What language is spoken in Macedonia?
Macedonia (Greece)
Greek is by far the most widely spoken and the only official language of public life and education in Macedonia. The local Macedonian dialect is spoken alongside dialects from other parts of Greece and Pontic Greek still spoken by some Greeks of Pontic descent. One archaic Greek dialect indigenous to Greek Macedonia and other parts of Northern Greece is that spoken by the Sarakatsani, a traditionally transhument shepherd community whose dialect has undergone very little change through foreign influences. Macedonian Slavic dialects are the most widely spoken minority language while Aromanian, Arvanitic, Megleno-Romanian, Turkish and Romani are also spoken. Ladino is still spoken by some Jews in Thessaloniki.
Geographical distribution of the Macedonian language
The Macedonian language is spoken throughout the Balkan Peninsula, Europe and the rest of the world. The actual number of Macedonian speakers is hard to determine as it is a controversial topic. A 1964 estimate of the emigrant population put the number of Macedonian speakers outside of the Balkans at roughly 580,000 people.