North Macedonia

Republic of North Macedonia
Republic of North Macedonia; Република Северна Македонија (Macedonian); Republika Severna Makedonija;
Flag	Coat of arms
	Anthem: ; Денес над Македонија (Macedonian); (English: "Today over Macedonia"); Sorry, your browser either has JavaScript disabled or does not have any supported player.; You can download the clip or download a player to play the clip in your browser.
	[[File:\|center\|250px\|alt= Location of North Macedonia (green) in Europe (dark grey) – [Legend] \| Location of North Macedonia (green) in Europe (dark grey) – [Legend] ]] Location of North Macedonia (green) in Europe (dark grey) – [Legend]
Capital; and largest city	Skopje
Official languages	Macedonian; Albanian
Official regional languages;	Aromanian; Bosnian; Romani; Serbian; Turkish;
Ethnic groups (2002)	64.2% Macedonians; 25.2% Albanians; 3.9% Turks; 2.7% Romani; 1.8% Serbs; 0.8% Bosniaks; 0.5% Aromanians; 0.9% other / unspecified;
Demonym	North Macedonian; Macedonian;
Government	Parliamentary republic
Legislature	Sobranie
Independence from SFR Yugoslavia
Area
Population
GDP (PPP)	2019 estimate
GDP (nominal)	2019 estimate
Gini (2016)	33.6; medium
HDI (2017)	0.757; high · 80th
Currency	Macedonian denar (MKD)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy (AD)
Drives on the	right
Calling code	+389
Patron saint	Saint Clement of Ohrid
ISO 3166 code	MK
Internet TLD	.mk; .мкд;
a.	^ National and official language in all aspects of the whole territory of the state and in its international relations.
b.	^ Co-official language at a state level (excluding defense, central police and monetary policy) and in local self-government units where speakers are 20% or more.

North Macedonia (NMK; Macedonian: Северна Македонија), officially the Republic of North Macedonia (Macedonian: Република Северна Македонија), until 2019 the Republic of Macedonia (Macedonian: Република Македонија), is a country in the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991.

The country became a member of the United Nations in 1993, but, as a result of an ongoing dispute with Greece over the use of the name Macedonia, it was admitted under the provisional description the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia^[8]^[9] (abbreviated as FYROM and FYR Macedonia), a term that has also been used by several other international organizations. In June 2018, Macedonia and Greece signed the Prespa Agreement, which stipulates that the country should change its constitutional name to Republic of North Macedonia. This renaming entered into force on 12 February 2019.^[10]

A landlocked country, North Macedonia has borders with Kosovo^[a] to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south, and Albania to the west.^[11] It constitutes approximately the northern third of the larger geographical region of Macedonia, which also comprises the neighbouring parts of northern Greece, southwestern Bulgaria, southeastern Albania, southern Kosovo, and Serbia. The country's geography is defined primarily by mountains, valleys, and rivers. The capital and largest city, Skopje, is home to roughly a quarter of the nation's 2.06 million inhabitants. The majority of the residents are ethnic Macedonians, a South Slavic people. Albanians form a significant minority at around 25 percent, followed by Turks, Romani, Serbs, Bosniaks, Aromanians, and Bulgarians.

The history of the region dates back to antiquity, beginning with the kingdom of Paeonia, probably a mixed Thraco-Illyrian polity.^[12] In the late sixth century BC, the area was incorporated into the Persian Achaemenid Empire, then annexed by the Kingdom of Macedonia in the fourth century BC. The Romans conquered the region in the second century BC and made it part of the much larger province of Macedonia. Τhe area remained part of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire, and was often raided and settled by Slavic tribes beginning in the sixth century of the Christian era. Following centuries of contention between the Bulgarian, Byzantine, and Serbian empires, it was part of the Ottoman dominion from the 14th until the early 20th century, when following the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, the modern territory of Macedonia came under Serbian rule. In the aftermath of the First World War (1914–1918), it was incorporated into the Serb-dominated Kingdom of Yugoslavia, briefly given to Bulgaria during World War II and after the Second World War was re-established as a republic (1945) and which became the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1963. North Macedonia remained a constituent socialist republic within Yugoslavia until its peaceful secession in 1991.

The sovereign state of North Macedonia is a parliamentary republic and member of the UN and of the Council of Europe. Since 2005 it has also been a candidate for joining the European Union and has applied for NATO membership. Although one of the poorest countries in Europe, North Macedonia has made significant progress in developing an open, market-based economy.

Names and etymology

The state's name derives from the Greek Μακεδονία (Makedonía),^[13]^[14] a kingdom (later, region) named after the ancient Macedonians. Their name, Μακεδόνες (Makedónes), derives ultimately from the ancient Greek adjective μακεδνός (makednós), 'tall' or 'taper',^[15] which shares the same root as the adjective μακρός (makrós), 'long', 'tall', or 'high', in ancient Greek.^[16] The name is believed to have originally meant either 'highlanders' or 'the tall ones', possibly descriptive of the people.^[14]^[17]^[18] However, according to linguist Robert S. P. Beekes, both terms are of Pre-Greek substrate origin and cannot be explained in terms of Indo-European morphology.^[19]

Prior to 2019, the use of the name Macedonia was disputed between Greece and the then-Republic of Macedonia. The Prespa agreement, signed by Macedonia and Greece in June 2018, saw the country change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia 8 months later.^[20]^[21] A non-binding^[22] national referendum on the matter passed with 90% approval, although it did not reach the required 50% turnout due to a boycott, leaving the final decision with parliament to ratify the result.^[23] Parliament approved of the name change on 19 October, reaching the required two-thirds majority needed to enact constitutional changes.^[24] The vote to amend the constitution and change the name of the country passed on 11 January 2019 in favor of the amendment.^[25]^{[needs update]} The amendment will enter into force following the ratification of the Prespa agreement and the yet-to-be-signed Protocol on the Accession of Macedonia to NATO by the Greek Parliament. On 25 January 2019, the Greek parliament voted narrowly to back the agreement with 153 approving and 146 against.^[26]

In the Albanian language the country was called Maqedonia and officially it was known as Republika e Maqedonisë prior to 2019. In Turkish it was Makedonya and Makedonya Cumhuriyeti prior to 2019; in Romani Makedoniya and Republika Makedoniya prior to 2019; in Serbian and Bosnian Makedonija and Republika Makedonija prior to 2019; in Aromanian Machedonia and Republica Machedonia prior to 2019.

History

Ancient and Roman period

File:Paeon founder of Paeonia Son of Endymion Greek Mythology Map (English).svg

The Republic of North Macedonia geographically roughly corresponds to the ancient kingdom of Paeonia,^[27]^[28]^[29]^[30] which was located immediately north of the ancient Kingdom of Macedonia.^[31] Paeonia was inhabited by the Paeonians, a Thracian people,^[32] whilst the northwest was inhabited by the Dardani and the southwest by tribes known historically as the Enchelae, Pelagones, and Lyncestae; the latter two are generally regarded as Molossian tribes of the northwestern Greek group, whilst the former two are considered Illyrian.^[33]^[34]^[35]^[36]^[37]^[38]

In the late 6th century BC, the Achaemenid Persians under Darius the Great conquered the Paeonians, incorporating what is today the Republic of Macedonia within their vast territories.^[39]^[40]^[41] Following the loss in the Second Persian invasion of Greece in 479 BC, the Persians eventually withdrew from their European territories, including from what is today the Republic of Macedonia.

Heraclea Lyncestis, a city founded by Philip II of Macedon in the 4th century BC: ruins of the Byzantine "Small Basilica"

In 356 BC Philip II of Macedon absorbed^[42] the regions of Upper Macedonia (Lynkestis and Pelagonia) and the southern part of Paeonia (Deuriopus) into the kingdom of Macedon.^[43] Philip's son Alexander the Great conquered the remainder of the region, and incorporated it in his empire, reaching as far north as Scupi, but the city and the surrounding area remained part of Dardania.^[44]

The Romans established the Province of Macedonia in 146 BC. By the time of Diocletian, the province had been subdivided between Macedonia Prima ("first Macedonia") on the south, encompassing most of the kingdom of Macedon, and Macedonia Salutaris (known also as Macedonia Secunda, "second Macedonia") on the north, encompassing partially Dardania and the whole of Paeonia; most of the country's modern boundaries fell within the latter, with the city of Stobi as its capital.^[45] Roman expansion brought the Scupi area under Roman rule in the time of Domitian (81–96 AD), and it fell within the Province of Moesia.^[46] Whilst Greek remained the dominant language in the eastern part of the Roman empire, Latin spread to some extent in Macedonia.^[47]

Medieval and Ottoman period

The church of St. Clement and St. Panteleimon in Ohrid

Slavic tribes settled in the Balkan region including Macedonia by the late 6th century AD. During the 580s, Byzantine literature attests to the Slavs raiding Byzantine territories in the region of Macedonia, later aided by Bulgars. Historical records document that in c. 680 a group of Bulgars, Slavs and Byzantines led by a Bulgar called Kuber settled in the region of the Keramisian plain, centred on the city of Bitola, forming a second route for the Bulgarian definitive settlement on the Balkan peninsula at the end of the 7th century.^[48] Presian's reign apparently coincides with the extension of Bulgarian control over the Slavic tribes in and around Macedonia. The Slavic tribes that settled in the region of Macedonia converted to Christianity around the 9th century during the reign of Tsar Boris I of Bulgaria.

