2021 North Macedonia census

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The 2021 North Macedonia census, officially known as the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings, 2021, was the third census held in North Macedonia since independence, and the first since 2002. The census recorded a resident population of 1,836,713, a decrease of 9.2 percent, or 185,834, over the preceding 19 years. [1] The census was taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected its administration. [2] It was also considered controversial by some Macedonian groups; the opposition party The Left openly led a boycott. [3] [4] [5] 132,260 individuals (7.2% of the population) did not participate in the census and are officially labelled as "persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources"; no ethnic, language, or religious information is available for these individuals. Nonetheless, the head of the State Statistical Office, Apostol Simovski, stated that the census was successful. [4] The ruling government and the European Commission also welcomed the results. [6]

Contents

Background

For the first time, members of the country's diaspora were allowed to self-register for the census. [7] This participation was optional. [4] Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti encouraged ethnic Albanians in the diaspora to participate in the census. [8]

Prior to the launching of the census, the main opposition party VMRO-DPMNE stated that the results would be rigged to show previously agreed-upon numbers between the ruling party and its ethnic Albanian coalition partners. "Don't Open the Door", an informal movement, called for citizens to boycott the census. [9]

Results

The census recorded 1,836,713 residents of North Macedonia. The population density of the country is 72.2 persons per km2 and the average age of the population is 40.08 years. 598,632 households were recorded with average number of household members of 3.06. The gender balance of the country is 50.4% female and 49.6% male. [10] Macedonians remained the largest ethnic group and Albanians remained the second largest ethnic group. All ethnic groups declined in population, with the exception of Bulgarians and Torbesi. Christianity remained the most practiced religion, followed by Islam, with negligible numbers from other faiths. [1]

While most of the municipalities of the country lost population, the City of Skopje and several adjacent municipalities gained population. [11] Nearly one-third of the population lives in Skopje. [6]

Simovski stated that 300,000 Macedonian citizens living abroad did not register for the census. [12] Simovski clarified that the residential population is the only valid category taken in the census. [13]

Reactions

Upon release of the results, opposition leader Hristijan Mickoski called the census incomplete due to 7.2% of the population being unexplained. Both Mickoski and Democratic Union leader Pavle Trajanov claimed, based on where these individuals live, over 90% of that group is ethnic Macedonian. Mickoski stated that VMRO-DPMNE will conduct a new "e-census" upon regaining power. Political leaders from the ethnic Turkish and ethnic Bosniak communities have also found the results unacceptable. Politicians from Bulgaria, including Andrey Kovatchev and Slavi Trifonov, were critical of the census. [14] [6]

A boycott of the census was promoted by The Left. [5] Following the results of the census, The Left declared that it does not recognize the results. The party pointed to 300,000 citizens that did not participate in the census, including the 132,000 living in the country that were counted as "persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources". [3]

Simovski stated that the Macedonian diaspora in Australia and North America boycotted the census. [15]

The Socialist Party of Macedonia [16] and the Citizen Option for Macedonia [17] have called the census invalid. The Macedonian Orthodox Church also expressed doubt in the census results. [18]

Related Research Articles

Bulgarians are an ethnic minority in North Macedonia. Bulgarians are mostly found in the Strumica area, but over the years, the absolute majority of southeastern North Macedonia have declared themselves Macedonian. The town of Strumica and its surrounding area were part of the Kingdom of Bulgaria between the Balkan wars and the end of World War I, as well as during World War II. The total number of Bulgarians counted in the 2021 Census was 3,504 or roughly 0.2%. Over 100,000 nationals of North Macedonia have received Bulgarian citizenship since 2001 and some 53,000 are still waiting for such, almost all based on declared Bulgarian origin. In the period when North Macedonia was part of Yugoslavia, there was also migration of Bulgarians from the so called Western Outlands in Serbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labuništa</span> Village in Southwestern, North Macedonia

Labuništa is a village in the municipality of Struga, North Macedonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in North Macedonia</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in North Macedonia face discrimination and some legal and social challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity have been legal in North Macedonia since 1996, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skanderbeg Square, Skopje</span> Square in Skopje, North Macedonia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoran Zaev</span> Former prime minister of North Macedonia

Zoran Zaev is a Macedonian economist and politician who served as prime minister of North Macedonia from May 2017 to January 2020, and again from August 2020 to January 2022.

Tašmaruništa is a village in the municipality of Struga, North Macedonia.

Šum is a village in the municipality of Struga, North Macedonia. The settlement is a newer village in the Struga area and has a mosque.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Macedonian protests</span>

In April 2016, protests began in the Republic of Macedonia against the incumbent President Gjorge Ivanov and the government led by the interim Prime Minister Emil Dimitriev from the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party. Referred to by some as the Colorful Revolution, the protests started after the controversial decision by President Gjorge Ivanov to stop the investigation of former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and dozens of politicians who were allegedly involved in a wiretapping scandal. The demonstrations were organized by "Protestiram" and supported by a coalition led by the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia and other opposition parties, in addition to the newly formed Levica demanding that the government resign and be replaced by a transitional government and that the parliamentary elections planned for 5 June 2016 be cancelled, on the grounds that the conditions for free and transparent elections were not in place. The government and its supporters, who had organized pro-government rallies, maintained that the elections on June 5 were the only solution to the political crisis, with some observers blaming the opposition for creating a "Ukraine scenario" in Macedonia.

