 The main cause for incidents though, was the repression by the Macedonian governments on the use of the Albanian language in Macedonia and the ban of the use of the Albanian flag.In 1997 the Constitutional Court forbade the use of the Albanian flag, sparking protests.According to the 1994 census, there were 442,914 Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia, making up for about 22.9% of the total population of the country (1,936,877).