Gorans
The Gorans (also Gorans , self-designation Goranci ; from Serbo-Croatian and Macedonian гора gora , "mountains" / "mountain") are southern Slavs of the Islamic creed who are primarily at home in the mountainous region of southwestern Kosovo on the border with North Macedonia and Albania .
Settlement areas
Most of the Gorans live in the large community of Dragash in Kosovo and almost exclusively in the southern part. However, after the end of the war in Kosovo - according to OSCE information - the number in their main settlement area fell from 18,500 (last official census 1981) to around 10,000. There are also some villages in Albania and North Macedonia. It is believed that around 180 Goran families live in North Macedonia. Gorans also live in Serbia and other parts of the former Yugoslavia; estimates for Belgrade are over 5000 Gorans. All in all, there should be a maximum of about 20,000 Gorans.
language
The Gorans speak Goranski , a transition dialect containing many Turkish loanwords between the Torlak dialects of Serbian , Bulgarian and the northern dialects of Macedonian . As a dialect, the language of the Gorans is not codified in writing. Even under the longstanding influence of the state authorities, the Gorans usually use Serbian as a written language, but they often also speak Macedonian ( Bulgarian ). As a result, many Serbs and Macedonians attribute them to their respective ethnic groups: the Serbs usually regard them as Islamized Slavs of Serbian origin, while the Macedonians consider them to be of Macedonian origin. More recently there have been efforts within the Goran community to use Bosnian as a written language.
Self-definition and status
The self-confidence as an ethnic minority is rather fragile. In the 1960s, many Gorans belonged to the Turkish ethnic group. In 1971, the category of ethnic Muslims was created in Yugoslavia as a separate state people, in which the Slavic-speaking Muslims were grouped together. In addition to the Gorans, it included the Bosniaks , Torbeschen and Pomaks .
Today the Gorans mostly consider themselves an independent ethnic group. In Kosovo , the Gorans have the status of a recognized minority and are represented in parliament by one member.
In Vojvodina , the Gorans are counted as a separate ethnic group.
Web links
- Bosniaks in the Dragash / Dragaš municipality. Human Rights Officer, OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Regional Center Prizren, August 2006, quoted according to the ruling of the independent Federal Asylum Senate (Republic of Austria), 303.045-C1 / 4E-V / 13/06 of March 8, 2007 - with a detailed analysis of living conditions the Goran
- Presentation of the Gorans of the Council for the defense of human rights and freedoms in Pristina (groups.yahoo.com, Engl.)
- Website of the Serbian project Rastko on the culture and tradition of the Gorans
- Report on the Goranci in the magazine of the League for Human Rights (2006) (PDF; 932 kB)
- The old man and the train, report on the Goran village of Rapca in the magazine DATUM (2008) (PDF; 7.3 MB)