Fig. 53—Sketch map of the western Balkans. The dotted area represents the northern area of Greek language. Black dots show Rumanian settlements of the Pindus mountains and adjoining regions.
Physically Macedonia is the region of the basins of the Vardar and Struma. Under Turkish rule it was divided into the vilayets of Monastir, Uskub and Salonica. The area is isolated from the rest of the peninsula by a practically continuous line of mountains, which, starting with the Pindus, Grammos and Albanian ranges on the west, extend through the Shar, Suhagora, Osogov and Rilo uplifts on the north and connect on the east with the Rhodope massif. Macedonia is thus well defined on the surface. Within these natural boundaries, it may be divided into an elevated region extending over its northwestern portion and a lowland spreading thence to Ægean waters. The Bistritza valley forms a convenient feature to mark the beginning of the modern Hellenic area.
In a restricted sense physical Macedonia may be defined as the southerly extension of the Serbian mountain belt whose drainage leads to the Ægean. Thus it consists first of a mountain belt extending between the upper valleys of the Black Drin and Struma. To this zone must also be added a hill country which forms its continuation to the Ægean Sea. The Vardar valley is entirely within this area and divides it into equal east and west sections. The northern boundary of the area is found at the central watershed north of Uskub. Four important basins lie within these boundaries. The Tetovo basin, west of Uskub, lies close to the watershed. Southward the Monastir and Strumitza basins occupy approximately homologous positions with respect to the Vardar cut. The twin basin of Serres and Drama extends over the southeastern portion of the country. These basins have been the only important centers of Macedonian populations.
The Macedonian highland is peopled by shepherds and woodcutters. The lowlanders are husbandmen. All are generally bilingual, speaking either Greek and Bulgarian or Bulgarian and Serbian. A knowledge of Turkish usually prevails among all classes. Occupation generally affords a reliable national clue. As a rule the Macedonians, and by this term we shall hereafter denote the Bulgarian-speaking element of Macedonia, are tillers of the soil. The Greeks are traders and control a large share of the commerce of the entire region. Land is held by the Macedonians or the former ruling Turkish gentry. It is worked however by the Macedonians.
The inhabitants of Macedonia may be divided into four groups according to their vernaculars. The number of individuals in each group is estimated as follows:[193]
| Bulgarians | 1,172,136 | or 81.5% | of the total Christian population. |
| Greeks | 190,047 | “ 13.22 | “ “ “ “ “ |
| Rumanians | 63,895 | “ 4.44 | “ “ “ “ “ |
| Albanians[194] | 12,006 | “ 0.84 | “ “ “ “ “ |
The Bulgarians form a compact mass containing slight admixture of alien elements in northern and central Macedonia. Many of the occasional Greek communities encountered within this area are former Slav or Albanian centers having passed under the sphere of the Greek religious propaganda which has been actively carried on as a means of increasing the Hellenic domain. The instrument of Hellenization was the Patriarchate at Constantinople. The Patriarchs, bearing the title of Œcumenical, considered themselves as apostles of the Greater Greece idea. After the fall of Byzantium, and notably after the closing of the Bulgarian Patriarchate of Okrida, the Œcumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople was the only official church established in Turkey for Christians. Its influence, directed through schools and churches, aimed above all to Hellenize Christians. The clergy was directed to convert to Orthodoxy the greatest possible number of Christians of alien denomination and, at the same time, attempt to enforce the use of Greek speech among non-Mohammedans.
The Greeks of Macedonia are as mixed a people as can be found on the surface of the earth. Inhabitants of cities are strongly mixed with Albanian and Slav populations. Strains of Tatar blood can even be detected among them. The Mediterranean type becomes more pronounced as Thessaly is approached. In unfrequented villages, however, the tourist will not uncommonly find living impersonations of the sculptor’s classical conception of the human form. This Greek element predominates in the valley of the Bistritza, which, regionally, should be considered as the northeastern boundary of the area of the Greek speech.
The Slavs of Macedonia are, in many respects, distinct in character from the other Slavs of the Balkan peninsula. National feeling among them is less strongly developed than with the rest of the southern Slavs. They are industrious and frugal—even grasping. Yet there are marked exceptions which seem to prove that these qualities are not natural to them but have been acquired under the stress of circumstances. Macedonia is a land of poverty. It may rank with southern Greece as the poorest land in the Balkan peninsula. Of little fertility, extensively deforested and without particularly good pasture land, the country cannot support its relatively numerous population, and therefore an important occupation with the Macedonians is the taking of service in menial capacity in foreign countries—“Petchalba,” as it is called.