Ostrec (Macedonian Cyrillic: Острец; Albanian: Ostrec) is a village about 12 kilometers away from Bitola, Macedonia. According to the 2002 census, it has a total population of 229 with 228 Albanians and 1 other. Due to emigration in the 1960-1970s, a sizable diaspora from the village exists in the mainly Western Suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. As well as a very large number have settled in Chicago, Florida and New York, U.S., with a smaller number in Toronto, Canada.
Map of Ostrec, Macedonia (FYROM)
Those settlements took place generally after the Second World War starting in the 1950s, '60s, continuing through the '70s, '80s, and beyond, However a very large number of Albanians from Ostrec immigrated in the early 1900s to Turkish cities such as Izmir and Istanbul. The dialect spoken in Ostrec is the Geg dialect of the Albanian Language, almost the same as the Matjan and the Dibran dialect. Other places that people from Ostrec have settled are central Albania, Tirana and Kavaja as well as the Village of Kalush near Kavaja.