Islam in North Macedonia

Muslims in North Macedonia represent just under one-third of the nation's total population according to the 2021 census, making Islam the second most widely professed religion in the country. Muslims in North Macedonia follow Sunni Islam of the Hanafi madhhab. Some northwestern and western regions of the country have Muslim majorities. A large majority of all the Muslims in the country are ethnic Albanians, with the rest being primarily Turks, Romani, Bosniaks or Torbeš.

Population Ethnicity

Albanian Muslims, forming roughly 25% of the nation's total population (2002 census), and most of the Muslim population, live mostly in the Polog and western regions of the country. The Turks, who make up about 4% of the country's total population (2002 census), are scattered throughout the country, but mostly in major cities, as are Roma Muslims. Bosniaks are mostly concentrated within Skopje. Muslims of Macedonian ethnicity number roughly 40,000 to 100,000 and can be found in the western part of North Macedonia in the Centar Župa, Debar, Struga and Plasnica areas.

+ Population of Macedonia according to ethnic affiliation in 1948, 2002 and 2021 Ethnic group Population 1948 Population 2002Population 2021 Albanians 197,389 509,083446,245 Turks 95,940 77,95970,961 Romani 19,500 53,87946,433 Macedonian Muslims 1,560 2,553Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Macedonia, 2014, p. 67, Retrieved 11 December 20161,187 Bosniaks 17,01816,042

Historical population The following table shows the Muslim population and percentage for each given year. The Muslim percentage in Macedonia generally decreased from 1904 to 1961 but began to rise again due to high fertility rate among Muslim families, reaching 33.33% in 2002. According to the census of 2021, the share of Muslims was 32.17% of the total (resident) population, which was slightly lower compared to 33.33% in the census of 2002. Year Muslim population Muslim percentage 1904 634,000 36.76% 1912 384,000 33.47% 1921 269,000 31.43% 1948 314,603 27.29% 1953 388,515 29.78% 1961 338,200 24.05% 1971 414,176 25.14% 1981 546,437 28.62% 1991 611,326 30.06% 1994 581,203 30.04% 2002 674,015Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Macedonia, 2002, p. 518 33.33% 2021 590,878 32.17%

Geographic distribution (according to the 2021 census) + MunicipalityStatistical region Population (2021) Muslims (2021) Percentage (%) TetovoPolog 84,770 64,468 76.1% ČairSkopje (city) 62,586 50,755 81.1% GostivarPolog 59,770 43,459 72.7% SarajSkopje (city) 38,399 35,959 93.6% StrugaSouthwestern 50,980 32,231 63.2% KumanovoNortheastern 98,104 28,528 29.1% LipkovoNortheastern 22,308 21,570 96.7% BogovinjePolog 22,906 21,329 93.1% KičevoSouthwestern 39,669 21,056 53.1% StudeničaniSkopje (region) 21,970 19,968 90.9% Šuto OrizariSkopje (city) 25,726 19,350 75.2% VrapčištePolog 19,842 18,224 91.8% ŽelinoPolog 18,988 18,193 95.8% Gazi BabaSkopje (city) 69,626 17,476 25.1% ButelSkopje (city) 37,968 17,438 45.9% TearcePolog 17,694 15,144 85.6% DebarSouthwestern 15,412 13,611 88.3% AračinovoSkopje (region) 12,676 12,363 97.5% DolneniPelagonia 13,126 8,873 67.6% BitolaPelagonia 85,164 8,232 9.7% BrvenicaPolog 13,645 7,386 54.1% VelesVardar 48,463 6,286 13.0% OhridSouthwestern 51,428 5,908 11.5% PrilepPelagonia 69,025 5,063 7.3% ČaškaVardar 7,942 4,710 59.3% RadovišSoutheastern 24,122 4,470 18.5% StrumicaSoutheastern 49,995 4,331 8.7% PlasnicaSouthwestern 4,222 4,115 97.5% ŠtipEastern 44,866 3,798 8.5% Gjorče PetrovSkopje (city) 44,844 3,680 8.2% Mavrovo and RostušaPolog 5,042 3,669 72.8% KarpošSkopje (city) 63,760 3,629 5.7% PetrovecSkopje (region) 9,150 3,588 39.2% JegunovcePolog 8,895 3,522 39.6% ResenPelagonia 14,373 3,423 23.8% Centar ŽupaSouthwestern 3,720 3,346 89.9% KruševoPelagonia 8,385 2,859 34.1% VasilevoSoutheastern 10,552 2,557 24.2% Centar Skopje (city) 43,893 2,507 5.7% Kisela VodaSkopje (city) 61,965 2,267 3.7% AerodromSkopje (city) 77,735 2,184 2.8% SopišteSkopje (region) 6,713 2,159 32.2% KočaniEastern 31,602 2,069 6.5% ValandovoSoutheastern 10,508 1,435 13.7% Čučer-SandevoSkopje (region) 9,200 1,363 14.8% KavadarciVardar 35,733 1,157 3.2% NegotinoVardar 18,194 1,105 6.1% VinicaEastern 14,475 942 6.5% KarbinciEastern 3,420 865 25.3% IlindenSkopje (region) 17,435 855 4.9% GradskoVardar 3,233 740 22.9% BosilovoSoutheastern 11,508 702 6.1% DelčevoEastern 13,585 694 5.1% ZelenikovoSkopje (region) 3,361 654 19.5% KončeSoutheastern 2,725 607 22.3% PehčevoEastern 3,983 597 15.0% BerovoEastern 10,890 514 4.7% Demir KapijaVardar 3,777 419 11.1% Kriva PalankaNortheastern 18,059 418 2.3% MogilaPelagonia 5,283 336 6.4% DojranSoutheastern 3,084 309 10.0% Makedonski BrodSouthwestern 5,889 259 4.4% Demir HisarPelagonia 7,260 244 3.4% LozovoVardar 2,264 236 10.4% KratovoNortheastern 7,545 108 1.4% GevgelijaSoutheastern 21,582 104 0.5% Sveti NikoleVardar 15,320 92 0.6% DebarcaSouthwestern 3,719 76 2.0% ProbištipEastern 13,417 57 0.4% BogdanciSoutheastern 7,339 52 0.7% RankovceNortheastern 3,465 52 1.5% RosomanVardar 3,796 36 0.9% NovaciPelagonia 2,648 35 1.3% Makedonska KamenicaEastern 6,439 18 0.3% Staro NagoričaneNortheastern 3,501 14 0.4% VevčaniSouthwestern 2,359 10 0.4% KrivogaštaniPelagonia 5,167 8 0.2% Češinovo-ObleševoEastern 5,471 5 0.1% ZrnovciEastern 2,086 4 0.2% Novo SeloSoutheastern 6,972 3 0.0% Macedonia (total) 1,836,713 590,878 32.2%

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Islam in North Macedonia

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