In 1014, the Byzantine Emperor Basil II defeated the armies of Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria, and within four years the Byzantines restored control over the Balkans (including Macedonia) for the first time since the 7th century. However, by the late 12th century, Byzantine decline saw the region contested by various political entities, including a brief Norman occupation in the 1080s.

Marko's Monastery in Markova Sušica

In the early 13th century, a revived Bulgarian Empire gained control of the region. Plagued by political difficulties, the empire did not last, and the region came once again under Byzantine control in the early 14th century. In the 14th century, it became part of the Serbian Empire, who saw themselves as liberators of their Slavic kin from Byzantine despotism. Skopje became the capital of Tsar Stefan Dusan's empire.

Following Dusan's death, a weak successor appeared, and power struggles between nobles divided the Balkans once again. These events coincided with the entry of the Ottoman Turks into Europe. The Kingdom of Prilep was one of the short-lived states that emerged from the collapse of the Serbian Empire in the 14th century.^[49] Gradually, all of the central Balkans were conquered by the Ottoman Empire and remained under its domination for five centuries as part of the province or Eyalet of Rumelia. The name Rumelia (Turkish: Rumeli) means "Land of the Romans" in Turkish, referring to the lands conquered by the Ottoman Turks from the Byzantine Empire.^[50]). Over the centuries Rumelia Eyalet was reduced in size through administrative reforms, until by the nineteenth century it consisted of a region of central Albania and north-western Macedonia with its capital at Manastir or present day Bitola.^[51] Rumelia Eyalet was abolished in 1867 and the territory of Macedonia subsequently became part of the province of Manastir Vilayet until the end of Ottoman rule in 1912.

Macedonian nationalism

Nikola Karev, head of the Provisional Government of the short-lived Kruševo Republic during the Ilinden uprising

With the beginning of the Bulgarian National Revival in the 18th century, many of the reformers were from this region, including the Miladinov Brothers,^[52] Rajko Žinzifov, Joakim Krčovski,^[53] Kiril Pejčinoviḱ^[54] and others. The bishoprics of Skopje, Debar, Bitola, Ohrid, Veles, and Strumica voted to join the Bulgarian Exarchate after it was established in 1870.^[55]

Avtonomna Makedonia periodical, Belgrade, 1905

Several movements whose goals were the establishment of an autonomous Macedonia, which would encompass the entire region of Macedonia, began to arise in the late 19th century; the earliest of these was the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, later becoming Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (SMARO). In 1905 it was renamed the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO), and after World War I the organisation separated into the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) and the Internal Thracian Revolutionary Organisation (ITRO).^[56]

In the early years of the organisation, membership eligibility was exclusive to Bulgarians, but later it was extended to all inhabitants of European Turkey regardless of ethnicity or religion.^[57] The majority of its members, however, were Macedonian Bulgarians.^[58] In 1903, IMRO organised the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottomans, which after some initial successes, including the forming of the Kruševo Republic, was crushed with much loss of life.^[59] The uprising and the forming of the Kruševo Republic are considered the cornerstone and precursors to the eventual establishment of the Macedonian state.^[60]^[61]^[62]

Kingdoms of Serbia and Yugoslavia

Following the two Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, most of its European-held territories were divided between Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia.^[63] The territory of the modern Macedonian state was annexed by Serbia and named South Serbia. Following the partition, an anti-Bulgarian campaign was carried out in the areas under Serbian and Greek control.^[64] As many as 641 Bulgarian schools and 761 churches were closed by the Serbs, while Exarchist clergy and teachers were expelled.^[64] The use of standard Bulgarian (including all Macedonian dialects) were proscribed.^[64]

The division of the region of Macedonia after the Balkan Wars according to the Treaty of Bucharest

In the fall of 1915, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers in the First World War and gained control over most of the territory of the present-day Republic of Macedonia.^[64] After the end of the First World War, the area returned to Serbian control as part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes^[65] and saw a reintroduction of the anti-Bulgarian measures of the first occupation (1913–1915): Bulgarian teachers and clergy were expelled, Bulgarian language signs and books removed, and all Bulgarian organisations dissolved.^[64]

The Serbian government pursued a policy of forced Serbianisation in the region,^[66]^[67] which included systematic suppression of Bulgarian activists, altering family surnames, internal colonisation, forced labor, and intense propaganda.^[68] To aid the implementation of this policy, some 50,000 Serbian army and gendermerie were stationed in Macedonia.^[64] By 1940 about 280 Serbian colonies (comprising 4,200 families) were established as part of the government's internal colonisation program (initial plans envisaged 50,000 families settling in Macedonia).^[64]

In 1929, the Kingdom was officially renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and divided into provinces called banovinas. Southern Serbia, including all of what is now the Republic of Macedonia, became the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.^[69]

The concept of a United Macedonia was used by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) in the interbellum. Its leaders – including Todor Alexandrov, Aleksandar Protogerov, and Ivan Mihailov – promoted independence of the Macedonian territory split between Serbia and Greece for the whole population, regardless of religion and ethnicity.^[70] The Bulgarian government of Alexander Malinov in 1918 offered to give Pirin Macedonia for that purpose after World War I,^[71] but the Great Powers did not adopt this idea because Serbia and Greece opposed it. In 1924, the Communist International suggested that all Balkan communist parties adopt a platform of a "united Macedonia" but the suggestion was rejected by the Bulgarian and Greek communists.^[72]

IMRO followed by starting an insurgent war in Vardar Banovina, together with Macedonian Youth Secret Revolutionary Organization, which also conducted guerilla attacks against the Serbian administrative and army officials there. In 1923 in Stip, a paramilitary organisation called Association against Bulgarian Bandits was formed by Serbian chetniks, IMRO renegades and Macedonian Federative Organization (MFO) members to oppose IMRO and MMTRO.^[73]

The Macedonist ideas increased during the interbellum, in Yugoslav Vardar Macedonia, and among the left diaspora in Bulgaria, and were supported by the Comintern.^[74] In 1934, it issued a special resolution in which for the first time directions were provided for recognizing the existence of a separate Macedonian nation and Macedonian language.^[75]

World War II period

Dimitar Vlahov, Mihajlo Apostolski, Metodija Andonov-Čento, Lazar Kolishevski and others, greeted in Skopje after the capture of the city in November 1944

During World War II, Yugoslavia was occupied by the Axis powers from 1941 to 1945. The Vardar Banovina was divided between Bulgaria and Italian-occupied Albania. Bulgarian Action Committees were established to prepare the region for the new Bulgarian administration and army.^[76] The Committees were mostly formed by former members of IMRO, but some communists such as Panko Brashnarov, Strahil Gigov and Metodi Shatorov also participated.^[77]^[78]

As leader of the Vardar Macedonian communists, Shatorov switched from the Yugoslav Communist Party to the Bulgarian Communist Party^[78]^[79] and refused to start military action against the Bulgarian Army.^[80] The Bulgarian authorities, under German pressure,^[81] were responsible for the round-up and deportation of over 7,000 Jews in Skopje and Bitola.^[82] Harsh rule by the occupying forces encouraged many Vardar Macedonians to support the Communist Partisan resistance movement of Josip Broz Tito after 1943,^[83] and the National Liberation War ensued, with German forces being driven out of Yugoslav Macedonia by the end of 1944.^[84]^[85]

In Vardar Macedonia, after the Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944, the Bulgarian troops, surrounded by German forces, fought their way back to the old borders of Bulgaria.^[86] Under the leadership of the new Bulgarian pro-Soviet government, four armies, 455,000 strong in total, were mobilised and reorganised. Most of them re-entered occupied Yugoslavia in early October 1944 and moved from Sofia to Niš, Skopje and Pristina with the strategic task of blocking the German forces withdrawing from Kingdom of Greece|Greece.^[87] Compelled by the Soviet Union with a view towards the creation of a large South Slav Federation, the Bulgarian government once again offered to give Pirin Macedonia to such a United Macedonia in 1945. However this region remains a part of Bulgaria.

Socialist Yugoslavia period

Josip Broz Tito was the leader of SFR Yugoslavia from 1944 to 1980. Pictured: Tito with the US president Richard Nixon in the White House, 1971.

In 1944 the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) proclaimed the People's Republic of Macedonia as part of the People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.^[88] ASNOM remained an acting government until the end of the war. The Macedonian alphabet was codified by linguists of ASNOM, who based their alphabet on the phonetic alphabet of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić and the principles of Krste Petkov Misirkov.During the civil war in Greece (1946–1949), Macedonian communist insurgents supported the Greek communists. Many refugees fled to the Socialist Republic of Macedonia from there. The state dropped Socialist from its name in 1991 when it peacefully seceded from Yugoslavia.

The new republic became one of the six republics of the Yugoslav federation. Following the federation's renaming as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1963, the People's Republic of Macedonia was likewise renamed the Socialist Republic of Macedonia.^[89]^[90]^[91] During the civil war in Greece (1946–1949),

Declaration of independence

The country officially celebrates 8 September 1991 as Independence day (Macedonian: Ден на независноста, Den na nezavisnosta), with regard to the referendum endorsing independence from Yugoslavia, albeit legalising participation in future union of the former states of Yugoslavia.^[92] The anniversary of the start of the Ilinden Uprising (St. Elijah's Day) on 2 August is also widely celebrated on an official level as the Day of the Republic.

