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The Gorani (, ) or Goranci (, ), are a Slavic ethnic group inhabiting the Gora region, the triangle between Kosovo, Albania, and North Macedonia. They number an estimated 20,000 people and speak a transitional South Slavic dialect called Gora dialect. The vast majority of the Gorani people adhere to Sunni Islam.
In Macedonian sources, the Gorani are sometimes grouped together with Torbeši.
In the Albanian language, they are known as Goranët "Goranët jetojnë në krahinën e Gorës, që sot ndahet mes shteteve të Shqipërisë, të Kosovës etë Maqedonisë, krahinë nga ku e marrin edhe emrin." and sometimes by other exonyms, such as Bullgarët ("Bulgarians"), Torbesh ("bag carriers") and Poturë ("Turkification", from po-tur, literally not Turk but, "turkified", used for Islamized Slavs).Dokle, Nazif. Reçnik Goransko (Nashinski) -albanski, Sofia 2007, Peçatnica Naukini akademiji "Prof. Marin Drinov", s. 5, 11
In 2007, the Kosovo provisional institutions opened a school in Gora to teach the Bosnian language, which sparked minor consternation amongst the Gorani population. Many Gorani refuse to send their children to school due to societal prejudices, and threats of assimilation to Bosniaks or Albanians. Consequently, Gorani organized education per Serbia's curriculum.
Gorani activists stated they want Gora (former municipality which still has a Gorani majority) to join the Association of Serb Municipalities.
In 2018, Bulgarian activists among Gorani have filed a petition in the country's parliament demanding their official recognition as a separate minority.Bulgarian National Radio, Ethnic Bulgarians in Kosovo demand recognition of their community. Published on 5/30/18.
Most Gorani state that the unstable situation and economic issues drive them to leave Kosovo. There is also some mention of threats and discrimination by Kosovo Albanians. Update on the Kosovo Roma, Ashkaelia, Egyptian, Serb, Bosniak, Gorani and Albanian communities in a minority situation, UNHCR Kosovo, June 2004
Apart from the multiethnic town of Dragash, the Gorani prople of Kosovo continue to live in villages primarily inhabited by their community and relations with Albanians remain tense. Mixed marriage between both communities do not occur with the exception of a few Gorani families that have migrated to Prizren.
According to data from the 2023 Albanian census, the first one where a Bulgarian minority was officially recognised by the Albanian government, a total of 2,174 people self-identified as Bulgarians in the Kukës County. At the same time, the population of the two Gorani-inhabited administrative units of Zapod and Shishtavec stood at 3,671, in 9 Gorani and 5 Albanian villages. By comparison, 5 residents of the entire Kukës County self-identified as Macedonians, 8 as Montenegrins, 13 as Bosniaks, and 19 as Serbs.
Some of the local Gorani people have over time also self declared themselves as Serbs, Albanians, Macedonians, Bosniaks, Muslim Bulgarians, Turkish people, or just as Muslims.
In Kosovo, there are 18 Gorani-inhabited villages: Baćka, Brod, Vranište, Globočice, Gornja Rapča, Gornji Krstac, Dikance, Donja Rapča, Donji Krstac, Zli Potok, Kruševo, Kukaljane, Lještane, Ljubošta, Mlike, Orčuša, Radeša, and Restelica, as well as the town of Dragash. Town of Dragash has a mixed population of Gorani, who live in the lower neighbourhood, and Albanians in the upper neighbourhood and constituting the majority of inhabitants.
In North Macedonia, there are two Gorani-inhabited villages located in the Polog region: Jelovjane and Urvič. "Данашњи становници Урвича и Јеловјана на супротној, полошкој страни Шар-Планине, пореклом су Горани. Много су више утицале на исељавање Горана политичке промене, настале после 1912 године. Тада се скоро четвртина становништва иселила у Турску, за коју су се преко вере и дуге управе били интимно везали. Још једна миграција јаче је захватила Горане, али не у нашој земљи, него оне који су остали у границама Арбаније."Božidar Vidoeski (1998). 9789989649509, Makedonska akademija na naukite i umetnostite. . ISBN 9789989649509
The Slavs of Gora were Christianized after 864 when Bulgaria adopted Christianity. The Ottomans conquered the region in the 14th century, which started the process of Islamization of the Gorani and neighbouring Albanians. However, the Gorani still tangentially observe some Eastern Orthodox traditions, such as Slavas and Đurđevdan, and like Serbs they know their Onomastik or saint's days.
Gorani are Sunni Muslims and many practice Sufism, in particular the Halveti and Bektashi Sufi orders are widespread.
Traditional Gorani folk music includes a two-beat dance called "oro" ('circle'), which is a circle dance focused on the foot movements: it always starts on the right foot and moves in an anti-clockwise direction. The Oro is usually accompanied by instruments such as zurna, kaval, čiftelija or Davul, and singing is used less frequently in the dances than in those of the Albanians and Serbs.
The "national" sport of oil wrestling is a form of oil wrestling popular among Gorani with regular tournaments being held in the outdoors to the accompaniment of curlje and tapan with associated ritualized hand gestures and dances, with origins in the Middle East through the Ottoman Empire's conquest of the Balkans.
