Deaf in North Macedonia


Population
Main Language
Largest Religion
Christian
Evangelical
Progress
Progress Gauge

Introduction / History

There are about 6,000 deaf people who are registered in the Deaf association. When parents find out that their child is deaf they send the child to а special center in the capital city, Skopje, where they get tested and diagnosed. After that they go to study in elementary school in Bitola. For high school they go to Skopje and they are placed in specializations: one is for men—locksmith and the other is for women—textile work. After that they can study in university but not all the majors. Only about five people have graduated from university.

In North Macedonia the deaf population is not very well educated. Most of the teachers in the school don't know sign language. When a deaf student graduates from high school his level of education is equivalent to that of an eleven-year-old non-deaf child. Their options for education are very limited. This child lives separate from their parents from seven years old. There are about 25 translators in the country and all of them work in institutions. For that reason they are not available to translate for the deaf people in ordinary life. Because of those problems the deaf people in North Macedonia live very isolated lives.


What Are Their Lives Like?

There are two sign languages in North Macedonia—old and new. Deaf people are using the old language. The new is used only officially but many of the deaf people don't understand it. North Macedonia has one primary school and one high school for deaf people, so the language throughout the country is the same for all the nationalities living in North Macedonia.

Other Balkan sign languages differ in both grammar and vocabulary. The author of this profile only understands about 50% but can still communicate by understanding the context of what is signed.


What Are Their Beliefs?

They don't have information about God because they don't read well. They imitate religious traditions that they see other people do without understanding them.

There are no known believers among the Macedonian deaf people. It's hard for them to respond to the Gospel because they have difficulty understanding the Scriptures because of a lack of vocabulary in the Macedonian sign language to explain many of the concepts of Christianity. You need to explain the Gospel as you would to a child.


What Are Their Needs?

There are not any parts of the Bible translated in Macedonian sign language. There are five videos of stories from the Bible that have been recently released. Half have not heard who Jesus is.

Most of the churches in North Macedonia use Macedonian language in their services without translation into sign language. There are no Christian congregations in North Macedonia serving the deaf people.

There are no cross-cultural missionaries in North Macedonia right now serving among deaf people. They are very needed especially for literacy, education and church planting.


Prayer Points

Scripture Prayers for the Deaf in North Macedonia.


Profile Source:   Anonymous  

People Name General Deaf
People Name in Country Deaf
Pronunciation def
Alternate Names
Population this Country 10,000
Population all Countries 50,266,000
Total Countries 216
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 3
Unreached No
Frontier People Group No
GSEC 1  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed
PeopleID3 19007
ROP3 Code 114916
Country North Macedonia
Region Europe, Eastern and Eurasia
Continent Europe
10/40 Window No
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank Not ranked
Country North Macedonia
Region Europe, Eastern and Eurasia
Continent Europe
10/40 Window No
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank Not ranked

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Primary Religion: Christianity
Major Religion Percent
Buddhism
0.00 %
Christianity  (Evangelical Unknown)
65.50 %
Ethnic Religions
0.01 %
Hinduism
0.00 %
Islam
31.00 %
Non-Religious
3.49 %
Other / Small
0.00 %
Unknown
0.00 %
Primary Language Language unknown (10,000 speakers)
Language Code xxx   Ethnologue Listing
Language Written Unknown
Total Languages 1
Primary Language Language unknown (10,000 speakers)
Language Code xxx   Ethnologue Listing
Total Languages 1
People Groups Speaking Language unknown

Primary Language:  Language unknown

Bible Translation Status:  Unspecified

Resource Type Resource Name Source
None reported  
Photo Source Anonymous 
Profile Source Anonymous 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.


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