Robert Badinter, as the head of the Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia, recommended EC recognition in January 1992.^[93]

Macedonia remained at peace through the Yugoslav Wars of the early 1990s. A few very minor changes to its border with Yugoslavia were agreed upon to resolve problems with the demarcation line between the two countries. However, it was seriously destabilised by the Kosovo War in 1999, when an estimated 360,000 ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo took refuge in the country.^[94] Although they departed shortly after the war, Albanian nationalists on both sides of the border took up arms soon after in pursuit of autonomy or independence for the Albanian-populated areas of Macedonia.^[94]^[95]

2001 insurgency

A conflict took place between the government and ethnic Albanian insurgents, mostly in the north and west of the country, between February and August 2001.^[95]^[96]^[97] The war ended with the intervention of a NATO ceasefire monitoring force. Under the terms of the Ohrid Agreement, the government agreed to devolve greater political power and cultural recognition to the Albanian minority.^[98] The Albanian side agreed to abandon separatist demands and to recognise all Macedonian institutions fully. In addition, according to this accord, the NLA were to disarm and hand over their weapons to a NATO force.^[99]

Inter-ethnic tensions flared in Macedonia in 2012, with incidents of violence between ethnic Albanians and Macedonians.^[100]

Prespa agreement, NATO accession, and EU path

Zoran Zaev and Alexis Tsipras in Oteševo, Macedonia, after signing the agreement.

The Prespa agreement, which replaces the Interim Accord of 1995,^[101] was signed on 17 June 2018 in a high-level ceremony at the Greek border village of Psarades on Lake Prespa, by the two foreign ministers Nikola Dimitrov and Nikos Kotzias and in the presence of the respective prime ministers, Zoran Zaev and Alexis Tsipras.^[102]^[103]^[104]^[105] The meeting was attended by the UN's Special Representative Matthew Nimetz, the U.S. Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, the EU's High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, and the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Johannes Hahn, among others.^[106] After the ceremony, Tsipras, along with his Macedonian counterpart, crossed over the border to the Macedonian side of Lake Prespa for lunch at the village of Oteševo, in a highly symbolic move that marked the first time a Greek Prime Minister ever entered the Republic of Macedonia since it declared independence in 1991.^[107]^[108]

The withdrawal of the Greek veto resulted in the European Union on June 27 approving the start of accession talks with the Republic of Macedonia, which are expected to take place in 2019, under the condition that the Prespa deal is implemented and Macedonia's constitutional name is changed to Republic of North Macedonia.^[109] On July 5, the Prespa agreement was ratified again by the Macedonian parliament with 69 MPs voting in favor of it.^[110] On July 12, NATO invited Macedonia to start accession talks in a bid to become the EuroAtlantic alliance's 30th member.^[111] On July 30, the parliament of Macedonia approved plans to hold a non-binding referendum on changing the country's name that took place on September 30.^[112] 91% of voters voted in favour with a 37% turnout,^[113] but the referendum was not carried because of a constitutional requirement for a 50% turnout.^[114] The government intended to push forward with the name change.^[115]

On October 15, the parliament of Macedonia began debating the name change.^[116] The proposal for the constitutional reform required the vote of 80 MPs, i.e. two-thirds of the 120-seat parliament.^[117]^[118]

On 16 October, US Assistant Secretary of State Wess Mitchell sent a letter to VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski, in which he expresses the disappointment of the United States with the positions of the leadership, including him personally, and asks to "set aside partisan interests" and work to get the name change approved.^[119]^[120] Mickoski expressed his hope that the Republic of Macedonia will be very soon a part of the NATO and EU families, "but proud and dignified, not humiliated, disfigured and disgraced."^[121]

On 19 October the parliament voted to start the process of renaming the country after a total of 80 MPs voted in favour of the constitutional changes.^[122]

On 19 October the Macedonian parliament voted to start the process of renaming the country after a total of 80 MPs voted in favour of the constitutional changes.^[122] On 11 January 2019, the Macedonian parliament approved the constitutional amendments required by the Prespa Agreement by 81 deputies voting for out of 120.^[123] On 25 January 2019, the Greek parliament ratified the Prespa Agreement with 153 votes in favor, 146 against, and 1 abstaining.^[124]

On 6 February, the Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikola Dimitrov, signed in Brussels the accession protocol of the country into NATO.^[125]

Geography

Mount Korab, the highest mountain in Macedonia

North Macedonia has a total area of 25,713 km² (9,928 sq mi). It lies between latitudes 40° and 43° N, and mostly between longitudes 20° and 23° E (a small area lies east of 23°). Macedonia has some 748 km (465 mi) of boundaries, shared with Serbia (62 km or 39 mi) to the North, Kosovo (159 km or 99 mi) to the northwest, Bulgaria (148 km or 92 mi) to the east, Greece (228 km or 142 mi) to the south, and Albania (151 km or 94 mi) to the west. It is a transit way for shipment of goods from Greece, through the Balkans, towards Eastern, Western and Central Europe and through Bulgaria to the east. It is part of a larger region also known as Macedonia, which also includes Macedonia (Greece) and the Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria.

North Macedonia is a landlocked country that is geographically clearly defined by a central valley formed by the Vardar river and framed along its borders by mountain ranges. The terrain is mostly rugged, located between the Šar Mountains and Osogovo, which frame the valley of the Vardar river. Three large lakes – Lake Ohrid, Lake Prespa and Dojran Lake – lie on the southern borders, bisected by the frontiers with Albania and Greece. Ohrid is considered to be one of the oldest lakes and biotopes in the world.^[126] The region is seismically active and has been the site of destructive earthquakes in the past, most recently in 1963 when Skopje was heavily damaged by a major earthquake, killing over 1,000.

North Macedonia also has scenic mountains. They belong to two different mountain ranges: the first is the Šar Mountains^[127]^[128] that continues to the West Vardar/Pelagonia group of mountains (Baba Mountain, Nidže, Kozuf and Jakupica), also known as the Dinaric range. The second range is the Osogovo–Belasica mountain chain, also known as the Rhodope range. The mountains belonging to the Šar Mountains and the West Vardar/Pelagonia range are younger and higher than the older mountains of the Osogovo-Belasica mountain group. Mount Korab of the Šar Mountains on the Albanian border, at 2,764 m (9,068 ft), is the tallest mountain in North Macedonia.

Matka Canyon

In the Republic of North Macedonia there are 1,100 large sources of water. The rivers flow into three different basins: the Aegean, the Adriatic and the Black Sea.^[129]

The Aegean basin is the largest. It covers 87% of the territory of the Republic, which is 22,075 square kilometres (8,523 sq mi). Vardar, the largest river in this basin, drains 80% of the territory or 20,459 square kilometres (7,899 sq mi). Its valley plays an important part in the economy and the communication system of the country. The Vardar Valley project is considered to be crucial for the strategic development of the country.

The river Black Drin forms the Adriatic basin, which covers an area of about 3,320 km² (1,282 sq mi), i.e., 13% of the territory. It receives water from Lakes Prespa and Ohrid.

The Black Sea basin is the smallest with only 37 km² (14 sq mi). It covers the northern side of Mount Skopska Crna Gora. This is the source of the river Binachka Morava, which joins the Morava, and later, the Danube, which flows into the Black Sea.

North Macedonia has around fifty ponds and three natural lakes, Lake Ohrid, Lake Prespa and Lake Dojran.

In North Macedonia there are nine spa towns and resorts: Banište, Banja Bansko, Istibanja, Katlanovo, Kežovica, Kosovrasti, Banja Kočani, Kumanovski Banji and Negorci.

Climate

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File:Koppen-Geiger Map MKD present.svg

North Macedonia has a transitional climate from Mediterranean to continental. The summers are hot and dry, and the winters are moderately cold. Average annual precipitation varies from 1,700 mm (66.9 in) in the western mountainous area to 500 mm (19.7 in) in the eastern area. There are three main climatic zones in the country: temperate Mediterranean, mountainous, and mildly continental. Along the valleys of the Vardar and Strumica rivers, in the regions of Gevgelija, Valandovo, Dojran, Strumica, and Radoviš, the climate is temperate Mediterranean. The warmest regions are Demir Kapija and Gevgelija, where the temperature in July and August frequently exceeds 40 °C (104 °F). The mountainous climate is present in the mountainous regions of the country, and it is characterised by long and snowy winters and short and cold summers. The spring is colder than the fall. The majority of North Macedonia has a moderate continental climate with warm and dry summers and relatively cold and wet winters. There are thirty main and regular weather stations in the country.

Biodiversity

The flora of Republic of North Macedonia is represented by around 210 families, 920 genera, and around 3,700 plant species. The most abundant group are the flowering plants with around 3,200 species, followed by mosses (350 species) and ferns (42).

Phytogeographically, North Macedonia belongs to the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Digital Map of European Ecological Regions by the European Environment Agency, the territory of the Republic can be subdivided into four ecoregions: the Pindus Mountains mixed forests, Balkan mixed forests, Rhodopes mixed forests and Aegean sclerophyllous and mixed forests.

Pinus peuce, the Macedonian Pine or Molika, one of Macedonia's most recognisable trees

National Park of Pelister in Bitola is known for the presence of the endemic Macedonian Pine, as well as some 88 species of plants representing almost 30 percent of Macedonian dendroflora. The Macedonian Pine forests on Pelister are divided into two communities: pine forests with ferns and pine forests with junipers. The Macedonian Pine, as a specific conifer species, is a relict of tertiary flora, and the five-needle pine Molika, was first noted on Pelister in 1893.