Another popular drink is Turkish coffee which is drunk in small cups accompanied by a glass of water. Tasseography is popular among all Gorani using the residue of Turkish coffee.
Bulgarian linguists classify the Gorani dialect as part of a Bulgarian dialectal area.Младенов, Стефан. "Пътешествие из Македония и Поморавия", в: Научна експедиция в Македония и Поморавието 1916, София 1993, с. 184. (Mladenov, Stefan. Journey through Macedonia and Pomoraviya, in: Scientific expeditions in Macedonia and Pomoraviya 1916, Sofia 1993, p. 184) Асенова, Петя. "Архаизми и балканизми в един изолиран български говор (Кукъска Гора, Албания)", Балканистични четения, посветени на десетата годишнина на специалност "Балканистика" в СУ "Св. Климент Охридски", ФСлФ, София, 17-19 май 2004 (Assenova, Petya. Archaisms and Balkanisms in an isolated Bulgarian dialect (Kukas Gora, Albania), Balkan studies readings on the tenth anniversary of the major Balkan studies in Sofia University, 17–19 May 2004) The Gorani have been used as a lever of Bulgarian irredentism, on the premise that if the Gora dialect is Bulgarian, then all Macedonian dialects are Bulgarian. Illustrating the Bulgarian interest is the first Gorani–Albanian dictionary (with 43,000 words and phrases) published in 2007 by Albanian-Gorani scholar Nazif Dokle, sponsored and printed by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In this dictionary, Dokle defined the language as related to "the Bulgarian dialects spoken in the northwest" North Macedonia.Dokle, Nazif. Reçnik Goransko (Nashinski) - Albanski, Sofia 2007, Peçatnica Naukini akademiji "Prof. Marin Drinov", s. 5, 11, 19 (Nazif Dokle. Goranian (Nashinski) - Albanian Dictionary, Sofia 2007, Published by Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, p. 5, 11, 19)Raymond Detrez, Historical Dictionary of Bulgaria; Historical Dictionaries of Europe, volume 46, Rowman & Littlefield, 2014, , p. 225.Vasil Belo, Nazif Dokle – a Devoted Local Erudite of Gora, Albania, Bulgariaca, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2020, Issue 41, pp. 71-74, Language: Bulgarian.
Within scholarship, the Goran dialects previously classified as belonging to Serbian have been reassigned to Macedonian in the 21st century. "The Gorans, who are also Muslim, have a separate identity. The Goran dialects used to be classed with Serbian, but have more recently been assigned to Macedonian, and Gorans themselves recognize that their dialects are closer to Macedonian than to Serbian."
Gorani speech has numerous loan-words, being greatly influenced by Turkish language and Arabic due to the influence of Islam, as well as Albanian areally. It is similar to the Bosnian language because of the numerous Turkish loanwords. Gorani speak Serbo-Croatian in school.
According to the 1991 Yugoslav census, 54.8% of the inhabitants of the Gora municipality said that they spoke the Gorani language, while the remainder had called it Serbian. Some linguists, including Vidoeski, Brozovic and Ivic, identify the Slavic-dialect of the Gora region as Macedonian. There are assertions that Macedonian is spoken in 50 to 75 villages in the Gora region (Albania and Kosovo). According to some unverified sources, in 2003 the Kosovo government acquired Macedonian language and grammar books for Gorani schools.Focus News (4 July 2003) Kosovo Government Acquires Macedonian language and grammar books for Gorani Minority Schools
In 2008 the first issue of a Macedonian-language newspaper, Гороцвет ( Gorocvet) was published.
In 2000, the Civic Initiative of Gora (CIG) was founded, with headquarters in Dragaš, and it registered in 2002 as an ethnic political party. OSCE (2002): Registration of new Gorani party in Kosovo open for review It participated in elections on various levels, independently or within wider coalitions. CIG won the Gorani reserved seat in the Transitional Assembly of Kosovo in three consecutive electoral cycles (2001, 2004, 2007), and that seat was held by Rustem Ibiši (2001-2004), Assembly of Kosovo (2001-2004): Rustem Ibiši Vezira Emruš (2004-2007), Assembly of Kosovo (2004-2007): Vezira Emruš and Murselj Haljilji (2007-2010). Assembly of Kosovo (2007-2010): Murselj Haljilji In 2010, CIG also won the Gorani reserved seat in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, and it was again held by Murselj Haljilji (2011-2014). Assembly of Kosovo (2011-2014): Murselj Haljilji
In 2014, the United Gorani Party (UGP) was also formed, headed by Adem Hodža. Within Coalition for Gora, UGP won the Gorani reserved seat in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, and that seat was held by Adem Hodža (2014-2017), who was also reelected (2017-2019). Assembly of Kosovo (2017-2019): Adem Hodža
The Belgrade based Civic Initiative of Gorani, a political party headed by Orhan Dragaš, represents Gorani people in Serbia. Građanska inicijativa Goranaca ( Civic Initiative of Gorani)
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