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The Macedonian - Speaking Community in Australia Arrival and Settlement Macedonian is the official language of the Republic of Macedonia and is spoken widely in Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia as well as within migrant communities in Australia, the United States and Canada. The first Macedonians came to Australia in the 1890s. They were isolated individuals, and it was not until the late 1920s and late 1940s that larger groups began to arrive, mainly from Aegean Macedonia. The trend intensified in the late 1960s and the early 1970s. In the late1980s, lack of political and economic stability in the former Yugoslav Republics produced a new wave of professionally skilled arrivals from Macedonia. The 1996 Australian Census estimated more than 70,000 people in Australia used the Macedonian language at home. Research by Professor Peter Hill, of the University of Hamburg and Associate Professor Ilija Casule, of Australia's Macquarie University, indicates Australia has the largest Macedonian migrant community in the world, perhaps as many as 150,000 people. The SBS Macedonian Language Program provides an opportunity to help migrants maintain their culture and language and to assist in their settlement. Community Contacts Macedonian community organisations: Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia PO Box 344 Curtin, ACT 2605 Phone:02 6282 5755 Fax: 02 6282 5734 New South Wales Macedonian Australian Welfare Association of Sydney PO Box 392 Rockdale NSW 2216 Phone 02 9597 5455 Fax 02 9567 3326 Macedonian School Council of NSW PO Box 164 Rockdale NSW 2216 Phone 02 9521 3778 Macedonian Studies Foundation PO Box 333 Rockdale NSW 2216 Macedonian Literary Society, "Grigor Prlicev" PO Box 227 Rockdale NSW 2216 Phone 02 9567 6500 Macedonian Cultural and Art Society "Pelister" PO Box 294 Richmond NSW 2753 Phone 02 4578 2616 Macedonian Orthodox Church "Sv Kiril I Metodi " Macedonian Orthodox Community of Sydney Area PO Box 147 Rosebery NSW 2018 Phone 02 9667 1962 Aegean Macedonian Association of Australia PO Box 409 Kingsgrove NSW 2208 Victoria Macedonian Community Welfare Association (Western Region) Phone 03 9367 6044 Macedonian Orthodox Church Diocese Phone 03 9478 2225 Refugee Children of Aegean Macedonia 1948 Phone 03 9460 4462 Macedonian Youth Phone 03 93993089 Macedonian Human Rights Committee Phone 03 9460-2910 Macedonian Theatre Group Phone 03 9338 4960 Macedonian Pensioners Phone 03 9467 1183 Special Events Calendar SBS Radio's Macedonian Language Program presents special coverage of the following events throughout the year. January 1 Orthodox New Year (New Calendar) January 7 Macedonian Orthodox Christmas (Old Calendar) January 14 Macedonian New Year (Old Calendar) January 26 Australia Day March 8 International Women's Day March/April Macedonian Orthodox Easter, celebrated on a different date every year. April 25 ANZAC Day August 2 Ilinden, or St Elias Day, to commemorate the Ilinden uprising of 1903 against Turkish rule September 8 Macedonian Independence Day, 1991. A referendum voted for a split from the then Yugoslavia. October 11 Macedonian National Uprising Day. In 1941 Macedonians staged an uprising against the occupying German, Italian and Bulgarian forces Recommended Websites www.novamakedonija.com.mk Nova Makedonija newspaper www.makedonskosonce.com/sonce Weekly magazine Utrinski vesnik |
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