North Macedonia's limited forest growth also includes Macedonian Oaks, the sycamore, weeping willows, white willows, alders, poplars, elms, and the common ash. Near the rich pastures on Šar Mountain and Bistra, Mavrovo, is another plant species characteristic of plant life in Macedonia—the poppy. The quality of thick poppy juice is measured worldwide by morphine units; while Chinese opium contains eight such units and is considered to be of high quality, Indian opium contains seven units, and Turkish opium only six, Macedonian opium contains a full 14 morphine units and is one of the best quality opiums in the world.^[130]

The Eurasian lynx and the Šarplaninec.

The fauna of North Macedonian forests is abundant and includes bears, wild boars, wolves, foxes, squirrels, chamois and deer. The lynx is found, although very rarely, in the mountains of western Macedonia, while deer can be found in the region of Demir Kapija. Forest birds include the blackcap, the grouse, the black grouse, the imperial eagle and the forest owl.

The three artificial lakes of the country represent a separate fauna zone, an indication of long-lasting territorial and temporal isolation. The fauna of Lake Ohrid is a relict of an earlier era and the lake is widely known for its letnica trout, lake whitefish, gudgeon, roach, podust, and pior, as well as for certain species of snails of a genus older than 30 million years; similar species can be found only in Lake Baikal. Lake Ohrid is also noted in zoology texts for the European eel and its baffling reproductive cycle: it comes to Lake Ohrid from the distant Sargasso Sea,^[131]^[132] thousands of kilometres away, and lurks in the depths of the lake for 10 years. When sexually mature, the eel is driven by unexplained instincts in the autumn to set off back to its point of birth. There it spawns and dies, leaving its offspring to seek out Lake Ohrid to begin the cycle anew.^[132]

The shepherd dog of Šar Mountain, the Šarplaninec (Yugoslav shepherd), is known worldwide.^[133]^[134]^[135] It stands some 60 centimetres (2.0 ft) tall^[133] and is a brave and fierce fighter that may be called upon to fight bears or wolf packs while guarding and defending flocks. The Šarplaninec originates from the shepherd's dog of the ancient Epirotes, the molossus, but it was recognised as its own breed in 1939 under the name of Illyrian shepherd and since 1956 has been known as Šarplaninec.^[133]^[134]^[135]

National parks

The country has three national parks:

Name	Established	Size
Mavrovo	1948	731 km²
Galičica	1958	227 km²
Pelister	1948	125 km²

Politics


Gjorge Ivanov President	Zoran Zaev Prime Minister

North Macedonia is a parliamentary democracy with an executive government composed of a coalition of parties from the unicameral legislature (Собрание, Sobranie) and an independent judicial branch with a constitutional court. The Assembly is made up of 120 seats and the members are elected every four years. The role of the President of the Republic is mostly ceremonial, with the real power resting in the hands of the Prime Minister. The President is the commander-in-chief of the state armed forces and a president of the state Security Council. The President is elected every five years and he or she can be elected twice at most. On the second run of the presidential elections held on 5 April 2009, Gjorge Ivanov was elected as new Macedonian president.^[136]

With the passage of a new law and elections held in 2005, local government functions are divided between 78 municipalities (општини, opštini; singular: општина, opština). The capital, Skopje, is governed as a group of ten municipalities collectively referred to as the "City of Skopje". Municipalities in Macedonia are units of local self-government. Neighbouring municipalities may establish co-operative arrangements.

The country's main political divergence is between the largely ethnically based political parties representing the country's ethnic Macedonian majority and Albanian minority. The issue of the power balance between the two communities led to a brief war in 2001, following which a power-sharing agreement was reached. In August 2004, Macedonia's parliament passed legislation redrawing local boundaries and giving greater local autonomy to ethnic Albanians in areas where they predominate.

After a troublesome pre-election campaign, North Macedonia saw a relatively calm and democratic change of government in the elections held on 5 July 2006. The elections were marked by a decisive victory of the centre-right party VMRO-DPMNE led by Nikola Gruevski. Gruevski's decision to include the Democratic Party of Albanians in the new government, instead of the Democratic Union for Integration – Party for Democratic Prosperity coalition which won the majority of the Albanian votes, triggered protests throughout the parts of the country with a respective number of Albanian population. However, a dialogue was later established between the Democratic Union for Integration and the ruling VMRO-DMPNE party as an effort to talk about the disputes between the two parties and to support European and NATO aspirations of the country.^[137]

After the early parliamentary elections held in 2008, VMRO-DPMNE and Democratic Union for Integration formed a ruling coalition in Macedonia.^[138]

In April 2009, presidential and local elections in the country were carried out peacefully, which was crucial for Macedonian aspirations to join the EU.^[139] The ruling conservative VMRO-DPMNE party won a victory in the local elections and the candidate supported by the party, Gjorgi Ivanov, was elected as the new president.

As of 31 May 2017^[update], the Prime Minister of North Macedonia is Zoran Zaev, who also heads the SDUM,^[140] and the current President of the Parliament is Talat Xhaferi.^[141] The election of Xhaferi was immediately met with protests led by VMRO-DPMNE, which was quickly handled by Macedonian police.^[141]

Governance

The interior of the Macedonian parliament in Skopje.

Parliament, or Sobranie (Macedonian: Собрание), is the country's legislative body. It makes, proposes and adopts laws. The Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia has been in use since the formation of the republic in the 1993. It limits the power of the governments, both local and national. The military is also limited by the constitution. The constitution states that Macedonia is a social free state, and that Skopje is the capital.^[142] The 120 members are elected for a mandate of four years through a general election. Each citizen aged 18 years or older can vote for one of the political parties. The current president of Parliament is Talat Xhaferi.

Executive power in North Macedonia is exercised by the Government, whose prime minister is the most politically powerful person in the country. The members of the government are chosen by the Prime Minister and there are ministers for each branch of the society. There are ministers for economy, finance, information technology, society, internal affairs, foreign affairs and other areas. The members of the Government are elected for a mandate of four years. The current Prime Minister is Zoran Zaev.

Judiciary power is exercised by courts, with the court system being headed by the Judicial Supreme court, Constitutional Court and the Republican Judicial Council. The assembly appoints the judges.

Foreign relations

The Prime Minister of Macedonia Zoran Zaev with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Theresa May in Skopje on 17 May 2018.

North Macedonia became a member state of the UN on 8 April 1993, eighteen months after its independence from Yugoslavia. It is referred to within the UN as "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", pending a resolution of the long-running dispute with Greece about the country's name.

The major interest of the country is a full integration in the European and the Trans-Atlantic integration processes. Five foreign policy priorities are:^[143]

Commencing negotiations for full-fledged membership in the European Union
Lifting the visa regime for Macedonian nationals
NATO membership
Resolving the naming issue with Greece
Strengthening the economic and public diplomacy

North Macedonia is a member of the following international and regional organisations:^[144] IMF (since 1992), WHO (since 1993), EBRD (since 1993), Central European Initiative (since 1993), Council of Europe (since 1995), OSCE (since 1995), SECI (since 1996), WTO (since 2003), CEFTA (since 2006), La Francophonie (since 2001).

In 2005, the country was officially recognised as a European Union candidate state.

At the NATO 2008 Bucharest summit, Macedonia failed to gain an invitation to join the organisation because Greece vetoed the move after the dispute over the name issue.^[145] The U.S. had previously expressed support for an invitation,^[146] but the summit then decided to extend an invitation only on condition of a resolution of the naming conflict with Greece.

In March 2009, the European Parliament expressed support for North Macedonia's EU candidacy and asked the EU Commission to grant the country a date for the start of accession talks by the end of 2009. The parliament also recommended a speedy lifting of the visa regime for Macedonian citizens.^[147] Prior to the Prespa Agreement, the country failed to receive a start date for accession talks as a result of the naming dispute. The EU's stance was similar to NATO's in that resolution of the naming dispute was a precondition for the start of accession talks.

In October 2012, the EU Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle proposed a start of accession negotiations with the country for the fourth time, while the previous efforts were blocked each time by Greece. At the same time Füle visited Bulgaria in a bid to clarify the state's position with respect to Macedonia. He established that Bulgaria almost has joined Greece in vetoing the accession talks. The Bulgarian position was that Sofia cannot grant an EU certificate to Skopje, which is systematically employing an ideology of hate towards Bulgaria.^[148]

Human rights

The Republic of North Macedonia is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights and the U.N. Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and Convention against Torture, and the Constitution guarantees basic human rights to all Macedonian citizens.

There do, however, continue to be problems with human rights. According to human rights organisations, in 2003 there were suspected extrajudicial executions, threats against, and intimidation of, human rights activists and opposition journalists, and allegations of torture by the police.^[149]^[150]

Military

Army of the Republic of Macedonia

The Macedonian Armed Forces comprise the army, air force, and Special Forces. The government's national defence policy aims to guarantee the preservation of the independence and sovereignty of the state, the integrity of its land area and airspace and its constitutional order. Its main goals remain the development and maintenance of a credible capability to defend the nation's vital interests and development of the Armed Forces in a way that ensures their interoperability with the armed forces of NATO and the European Union member states and their capability to participate in the full range of NATO missions.

