MACEDONIANS AND ALBANIANS: STEREOTYPES AND ETHNIC DISTANCE

The multicultural character of Macedonian society is reflected in the diversity of its ethnic, religious and overall cultural collective entities. Heterogeneous composition is represented on different levels of social interaction and social inclusion. Regional disparities are also characteristic of a specific Macedonian interethnic model. The northwest part of the country is dominated by the second largest ethnic group, the Albanian population, and in the rest of the country, Macedonians are the dominant ethnic group. Also, throughout the country other ethnic groups as Turkish, Roma, Serbian, Vlah and other communities are present. Regarding this composition, different patterns of social interethnic inclusion can be traced, as well as models of building stereotypes and levels of ethnic distance. This paper will use data of research conducted in 2015, comparing similar previous research published in 1997 and 2004.