over the past 100 years. It is claimed that there were six major waves of emigration. The Macedonian Slavic-speaking immigrants in the first half of the 20th century were considered and identified as Bulgarians or Macedonian Bulgarians. Many Macedonian Bulgarians came to Australia. Several immigrants identified also as Macedonians, however, the designation was used then mainly regionally. The sense of belonging to a separate Macedonian nation gained credence after World War II, following the establishment of the People's Republic of Macedonia.
The Macedonian community in Perth is one of the most influential in Australia and the diaspora. The community is represented by a number of organisations and churches, including the Macedonian United Organisation of Perth and WA Inc., the Macedonian Community of Western Australia, the Vardar Club, the Romany Community, and the Ilinden Club. The Church Street in Perth was renamed Macedonia Place in recognition of the great contribution that Macedonians had given to the city. The Macedonians of Perth also have their own ethnic radio station, MAK FM, which runs 24 hours a day.
The Macedonian community in Western Australia has a strong presence in Manjimup, with the second and third generations taking control of the community. The community originally held dances and functions in tobacco sheds and later began using the Town Hall. They have always been staunch supporters of the Macedonian Community of Western Australia. The population of Macedonians in Manjimup stabilised at 350 from a peak of 1,600 in 1970.
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Macedonian Australians in New South Wales
Macedonian Australians are Australian citizens of Macedonian descent. The first Macedonians to arrive in Australia did so in the late 19th century, with a larger wave of immigration occurring in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. The largest wave of immigration, however, was during the 1960s and 1970s, with thousands of Macedonians emigrating to Australia after the breakup of Yugoslavia. Many Macedonians also fled to Australia after World War II and the Greek Civil War.
The state of New South Wales (NSW) has the second-largest Macedonian community in Australia, with Sydney being home to one of the largest concentrations of Macedonians in the country and in the diaspora. The first Macedonians came to Sydney in the early 1920s, settling in the coal fields of the Illawarra or Hunter Valley, the heavy industrial centres of Port Kembla and Newcastle, or heading inland to places like Broken Hill and Richmond. By the 1970s, a Macedonian hall had been set up in Sydney, and two more in the surrounding area. Today, there are over 70,000 Macedonians in NSW, according to community spokespeople.
Many Macedonians in NSW settled in industrial districts, particularly in Wollongong and Newcastle, as well as in the Sydney suburb of Rockdale. Rockdale became a centre of Macedonian culture in NSW, with the Macedonian-language newspaper "Makedonski Vesnik" being printed there, as well as the Australian Macedonian Weekly. Several soccer clubs in Sydney, such as Bankstown City Lions (Sydney Macedonia) and Rockdale City Suns (Rockdale Ilinden), were also founded by Macedonians. The Macedonian Literary Society of "Gligor Prličev", which maintains a Macedonian-language library and releases a quarterly journal, was founded in Sydney in 1978.
The Macedonian-Australian People's League (MAPL), which existed from 1946 to 1957, played a significant role in the establishment and development of the Macedonian community in NSW. The League had branches in many towns and cities across the state, including Sydney (Vesela Makedonija), Queanbeyan (Alexander the Great), Richmond (Kotori), Crabbes Creek (Sloboda), Katoomba, Port Kembla, Forbes, Braidwood, Beechwood (Wauchope), Lithgow, Captains Flat, Newcastle, Bonnyrigg, and Griffith. These branches organised events and established organisations such as Macedonian Cultural Week, Nova Makedonija, and many others.
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Frequently asked questions
As of the 2021 Australian census, there are 41,786 Australian residents who were born in North Macedonia. In 2001, 81,898 people claimed Macedonian ancestry, which rose to 83,978 in 2006.
The Macedonian community in Victoria is the largest in Australia, with 49,429 people of Macedonian ancestry, of which 19,025 were born in Macedonia.
Macedonians started migrating to Australia in the 1920s and 1930s, but the largest wave of immigration was during the 1960s and 1970s, with many people settling in Victoria.