The Ministry of Defence develops the Republic's defence strategy and assesses possible threats and risks. It is also responsible for the defence system, including training, readiness, equipment, and development, and for drawing up and presenting the defence budget.^[151]

Naming dispute

The flag of the Republic of Macedonia between 1992 and 1995, bearing the Vergina Sun

After the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, the name of Macedonia became the object of a dispute between Greece and the newly independent Republic of Macedonia.^[152] In the south, the Republic of Macedonia borders the region of Greek Macedonia, which administratively is split into three peripheries (one of them comprising both Western Thrace and a part of Greek Macedonia). Citing historical and territorial concerns resulting from the ambiguity between the Republic of Macedonia, the adjacent Greek region of Macedonia and the ancient Kingdom of Macedon which falls within Greek Macedonia, Greece opposes the use of the name Macedonia by the Republic of Macedonia without a geographical qualifier, supporting a compound name (such as North Macedonia) for use by all and for all purposes (erga omnes).^[153] As millions of ethnic Greeks identify themselves as Macedonians, unrelated to the Slavic people who are associated with the Republic of Macedonia, Greece further objects to the use of the term Macedonian for the neighboring country's largest ethnic group. The Republic of Macedonia is accused of appropriating symbols and figures that are historically considered parts of Greece's culture (such as Vergina Sun, a symbol associated with the ancient Kingdom of Macedon, and Alexander the Great), and of promoting the irredentist concept of a United Macedonia, which would include territories of Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, and Serbia.^{[citation needed]}

From 1992 to 1995, the two countries engaged in a dispute over the Macedonian state's new flag, which incorporated the Vergina Sun symbol. This aspect of the dispute was resolved when the flag was changed under the terms of an interim accord agreed between the two states in October 1995.

The first flag of the sovereign Republic of Macedonia (from 9/1991 to 8/1992) was simply the former SRM flag, used until a replacement was legislated.

The UN adopted the provisional reference the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Macedonian: Поранешна Југословенска Република Македонија) when the country was admitted to the organisation in 1993.^[154] Most international organisations, such as the European Union, the European Broadcasting Union, and the International Olympic Committee, adopted the same convention.^[155]^[156]^[157]^[158]^[159] NATO also uses the reference in official documents but adds an explanation on which member countries recognise the constitutional name.^[160] The same reference is also used in any discussion to which Greece is a party^[161]

However, most UN member countries have abandoned the provisional reference and have recognised the country as the Republic of Macedonia instead. These include four of the five permanent UN Security Council members: the United States,^[162] Russia, United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China; several members of the European Union such as Bulgaria, Poland, and Slovenia; and over 100 other UN members.^[163] The UN has set up a negotiating process with a mediator, Matthew Nimetz, and the two parties to the dispute, Macedonia and Greece, to try to mediate the dispute.

Initially the European Community-nominated Arbitration Commission's opinion was that "the use of the name 'Macedonia' cannot therefore imply any territorial claim against another State";^[164] despite the commission's opinion, Greece continued to object to the establishment of relations between the Community and the Republic under its constitutional name.^[165]

Since the coming to power in 2006, and especially since Macedonia's non-invitation to NATO in 2008, the VMRO-DPMNE government has pursued a policy of "Antiquisation" ("Antikvizatzija") as a way of putting pressure on Greece as well as for the purposes of domestic identity-building.^[166] Statues of Alexander the Great and Philip of Macedon have been built in several cities across the country. Additionally, many pieces of public infrastructure, such as airports, highways, and stadiums have been renamed after Alexander and Philip. These actions are seen as deliberate provocations in neighboring Greece, exacerbating the dispute and further stalling Macedonia's EU and NATO applications.^[167] The policy has also attracted criticism domestically, as well as from EU diplomats.^[166]

In November 2008, Macedonia instituted proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Greece alleging violations of the 1995 Interim Accord that blocked its accession to NATO.^[168] The ICJ was requested to order Greece to observe its obligations within the Accord, which is legally binding for both countries. In 2011, The United Nations' International Court of Justice ruled that Greece violated Article 11 of the 1995 Interim Accord by vetoing Macedonia's bid for NATO membership at the 2008 summit in Bucharest.^[169] The court, however, did not consider it necessary to grant Macedonia's request that it instruct Greece to refrain from similar actions in the future since "[a]s a general rule, there is no reason to suppose that a State whose act or conduct has been declared wrongful by the Court will repeat that act or conduct in the future, since its good faith must be presumed";^[170] nor has there been to date a change in the EU's stance that Macedonia's accession negotiations cannot begin until the name issue is resolved.^[171]

On 17 June 2018, Greece and Macedonia signed an agreement to end their dispute, which would result in Macedonia being renamed the Republic of North Macedonia (Република Северна Македонија).^[102] The agreement still requires ratification by both parliaments to come into effect. As of June 2018, both governments are expected to have to overcome stiff political opposition in their respective countries in order to conclude this process. Macedonia held an advisory referendum about the required changes to its constitution in September 2018.

On 11 January 2019, the Macedonia parliament agreed to change the country's name to the Republic of North Macedonia.^[172] On 25 January 2019, the Greek parliament voted in favour of accepting the name change with 153 votes approving and 146 disapproving.^[173]

Administrative divisions

Rural/Urban municipalities

Macedonian statistical regions

North Macedonia's statistical regions exist solely for legal and statistical purposes. The regions are:

In August 2004, the country was reorganised into 84 municipalities (opštini; sing. opština); 10 of the municipalities constitute the City of Skopje, a distinct unit of local self-government and the country's capital.

Most of the current municipalities were unaltered or merely amalgamated from the previous 123 municipalities established in September 1996; others were consolidated and their borders changed. Prior to this, local government was organised into 34 administrative districts, communes, or counties (also opštini).

Economy

Ranked as the fourth "best reformatory state" out of 178 countries ranked by the World Bank in 2009, North Macedonia has undergone considerable economic reform since independence.^[174] The country has developed an open economy with trade accounting for more than 90% of GDP in recent years. Since 1996, North Macedonia has witnessed steady, though slow, economic growth with GDP growing by 3.1% in 2005. This figure was projected to rise to an average of 5.2% in the 2006–2010 period.^[175] The government has proven successful in its efforts to combat inflation, with an inflation rate of only 3% in 2006 and 2% in 2007,^[174] and has implemented policies focused on attracting foreign investment and promoting the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Vineyard in Macedonia

The current government introduced a flat tax system with the intention of making the country more attractive to foreign investment. The flat tax rate was 12% in 2007 and was further lowered to 10% in 2008.^[176]^[177] Despite these reforms, as of 2005^[update] North Macedonia's unemployment rate was 37.2%^[178] and as of 2006^[update] its poverty rate was 22%.^[175] However, due to a number of employment measures as well as the successful process of attracting multinational corporations, and according to the North Macedonian State Statistical Office, country's unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2015 decreased to 27.3%.^[179] Government's policies and efforts in regards to foreign direct investments have resulted with the establishment of local subsidiaries of several world leading manufacturing companies, especially from the automotive industry, such as: Johnson Controls Inc., Van Hool NV, Johnson Matthey plc, Lear Corp., Visteon Corp., Kostal GmbH, Gentherm Inc., Dräxlmaier Group, Kromberg & Schubert, Marquardt GmbH, Amphenol Corp., Tekno Hose SpA, KEMET Corp., Key Safety Systems Inc., ODW-Elektrik GmbH, etc.

In terms of GDP structure, as of 2013^[update] the manufacturing sector, including mining and construction constituted the largest part of GDP at 21.4%, up from 21.1% in 2012. The trade, transportation and accommodation sector represents 18.2% of GDP in 2013, up from 16.7% in 2012, while agriculture represents 9.6%, up from 9.1% in the previous year.^[180]

Graphical depiction of Macedonia's product exports.

In terms of foreign trade, the largest sector contributing to the country's export in 2014 was "chemicals and related products" at 21.4%, followed by the "machinery and transport equipment" sector at 21.1%. North Macedonia's main import sectors in 2014 were "manufactured goods classified chiefly by material" with 34.2%, "machinery and transport equipment" with 18.7% and "mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials" with 14.4% of the total imports. Even 68.8% of the foreign trade in 2014 was done with the EU which makes the Union by far the largest trading partner of North Macedonia (23.3% with Germany, 7.9% with the UK, 7.3% with Greece, 6.2% with Italy, etc.). Almost 12% of the total external trade in 2014 was done with the Western Balkan countries.^[181]

North Macedonia has one of the highest shares of people struggling financially, with 72% of its citizens stating that they could manage on their household's income only "with difficulty" or "with great difficulty", though North Macedonia, along with Croatia, was the only country in the Western Balkans to not report an increase in this statistic.^[182] Corruption and a relatively ineffective legal system also act as significant restraints on successful economic development. North Macedonia still has one of the lowest per capita GDPs in Europe. Furthermore, the country's grey market is estimated at close to 20% of GDP.^[183] According to Eurostat data, North Macedonian PPS GDP per capita stood at 36% of the EU average in 2014.^[184] With a GDP per capita of US$9,157 at purchasing power parity and a Human Development Index of 0.701, North Macedonia is less developed and has a considerably smaller economy than most of the former Yugoslav states.

