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]
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. [7] 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. [8] Nearly one-third of the population lives in Skopje. [6]
For the first time, members of the country's diaspora were allowed to self-register for the census. [9] This participation was optional. [4] Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti encouraged ethnic Albanians in the diaspora to participate in the census. [10] Simovski stated that 300,000 Macedonian citizens living abroad did not register for the census. [11]
Simovski clarified that the residential population is the only valid category taken in the census. [12]
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. [13]
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 claim, based on where these individual 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]
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%. Around 98,000 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.
Labuništa is a village in the municipality of Struga, North Macedonia.
Skanderbeg Square is a square in Skopje, 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.
Debrešte is a village in a highland area in the municipality of Dolneni, North Macedonia. It is the largest settlement in the municipality in terms of population.
Lažani is a village located in a lowland area in the municipality of Dolneni, North Macedonia.
Peštalevo is a village located in a lowland area in the municipality of Dolneni, North Macedonia.
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.
Gorno Orizari is a village in the municipality of Veles, 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.
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.
Trnovci is a village located in a highland area in the municipality of Mogila, North Macedonia.
Pareši is a village in the municipality of Centar Župa, North Macedonia.
Botun is a village in the municipality of Debarca, North Macedonia. It used to be part of the former municipality of Belčišta.
Hristijan Mickoski is a Macedonian politician, university professor and president of VMRO-DPMNE. In 2016, he became the director of JSC "Power Plants of Macedonia", and in the period 2015—2017 he was energy advisor to the prime ministers Nikola Gruevski and Emil Dimitriev. He was elected leader of VMRO-DPMNE at the party's 16th congress in Valandovo.
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.
Early parliamentary elections were held in North Macedonia on 15 July 2020. It was originally scheduled for November 2020, but Prime Minister Zoran Zaev called early elections after the European Council failed to come to an agreement on starting talks with North Macedonia on joining the European Union in October 2019. The election date was set for 12 April, but was postponed until July due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia.
In early July 2022, protests began in Skopje, North Macedonia. The protests were triggered by Bulgaria–North Macedonia negotiations surrounding the accession of the latter into the European Union.
The Blace bunker raid was a Macedonian police operation to seize guarded weapons caches and bunkers held by members of the NLA in late April 2010 near the Kosovo border. The raid was conducted by members of the Macedonian Special Police Unit "Tigar".