Distribution of the Macedonian Language - Harvard Encyclopedia, 1980

 From the "Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups" a map showing the language area of the Macedonian language.

The map was published in 1980 and shows the spread of the Macedonian language, which clearly extends beyond the borders of todays Republic Macedonia. You can see a large part of northern Greece marked as a Macedonian-speaking area.

Officially, Greece does not recognize the existence of a Macedonian language (as well as a Macedonian minority or other ethnic minorities in general) in the country. Macedonian-speaking Greek citizens are succinctly (and for political reasons since the 1930s) referred to as "Slavophone Greeks".

The Macedonian speakers in Northern Greece also have no opportunities to learn their mother tongue, or to speak it publicly. This was even prohibited earlier. 

Macedonian is therefore mostly only spoken in the domestic family circle. In the youthful Macedonian population of Northern Greece, the proportion of Macedonian-speaking people is decreasing enormously, as they are only confronted with the Greek language in public and in their education.



Map base on, as the descrption says, "Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups" by Stephan Thernstrom, Ann Orlov and Oscar Handlin, 1980, p. 690.

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