Infrastructure and e-infrastructure

North Macedonia (along with Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo) belongs to the less-developed southern region of the former Yugoslavia. It suffered severe economic difficulties after independence, when the Yugoslav internal market collapsed and subsidies from Belgrade ended. In addition, it faced many of the same problems faced by other former socialist East European countries during the transition to a market economy. Its main land and rail exports route, through Serbia, remains unreliable with high transit costs, thereby affecting the export of its formerly highly profitable, early vegetables market to Germany. North Macedonia's IT market increased 63.8% year on year in 2007, which is the fastest growing in the Adriatic region.^[185]

Trade and investment

The outbreak of the Yugoslav wars and the imposition of sanctions on Serbia and Montenegro caused great damage to the country's economy, with Serbia constituting 60% of its markets before the disintegration of Yugoslavia. When Greece imposed a trade embargo on the Republic in 1994–95, the economy was also affected. Some relief was afforded by the end of the Bosnian War in November 1995 and the lifting of the Greek embargo, but the Kosovo War of 1999 and the 2001 Albanian crisis caused further destabilisation.

Since the end of the Greek embargo, Greece has become the country's most important business partner. (See Greek investments in the Republic of Macedonia.) Many Greek companies have bought former state companies in Macedonia,^[186] such as the oil refinery Okta, the baking company Zhito Luks, a marble mine in Prilep, textile facilities in Bitola, etc., and employ 20,000 people. However, local cross-border trade between Greece and North Macedonia sees thousands of Greek shoppers visiting to purchase cheaper domestic products.^{[citation needed]} The moving of business to North Macedonia in the oil sector has been caused by the rise of Greece in the oil markets.^[187]

Other key partners are Germany, Italy, the United States, Slovenia, Austria and Turkey.

Transport

International Airport Skopje, Map of current and planned highways and European route E75 in Republic of Macedonia.

North Macedonia is in its position a continental country in the middle of the Balkan peninsula, and the main transport links in the country are those that connect the different parts of the peninsula (transbalkan links). Particularly important is the connection between north-south and Vardar valley, which connects Greece with the rest of Europe.

The total length of the railway network in North Macedonia is 699 km. The most important railway line is the line on the border with Serbia – Kumanovo – Skopje – Veles – Gevgelija – border with Greece. Since 2001, the railway line Beljakovci has been built – the border with Bulgaria, which will get a direct connection Skopje-Sofia. The most important railway hub in the country is Skopje, while the other two are Veles and Kumanovo.

Macedonian Post is a North Macedonian state-owned company for the provision of postal traffic. It was founded in 1992 as PTT Macedonia. In 1993 she was admitted to the World Postal Union in 1997, PTT Macedonia was divided into Macedonian Telekom and Macedonian Post. As far as Water Transport is concerned, only lake traffic through Ohrid and Prespan Lake has been developed, mostly for tourist purposes.

There are 17 airports officially in North Macedonia, of which 11 are with solid substrates. Among them are two airports of international character, since they are listed on the airport's IATA Airport code International Airport Skopje and Ohrid "St. Paul the Apostle" Airport.

Tourism

Tourism is an important part of the economy of North Macedonia. The country's abundance of natural and cultural attractions make it an attractive destination of visitors. It receives about 700,000 tourists annually.^[188]

Lake Ohrid, Bitola, Mavrovo

Demographics

Ethnic groups in 2002

Macedonians			64.18%
Albanians			25.17%
Turks			3.85%
Romani			2.66%
Serbs			1.78%
Bosniaks			0.84%
Aromanians			0.48%
other			1.04%
The above table shows ethnic affiliation of the population according to the 2002 census:^[2]

The last census data from 2002 shows a population of 2,022,547 inhabitants.^[2] The last official estimate from 2009, without significant change, gives a figure of 2,050,671.^[189] According to the last census data, the largest ethnic group in the country are the ethnic Macedonians. The second largest group are the Albanians who dominated much of the northwestern part of the country. Following them, Turks are the third biggest ethnic group of the country where official census data put them close to 80,000 and unofficial estimates suggest numbers between 170,000 and 200,000. Some unofficial estimates indicate that in the Republic of North Macedonia, there are possibly up to 260,000 Romani.^[190]

Religion

Religion in Macedonia (2002)^[191]

Eastern Orthodoxy (64.8%)

Islam (33.3%)

Other Christian (0.4%)

Others/None (1.5%)

Eastern Orthodox Christianity is the majority faith of North Macedonia, making up 65% of the population, the vast majority of whom belong to the Macedonian Orthodox Church. Various other Christian denominations account for 0.4% of the population. Muslims constitute 33.3% of the population. North Macedonia has the fifth-highest proportion of Muslims in Europe, after those of Kosovo (96%),^[192] Turkey (90%),^[193] Albania (59%),^[194] and Bosnia-Herzegovina (51%).^[195] According to the 2002 Census, 46.5% of the children aged 0–4 were Muslim.^[196] Most Muslims are Albanians, Turks, or Romani, although few are Macedonian Muslims. The remaining 1.4% was determined to be "unaffiliated" by a 2010 Pew Research estimation.^[197]

Altogether, there were 1,842 churches and 580 mosques in the country at the end of 2011.^[198] The Orthodox and Islamic religious communities have secondary religion schools in Skopje. There is an Orthodox theological college in the capital. The Macedonian Orthodox Church has jurisdiction over 10 provinces (seven in the country and three abroad), has 10 bishops and about 350 priests. A total of 30,000 people are baptised in all the provinces every year.

The Church of St. George in Kumanovo (left) and Šarena Džamija Mosque in Tetovo (right).

Relations between the Macedonian Orthodox Church, which declared autocephaly in 1967 and remains unrecognised by the other Orthodox Churches, and the Serbian Orthodox Church, which claims ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the Republic of North Macedonia, remain tense and politically fraught, especially since the Serbian Church appointed Jovan Vraniškovski as its Exarch for the Archbishopric of Ohrid in September 2002.

The reaction of the Macedonian Orthodox Church was to cut off all relations with the new Ohrid Archbishopric and to prevent bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church from entering North Macedonia. Bishop Jovan was jailed for 18 months for "defaming the Macedonian Orthodox church and harming the religious feelings of local citizens" by distributing Serbian Orthodox church calendars and pamphlets.^[199]

A 19th-century Macedonian silver Hanukkah Menorah

The Macedonian Byzantine Catholic Church has approximately 11,000 adherents in North Macedonia. The Church was established in 1918, and is made up mostly of converts to Catholicism and their descendants. The Church is of the Byzantine Rite and is in communion with the Roman and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its liturgical worship is performed in Macedonian.^[200]

There is a small Protestant community. The most famous Protestant in the country is the late president Boris Trajkovski. He was from the Methodist community, which is the largest and oldest Protestant church in the Republic, dating back to the late 19th century. Since the 1980s the Protestant community has grown, partly through new confidence and partly with outside missionary help.

The Macedonian Jewish community, which numbered some 7,200 people on the eve of World War II, was almost entirely destroyed during the war: only 2% of Macedonian Jews survived the Holocaust.^[201] After their liberation and the end of the War, most opted to emigrate to Israel. Today, the country's Jewish community numbers approximately 200 persons, almost all of whom live in Skopje. Most Macedonian Jews are Sephardic – the descendants of 15th-century refugees who had been expelled from Castile, Aragon and Portugal.

According to the 2002 Census, 46.5% of the children aged 0–4 were Muslim.^[196]

Languages

Linguistic map of Macedonia, 2002 census.

National and official language in all aspects of the whole territory of the state and in its international relations, is Macedonian language. Albanian language is co-official at a state level (excluding defense, central police and monetary policy) and in local self-government units where speakers are 20% or more. Macedonian belongs to the Eastern branch of the South Slavic language group, while Albanian occupies an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. In municipalities where at least 20% of the population is part of another ethnic minority, those individual languages are used for official purposes in local government, alongside Macedonian and Albanian or just Macedonian.

Macedonian is closely related to and mutually intelligible with standard Bulgarian. It also has some similarities with standard Serbian and the intermediate Torlakian/Shop dialects spoken mostly in southeastern Serbia and western Bulgaria (and by speakers in the northeast of Macedonia). The standard language was codified in the period following World War II and has accumulated a thriving literary tradition.

A wide variety of languages are spoken in Macedonia, reflecting its ethnic diversity. Besides the official national language, Macedonian, and co-official, Albanian, minority languages with substantial numbers of speakers are Turkish (including Balkan Gagauz^[202]), Romani, Serbian/Bosnian and Aromanian (including Megleno-Romanian).^[203]^[204]^[205]^[206]^[207] Macedonian Sign Language is the primary language of those of the deaf community who did not pick up an oral language in childhood.

According to the last census, 1,344,815 North Macedonian citizens declared that they spoke Macedonian, 507,989 declared Albanian, 71,757 Turkish, 38,528 Romani, 24,773 Serbian, 8,560 Bosnian, 6,884 Aromanian and 19,241 spoke other languages.^[1]

Cities

Education

The state university Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje

The higher levels of education can be obtained at one of the five state universities: Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, St. Clement of Ohrid University of Bitola, Goce Delčev University of Štip, State University of Tetovo and University for Information Science and Technology "St. Paul The Apostle" in Ohrid. There are a number of private university institutions, such as the European University,^[208] Slavic University in Sveti Nikole, the South East European University and others.

