The majority of the Republic of Macedonia's – a state in the South Eastern region of the European continent – population speaks the Macedonian language (65%), recognized as an official language. In addition, the Albanian language is used by 25% of the population as well as the Turkish and Serbian languages and other languages. Orthodox Christianity is the predominant religion in the Republic (64% of the population), but Muslims are also an important part comprising ¼ of the society (more than 500,000). This number also includes Orthodox Albanians, of whom the majority are concentrated in the region of Dolna, Mala and Golema Reka (Lower, Small and Big River) in 17 villages. The people who live there are known as Mijaks (Macedonian: Мијаци, Mijaci), Mijacs – Orthodox or Muslim Macedonians whose mother tongue is the Albanian language and they are Orthodox Christians. A portion of these ethnic Macedonians are referred to as Shkreti.

In the family of Slavic languages, the Macedonian language, together with the Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian languages, belong to the South Slavic language group. Today, it is the official language of Macedonia, and yet, in accordance with the constitutional amendments and with the Framework Agreement signed in Ohrid in 2001 t. 6.5 and 6.6:

It is estimated that the Macedonian language is spoken by 2 to 2.5 million people, including the Macedonian diaspora

The legal status of languages in Macedonia, the Macedonian language, as an official language, as well as other languages, other than Macedonian, was established by Amendment V of the Constitution of Republic of Macedonia: