| Group: | "Muslims by nationality" |
| Population: | c. 100,000 |
| Region1: |  |
| Pop1: | 24,625 |
| Ref1: | (2003 census) |
| Region2: |  |
| Pop2: | 19,677 |
| Ref2: | (2001 census) |
| Region3: |  (excluding Kosovo) |
| Pop3: | 19,503 |
| Ref3: | (2002 census) |
| Region4: |  |
| Pop4: | 10,467 |
| Ref4: | (2002 census) |
| Region5: | Rep. Macedonia |
| Pop5: | 2,553 |
| Ref5: | (2002 census) |
| Region6: |  Bosnia/Herz. |
| Pop6: | unknown |
| Languages: | Serbo-Croat(Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian) Macedonian |
| Religions: | Islam |
| Related: | South Slavs |
Muslims by nationality (Muslimani, Муслимани) was a term used in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as an official designation of nationality of Slavic Muslims. They were one of the constitutive groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In connection to the national rebirth and awakening in Yugoslavia during the 1990s they are now officially recognized as Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina by its historical name.[1] A handful of people across Former Yugoslavia still consider themselves to be Muslims by nationality, while other self-identify as Bosniaks, and to a lesser extent Gorani, Torbesh or Pomaks. The two latter names are also used by Slavic Muslims living outside of the former Yugoslavia, mainly in Bulgaria where they form a part of the wider Slavic demographic majority, and also where they live as minorities in non-Slavic countries such as Greece and Turkey.
The Constitution of SFRY recognized narodi (nations - native peoples which were explicitly named in the Constitution, giving them special privileges) and narodnosti (nationalities, with status comparable to that of minorities).
The Austro-Hungarian Empire officially introduced the term Bosniaks for Slavic Muslims who lived in Bosnia; prior to it, it was used to describe a resident of Bosnia regardless of nationality or religion. In a debate that went on during the 1960s, many Bosniak communist intellectuals argued that Muslims of Bosnia and Herzegovina are in fact a native Slavic people that should be recognized as a nation. But the name Muslims was sometimes rejected - to quote Bosniak politician and president Hamdija Pozderac:
(In discussion with Josip Broz Tito in 1971 about constitutional changes which recognized Muslims, later Bosniaks.)
As a compromise, the Constitution was amended in 1968 to list Muslims by nationality recognizing a nation, but not the Bosniak name. The Yugoslav "Muslim by nationality" policy was considered by Bosniaks to be neglecting and opposing their Bosnian identity because the term tried to describe Bosniaks as a religious group not an ethnic one.[2]
Sometimes other terms, such as Muslim with capital M were used (that is, "musliman" was a practicing Muslim while "Musliman" was a member of this nation; Serbo-Croatian uses capital letters for names of peoples but small for names of adherents).
After the 1990s, most of these people, around two million, mostly located in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region of Sandžak, declare as ethnic Bosniaks[3] (Bošnjaci, sing. Bošnjak).
On the other hand, some still use the old name Muslimani (Muslims), especially outside Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The election law of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, recognizes the results from 1991 population census as results referring to Bosniaks.