The United States Agency for International Development has underwritten a project called Macedonia Connects, which has made North Macedonia the first all-broadband wireless country in the world. The Ministry of Education and Sciences reports that 461 schools (primary and secondary) are now connected to the internet.^[209] In addition, an Internet service provider (On.net), has created a MESH Network to provide WIFI services in the 11 largest cities/towns in the country. The national library of Macedonia, National and University Library "St. Kliment of Ohrid", is in Skopje.

The North Macedonian education system consists of:

pre-school education
primary
secondary
higher

Culture

Robevi family house – typical Ottoman architecture widespread in the area

North Macedonia has a rich cultural heritage in art, architecture, poetry, and music. It has many ancient, protected religious sites. Poetry, cinema, and music festivals are held annually. Macedonian music styles developed under the strong influence of Byzantine church music. North Macedonia has a significant number of preserved Byzantine fresco paintings, mainly from the period between the 11th and 16th centuries. There are several thousands square metres of fresco painting preserved, the major part of which is in very good condition and represent masterworks of the Macedonian School of ecclesiastical painting.

The most important cultural events in the country are the Ohrid Summer festival of classical music and drama, the Struga Poetry Evenings which gather poets from more than 50 countries in the world, International Camera Festival in Bitola, Open Youth Theatre and Skopje Jazz Festival in Skopje etc. The Macedonian Opera opened in 1947 with a performance of Cavalleria rusticana under the direction of Branko Pomorisac. Every year, the May Opera Evenings are held in Skopje for around 20 nights. The first May Opera performance was that of Kiril Makedonski's Tsar Samuil in May 1972.^[210]

Cuisine

Tavče Gravče

The country's cuisine is a representative of that of the Balkans—reflecting Mediterranean (Greek) and Middle Eastern (Turkish) influences, and to a lesser extent Italian, German and Eastern European (especially Hungarian) ones.^[211] The relatively warm climate in Macedonia provides excellent growth conditions for a variety of vegetables, herbs and fruits. Thus, Macedonian cuisine is particularly diverse.

Famous for its rich Šopska salad, an appetiser and side dish which accompanies almost every meal, Macedonian cuisine is also noted for the diversity and quality of its dairy products, wines, and local alcoholic beverages, such as rakija. Tavče Gravče and mastika are considered the national dish and drink of North Macedonia, respectively.

Sport

Philip II Arena

Football and handball are the most popular sports in North Macedonia. The national football team is controlled by the Football Federation of Macedonia. Their home stadium is the Philip II Arena.

Macedonia basketball team at a time out during a match with Latvia

Handball is the other important team sport in the country. In 2002 Kometal Skopje won the EHF Women's Champions League European Cup. The European Women's Handball Championship took place in 2008 in North Macedonia. The venues in which the tournament took place were located in Skopje and Ohrid; the national team finished seventh place. North Macedonian clubs enjoyed success in European competitions. RK Vardar won 2016–17 EHF Champions League, while Kometal Gjorče Petrov Skopje won the women's event in 2002.

The Macedonian national basketball team represents North Macedonia in international basketball. The team is run by the Basketball Federation of North Macedonia, the governing body of basketball in North Macedonia which was created in 1992 and joined FIBA in 1993. North Macedonia has participated in three Eurobaskets since then with its best finish at 4th place in 2011. It plays its home games at the Boris Trajkovski Arena in Skopje.

In the summer months The Ohrid Swimming Marathon is an annual event on Lake Ohrid and during the winter months there is skiing in North Macedonia's winter sports centres. North Macedonia also takes part in the Olympic Games. Participation in the Games is organised by the North Macedonian Olympic Committee.^[212]

Cinema

The history of film making in the republic dates back over 110 years.^{[citation needed]} The first film to be produced on the territory of the present-day the country was made in 1895 by Janaki and Milton Manaki in Bitola. Throughout the past century, the medium of film has depicted the history, culture and everyday life of the Macedonian people. Over the years many Macedonian films have been presented at film festivals around the world and several of these films have won prestigious awards. The first Macedonian feature film was Frosina, released in 1952. The first feature film in colour was Miss Stone, a movie about a Protestant missionary in Ottoman Macedonia. It was released in 1958. The highest grossing feature film in the Republic of North Macedonia was Bal-Can-Can, having been seen by over 500,000 people in its first year alone. In 1994 Milco Manchevski's film Before the Rain was nominated as Best Foreign Film. Manchevski continues to be the most prominent modern filmmaker in the country having subsequently written and directed Dust and Shadows.

Media

The oldest newspaper in the country is Nova Makedonija from 1944. Other well known newspaper and magazines are: Utrinski vesnik, Dnevnik, Vest, Fokus, Večer, Tea Moderna, Makedonsko Sonce, and Koha. Public channel is Macedonian Radio-Television founded in 1993 by the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia. TEKO TV (1989) from Štip is the first private television channel in the country. Other popular private channels are: Sitel, Kanal 5, Telma, Alfa TV, and Alsat-M.

Public holidays

The main public holidays in the Republic of North Macedonia are:

Date	English name	Macedonian name	Remarks
1–2 January	New Year	Нова Година, Nova Godina
7 January	Christmas Day (Orthodox)	Прв ден Божик, Prv den Božik
April/May	Good Friday (Orthodox)	Велики Петок, Veliki Petok	Ortodox Easter and other Easter dates do not match; see: List of dates for Easter
April/May	Easter Sunday (Orthodox)	Прв ден Велигден, Prv den Veligden
April/May	Easter Monday (Orthodox)	Втор ден Велигден, Vtor den Veligden
1 May	Labour Day	Ден на трудот, Den na trudot
24 May	Saints Cyril and Methodius Day	Св. Кирил и Методиј, Ден на сèсловенските просветители; Sv. Kiril i Metodij, Den na sèslovenskite prosvetiteli
2 August	Republic Day (Republic of Macedonia)	Ден на Републиката, Den na Republikata	Day when the Republic was established in 1944, also Ilinden uprising in 1903.
8 September	Independence Day (Republic of Macedonia)	Ден на независноста, Den na nezavisnosta	Day of independence from Yugoslavia
11 October	Day of Macedonian Uprising in 1941	Ден на востанието, Den na vostanieto	Beginning of Anti-fascist war during WWII in 1941
23 October	Day of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle (Holiday)	Ден на македонската револуционерна борба,Den na makedonskata revolucionarna borba	Day when the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) was established in 1893.
1 Shawwal	Eid ul-Fitr	Рамазан Бајрам, Ramazan Bajram	moveable, see: Islamic Calendar
8 December	Saint Clement of Ohrid Day	Св. Климент Охридски, Sv. Kliment Ohridski

Besides these, there are several major religious & minorities holidays. (See:Public holidays in the Republic of Macedonia)

International rankings

Organisation	Survey	Ranking
Institute for Economics and Peace	Global Peace Index^[213]	79 out of 162
Reporters Without Borders	Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2013^[214]	116 out of 179
The Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street Journal	Index of Economic Freedom 2013^[215]	43 out of 177
Transparency International	Corruption Perceptions Index 2013^[216]	67 out of 177
United Nations Development Programme	Human Development Index 2013^[217]	78 out of 207
World Bank	Ease of doing business index 2016^[218]	12 out of 189

Notes

^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the Brussels Agreement. Kosovo has been recognised as an independent state by 108 out of 193 United Nations member states.

