in the Queanbeyan/Canberra region was 1,991 in 2006 of these only 927 were born in the Republic of Macedonia. Western Australia Western Australia has traditionally had one of the largest Macedonian Australian communities in Australia. Thousands of pre-war immigrants came to the state in search of riches. Here they set up the Macedonian "villages" of Wanneroo and Upper Wanneroo. The Western Australian branches of the Macedonian-Australian People's League were the driving force behind the movement's inception. By this time the migrants had scattered to Manjimup, Geraldton and Kalgoorlie. The immigrants were joined by post war Aegean Macedonians and Yugoslav migrants. Many then headed north to Port Hedland and Broome. After the breakup of Yugoslavia another wave of Macedonians came to Western Australia. By 2001 there 6,184 Macedonian speakers in Western Australia with 8,043 people claiming Macedonian Ancestry. The Macedonians of Western Australia have helped drive the state into the 21st century. Perth One of Australia's oldest Macedonian communities can be found in Perth. It is said Boris Šmagranov arrived in Perth in 1908, the first Macedonian to do so. A steady wave of Macedonians began to arrive in Perth after the First World War. Many of these were Aegean Macedonians from the Florina, Kastoria and Edessa regions. Many Macedonians left Perth for other areas where Macedonians had settled such as Manjimup, Balcatta, Geraldton and Kalgoorlie. In the early 1920s the "Makedonski Dom" (Macedonian Home) was founded in Perth. This soon became the heart of the Macedonian community in Perth. Attempts to found a branch of the Macedonian Patriotic Organization were unsuccessful. A concentration of Macedonians had been set up in the Wanneroo area and soon it was declared a Macedonian village. The mainstay of the village was Market Gardening and small-scale farming. Through chain migration Perth soon became the largest centre of Macedonian immigration to Australia. The first genuine Macedonian settlement with wives and families in Australia was Wanneroo. By the 1930s there were over 150 Macedonians in the Wanneroo area. Another Macedonian village was soon founded at Upper Wanneroo or 27 Mile. Although the area was a swamp it was soon made suitable for farming. In 1939 the "Edinstvo" group was founded which would dominated Macedonian social life for the next two decades. The "Edinstvo" group soon began to organise socials, functions and gatherings. The group's motto soon became "Слободна, Независна, Еднокупна Македонија" (Free, Independent and United Macedonia), referring