Ethnic Croats form a small minority North Macedonia. As of 2002, there were 2,686 declared Croats living in the country https://web.archive.org/web/20070223020637/http://www.mvpei.hr/hmiu/tekst.asp?q=hnm009. They mostly live in the capital city Skopje, the second largest city Bitola and around Lake Ohrid.
In 2006, Croatian President Stjepan Mesić and his Macedonian counterpart Nikola Gruevski announced that the Croats would receive national minority status in Macedonia.
The Union of Croats in Macedonia (Croatian: Zajednica Hrvata u Republici Sjevernoj Makedoniji; Macedonian: Заедница на Хрватите во Македонија|translit=Zaednica na Hrvatite vo Makedonija) is the name of an umbrella group which represents the ethnic Croats living in North Macedonia. The Union was founded in 1996.[1] It is headquartered in Skopje, with branches in Bitola, Štip and Ohrid-Struga.[1] The Union has 1,187 members,[1] which is approximately 45% of the entire Croat population in the Republic of Macedonia, according to the 2002 census.[2]
In 2005, along with the Croatian Heritage Foundation, the union organised the Week of Croats in Macedonia in Zagreb as part of its annual minority week.
| 1953 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Croats | 2,710 (0.2%) | 3,750 (0.3%) | 3,882 (0.2%) | 3,307 (0.2%) | 2,450 (0.1%) |