References

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↑ United Nations, A/RES/47/225, 8 April 1993
↑ United Nations Security Council Resolutions 817 of 7 April and 845 June 18, 1993, see UN resolutions made on 1993
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↑ The Republic of Macedonia – BASIC FACTS, Republic of Macedonia, Ministry of foreign affairs Archived 16 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
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↑ Μακεδονία, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
↑ ^14.0 ^14.1 Macedonia, Online Etymology Dictionary
↑ μακεδνός, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
↑ μακρός, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
↑ Eugene N. Borza, Makedonika, Regina Books, ISBN 0-941690-65-2, p.114: The "highlanders" or "Makedones" of the mountainous regions of western Macedonia are derived from northwest Greek stock; they were akin both to those who at an earlier time may have migrated south to become the historical "Dorians".
↑ Nigel Guy Wilson, Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece, Routledge, 2009, p.439: The latest archaeological findings have confirmed that Macedonia took its name from a tribe of tall, Greek-speaking people, the Makednoi.
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↑ Strabo, Geography, Book 7, Frg. 4:
↑ Bauer, Susan Wise: The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome (2007), ISBN 0-393-05974-X, page 518: "...to the north, Thracian tribes known collectively as the Paeonians."
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↑ The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 3, Part 3: The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman and N. G. L. Hammond,1982,ISBN 0-521-23447-6, page 284
↑ Howe & Reames 2008, p. 239.
↑ Roisman & Worthington 2011, pp. 135–138, 342–345.
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↑ Warfare in the ancient world: from the Bronze Age to the fall of Rome. By Stefan G. Chrissanthos, page 75
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↑ Macedonia yesterday and today Author Giorgio Nurigiani, Publisher Teleurope, 1967 p. 77.
↑ A Companion to Ancient Macedonia, By Joseph Roisman and Ian Worthington, page 549
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↑ A. F. Christidis, A History of Ancient Greek: From the Beginnings to Late Antiquity, Cambridge University Press, 2007, p.351: "Despite Roman domination, there was no retreat on the part of Greek tradition in the eastern part of the empire, and only in Macedonia did Latin spread in some extent".
↑ "Acta Sancti Demetrii", V 195–207, Гръцки извори за българската история, 3, стр. 159–166
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↑ Encyclopædia Britannica – Rumelia at Encyclopædia Britannica.com
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↑ There was even an attempt to form a kind of revolutionary government led by the socialist Nikola Karev. The Krushevo manifesto was declared, assuring the population that the uprising was against the Sultan and not against Muslims in general, and that all peoples would be included. As the population of Krushevo was two-thirds hellenised Vlachs and Patriarchist Slavs, this was a wise move. Despite these promises, the insurgent flew Bulgarian flags everywhere and in many places the uprising did entail attacks on Muslim Turks and Albanians who themselves organised for self-defence." Who are the Macedonians? Hugh Poulton, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 1995, ISBN 1850652384, p. 57.
↑ In fact Macedonian historians as Blaze Ristovski have recognized, that the "government" of the "republic", nowadays a symbol of Macedonian statehood, was actually composed of people who identified themselves as "Greeks", "Vlachs" and "Bulgarians". "We, the People: Politics of National Peculiarity in Southeastern Europe" Diana Mishkova, Central European University Press, 2009, ISBN 9639776289, p. 124.
↑ "The IMARO activists saw the future autonomous Macedonia as a multinational polity, and did not pursue the self-determination of Macedonian Slavs as a separate ethnicity. Therefore, Macedonian was an umbrella term covering Bulgarians, Turks, Greeks, Vlachs, Albanians, Serbs, Jews, and so on." Historical Dictionary of Macedonia, Historical Dictionaries of Europe, Dimitar Bechev, Scarecrow Press, 2009, ISBN 0810862956, Introduction.
↑ The political and military leaders of the Slavs of Macedonia at the turn of the century seem not to have heard the call for a separate Macedonian national identity; they continued to identify themselves in a national sense as Bulgarians rather than Macedonians.[...] (They) never seem to have doubted "the predominantly Bulgarian character of the population of Macedonia". "The Macedonian conflict: ethnic nationalism in a transnational world", Princeton University Press, Danforth, Loring M. 1997, ISBN 0691043566, p. 64.
↑ Nicolle 2008, p. 162
↑ ^64.0 ^64.1 ^64.2 ^64.3 ^64.4 ^64.5 ^64.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ "Kraljevina Jugoslavija! Novi naziv naše države. No, mi smo itak med seboj vedno dejali Jugoslavija, četudi je bilo na vseh uradnih listih Kraljevina Srbov, Hrvatov in Slovencev. In tudi drugi narodi, kakor Nemci in Francozi, so pisali že prej v svojih listih mnogo o Jugoslaviji. 3. oktobra, ko je kralj Aleksander podpisal "Zakon o nazivu in razdelitvi kraljevine na upravna območja", pa je bil naslov kraljevine Srbov, Hrvatov in Slovencev za vedno izbrisan." (Naš rod ("Our Generation", a monthly Slovenian language periodical), Ljubljana 1929/30, št. 1, str. 22, letnik I.)
↑ Dejan Djokić, Yugoslavism: histories of a failed idea, 1918–1992, p. 123, at Google Books
↑ R. J. Crampton, Eastern Europe in the twentieth century—and after, p. 20, at Google Books
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↑ War of words: Washington tackles the Yugoslav conflict, p. 43, at Google Books
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↑ Gerginov, Kr., Bilyarski, Ts. Unpublished documents for Todor Alexandrov's activities 1910–1919, magazine VIS, book 2, 1987, p.214 – Гергинов, Кр. Билярски, Ц. Непубликувани документи за дейността на Тодор Александров 1910–1919, сп. ВИС, кн. 2 от 1987, с. 214.
↑ Victor Roudometof, Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian Question, Praeger, 2002 p.100
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↑ Duncan Perry, "The Republic of Macedonia: finding its way" in Karen Dawisha and Bruce Parrot (eds.), Politics, power and the struggle for Democracy in South-Eastern Europe, Cambridge University Press, 1997, pp. 228–229.
↑ Bulgarian Campaign Committees in Macedonia – 1941 Dimitre Mičev
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↑ ^78.0 ^78.1 Historical dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia, Valentina Georgieva, Sasha Konechni, Scarecrow Press, 1998, ISBN 0-8108-3336-0, p. 223.
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↑ Bulgaria managed to save its entire 48,000-strong Jewish population during World War II from deportation to Nazi concentration camps, but under German pressure those Jews from their newly annexed territories without Bulgarian citizenship were deported, such as those from Vardar Macedonia and Western Thrace. The Holocaust in Macedonia: Deportation of Monastir Jewry United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
↑ Mark Cohen, The Holocaust in Macedonia: Deportation of Monastir Jewry, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
↑ This policy changed after 1943 with the arrival of Tito's envoy Montenegrin Serb Svetozar Vukmanović-Tempo. He began in earnest to organise armed resistance to the Bulgarian rule and sharply criticised Sharlo's pro-Bulgarian policy. At a meeting of the partisan brigades, as well as a group of battalions in the Resen region on 21 December 1943, Tempo makes the following comments about Shatorov and the leadership of the MCP: "They thought that the Macedonian people were Bulgarians and that they were oppressed by the hegemony of Great Serbia and had to be transferred to Bulgaria. Their basic slogan is: 'All non-Macedonians out of Macedonia'. The capital J [Serbo-Croatian spelling of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavian, etc.] was deleted from all documents. In fact they did not want Yugoslavia, no matter where it stood politically. When the war started, the initial decision of this leadership was to be separate from Yugoslavia and from Tito. They declared that Macedonia would be free as soon as the Bulgarians came...."
↑ "НОБ на Македонија" Јован Поповски. Скопје, 1962
↑ "Историја на Македонскиот Народ" Александар Стојановски, Иван Катарџиев, Данчо Зографски. Скопје, 1988
↑ History of Bulgaria, Petar Delev et al., 2001, p.364
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↑ Мичев, Добрин. Партизанското движение във Вардарска Македония, 1941–1944 г. сп. Македонски преглед, кн. 2, стр. 5–40.
↑ Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, 1974 – Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia (Macedonian)
↑ Устав Федеративне Народне Републике Југославије (1946), sr.wikisource.org, retrieved on 19 October 2007. (Serbo-Croatian)
↑ Устав Социјалистичке Федеративне Републике Југославије (1963), sr.wikisource.org, retrieved on 19 October 2007. (Serbo-Croatian)
↑ Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1278 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
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↑ Schmidt, J. (1912) Danish researches in the Atlantic and Mediterranean on the life-history of the Fresh-water Eel (Anguilla vulgaris, Turt.). Internationale Revue der gesamten Hydrobiologie und Hydrographie 5: 317–342.
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↑ ^133.0 ^133.1 ^133.2 Fédération Cynologique Internationale: Official FCI-Standard N° 41, Published 24 November 1970. – Retrieved on 14 February 2015.
↑ ^134.0 ^134.1 The breed was initially standardised by the Yugoslavian Federation of Cynology (Jugoslovenski kinološki savez, JKS) and recognised as a Yugoslav breed with two types by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) in 1939 under the designation Ilirski ovčar (Illyrian Shepherd Dog), FCI-Standard N° 41. Kraški ovčar and Šarplaninac were considered Type A and B of the breed. In 1957, the General Assembly of the F.C.I. accepted a motion proposed by the Yugoslavian Federation of Cynology to change the name of the breed to Jugoslovenski ovčarski pas Šarplaninac (Yugoslavian Shepherd Dog Sharplanina), and this is the official name of the breed. After the collapse of Yugoslavia, Macedonia and Serbia were recognised as the countries of origin. In 1968, type B was recognised as a separate breed under the designation Kraški ovčar (Karst Shepherd Dog), FCI-Standard N° 278.
↑ ^135.0 ^135.1 United Kennel Club: Official U.K.C. Breed Standard Archived 2 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Revised 1 July 2009. – Retrieved on 30 March 2010.
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↑ National Command Management Archived 4 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine
↑ Floudas, Demetrius Andreas; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ FYROM Name Issue, Hellenic Republic – Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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↑ "Naming the solution", Kathimerini English edition, 16 September 2005
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↑ ^166.0 ^166.1 Ghosts of the past endanger Macedonia's future. Boris Georgievski, BalkanInsight, 27 October 2009 [1].
↑ Greece slates Skopje's provocative Alexander statue Sinisa Jakov Marusic, Balkan Insight, 15 June 2011 [2]
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↑ State Statistical Office Active population – Unemployment data
↑ State Statistical Office Gross domestic product 2013
↑ State Statistical Office External trade volume 2014
↑ Gallup Balkan Monitor, 2010 Archived 27 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine
↑ The 2006 CIA Factbook CIA Factbook Macedonia
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↑ "Investment in Government, Finance, and Telecom Sectors Makes Macedonia's IT Market the Fastest Growing in the Adriatic Region, Says IDC", IDC (global provider of market intelligence)
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↑ [3] UNDP's Regional Bureau for Europe Archived 25 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
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↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Bibliography

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Official website
Macedonia entry at The World Factbook
Macedonia from UCB Libraries GovPubs
North Macedonia at DMOZ
Macedonia from the BBC News
Wikimedia Atlas of the Republic of Macedonia
North Macedonia travel guide from Wikivoyage
Geographic data related to North Macedonia at OpenStreetMap
Key Development Forecasts for the Republic of Macedonia from International Futures

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