Storming of the Macedonian Parliament, also known as Bloody Thursday occurred on 27 April 2017, when about 200 Macedonian nationalists stormed the Macedonian Parliament in reaction to the election of Talat Xhaferi, an ethnic Albanian, as Speaker of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia. It was the biggest attack in history on a Macedonian institution.

Gorno Orizari is a village in the municipality of Veles, North Macedonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odžovci</span> Village in Southwestern, North Macedonia

Odžovci is a village in the municipality of Centar Župa, North Macedonia. Odžovci was once a former neighbourhood of the village of Balanci and in 1965 elevated to the status of an independent village. The population density of the village is 6.4 km2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balanci</span> Village in Southwestern, North Macedonia

Balanci is a village in the municipality of Centar Župa, North Macedonia. The nearby village of Vlasiḱi was once a neighbourhood of Balanci. Other neighbouring villages of Bajramovci, Crno Boci and Odžovci were also once neighbourhoods of Balanci until the mid 1960s when they were elevated to the status of separate villages. It is the only village in the municipality with an Albanian majority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pareši</span> Village in Southwestern, North Macedonia

Pareši is a village in the municipality of Centar Župa, North Macedonia.

Laktinje is a village in the municipality of Debarca, North Macedonia. It used to be part of the former municipality of Belčišta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Botun, North Macedonia</span> Village in Southwestern, North Macedonia

Botun is a village in the municipality of Debarca, North Macedonia. It used to be part of the former municipality of Belčišta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hristijan Mickoski</span> Prime Minister of North Macedonia

Hristijan Mickoski is a Macedonian politician and the current Prime Minister of North Macedonia. He is also a university professor and president of VMRO-DPMNE. In 2016, he became the director of Power Plants of Macedonia, and in the period from 2015 to 2017, he was an energy advisor to prime ministers Nikola Gruevski and Emil Dimitriev. As the sole candidate, he was elected leader of VMRO-DPMNE at the party's 16th congress in Valandovo.

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The Left is a left-wing nationalist and eurosceptic political party in North Macedonia founded on 14 November 2015. Led by Dimitar Apasiev, a Docent of Law at the Goce Delčev University of Štip, the party is anti-NATO and promotes anti-clericalism, anti-fascism, anti-imperialism, and socialism, sitting on the left wing of the political spectrum. They have a youth wing called Red Youth

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 North Macedonian parliamentary election</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 North Macedonia protests</span>

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The Macedonian police initiated an operation to seize guarded weapons caches and bunkers held by members of the National Liberation Army in late April 2010 near the village of Blace on the Kosovo border. The raid was conducted by members of the Macedonian Special Police Unit "Tigar".

References

  1. 1 2 "Попис на населението, домаќинствата и становите во Република Северна Македонија, 2021 - прв сет на податоци". State Statistical Office. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  2. ↑ "Protocol for preventive measures during the conduction of the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings, 2021" (PDF). State Statistical Office. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Levica considers the census forged after the massive boycott of 300,000 citizens". Republika. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 Marusic, Sinisa (30 March 2022). "North Macedonia Census Reveals Big Drop in Population". BalkanInsight. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  5. 1 2 Marusic, Sinisa (20 September 2021). "North Macedonia's Sensitive Census 'On Track for Success'". BalkanInsight. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 Samardjiev, Aleksandar (12 April 2022). "North Macedonia, the census does not quell the controversy". Balcani Caucaso.
  7. ↑ "64,176 citizens abroad fill out online census survey so far". Civil Today. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  8. ↑ Bami, Xhorxhina (18 March 2021). "Kosovo's Kurti Urges Albanians Abroad to Join North Macedonia Census". BalkanInsight. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  9. ↑ Sinisa Jakov Marusic (1 March 2021). "North Macedonia Launches Diaspora Headcount as Boycott Calls Grow". BalkanInsight. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  10. ↑ "Census 2021" (PDF). Republic of North Macedonia State Statistical Office. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  11. ↑ Nina Nineska-Fidanoska (31 March 2022). "ГОСТИВАР, КИЧЕВО, СТРУГА И БИТОЛА ИЗГУБИЛЕ ПО ЦЕЛ ЕДЕН „МАЛ" ГРАД - скопските општини генерално пораснале - ПОПИС 2021 ГОДИНА". Fatkor. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  12. ↑ "Boycott: About 300,000 Macedonian emigrants refused to be counted in the census". Republika. 26 December 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  13. ↑ Aleksandar Atanasov (17 August 2022). "Симовски за МИА: Единствена валидна категорија е резидентно население".
  14. ↑ Dimitrievska, Valentina (31 March 2022). "North Macedonia's census reveals sharp population decline and change in ethnic mix". Intellinews. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  15. ↑ "Симовски: Дијаспората од Австралија и Северна Америка го бојкотира пописот, но тоа е тоа". Republika. 18 March 2021.
  16. ↑ "Пописот е неуспешен, велат од Социјалистичка партија на Македонија" . Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  17. ↑ "ГРОМ не ги прифаќа резултатите од пописот: Податоците се нецелосни, неверодостојни и не ги сметаме за релевантни" . Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  18. ↑ "МПЦ се сомнева во точноста на пописот". Republika. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
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