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Travel to Macedonia — Unbiased reviews and great
deals from TripAdvisorMacedonia
| Republic of Macedonia1 National Name: Republika Makedonija President: Branko Crvenkovski (2004) Prime Minister: Nikola Gruevski
(2006)
Current government officials
Land area: 9,928 sq mi (25,173 sq km);
total area: 9,781 sq mi (25,333 sq km) Population (2007 est.): 2,055,915 (growth
rate: 0.3%); birth rate: 12.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 9.5/1000;
life expectancy: 74.2; density per sq mi: 207
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Skopje, 587,300 (metro. area), 452,500 (city
proper) Other large cities:
Bitola, 84,400; Kumanovo, 78,900; Prilep, 56,900 Monetary unit: Denar
Languages:
Macedonian 67%, Albanian 25% (both official);
Turkish 4%, Roma 2%, Serbian 1% (2002)
Ethnicity/race:
Macedonian 64.2%, Albanian 25.2%, Turkish 3.8%,
Roma (Gypsy) 2.7%, Serb 1.8%, other 2.2% (2002)
Religions:
Macedonian Orthodox 32%, Islam 17% (2002) Literacy rate: 96% (2002
est.) Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.):
$17.35 billion; per capita $8,500. Real growth rate: 5%.
Inflation: 2.3%. Unemployment: 35%. Arable land:
22%. Agriculture: grapes, wine, tobacco, vegetables; milk,
eggs. Labor force: 855,000 (2004 est.); agriculture n.a.,
industry n.a., services n.a. Industries: food processing,
beverages, textiles, chemicals, steel, cement, energy,
pharmaceuticals. Natural resources: low-grade iron ore, copper,
lead, zinc, chromite, manganese, nickel, tungsten, gold, silver,
asbestos, gypsum, timber, arable land. Exports: $2.047 billion
f.o.b. (2005 est.):food, beverages, tobacco; miscellaneous
manufactures, iron and steel. Imports: $3.196 billion f.o.b.
(2005 est.): machinery and equipment, automobiles, chemicals, fuels,
food products. Major trading partners: Serbia and Montenegro,
Germany, Italy, Greece, Croatia, U.S., Slovenia, Bulgaria, Italy,
Turkey, Romania (2004). Communications:
Telephones: main lines in use: 408,000 (1997); mobile cellular:
12,362 (1997). Radio broadcast stations: AM 29, FM 20,
shortwave 0 (1998). Radios: 410,000 (1997). Television
broadcast stations: 31 (plus 166 repeaters) (1995).
Televisions: 510,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers
(ISPs): 6 (2000). Internet users: 100,000 (2001). Transportation: Railways: total: 699 km
(2002). Highways: total: 8,684 km; paved: 5,540 km (including
133 km of expressways); unpaved: 3,144 km (1999 est.).
Waterways: none, lake transport only. Ports and harbors:
none. Airports: 18 (2002). International disputes: the Albanian
government calls for the protection of the rights of ethnic Albanians
in F.Y.R.O.M. while continuing to seek regional cooperation; ethnic
Albanians in Kosovo continue to protest 2000 F.Y.R.O.M.-Serbia and
Montenegro boundary treaty, which transfers small tracts of land to
F.Y.R.O.M.; dispute with Greece over country's name persists. 1. The UN recognized the Republic of
Macedonia on April 8, 1993, under the temporary name the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The U.S. recognized Macedonia as a
state in Feb. 1994.
Major sources and definitions
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Geography
Macedonia is a landlocked state in the heart of the Balkans and is
slightly smaller than the state of Vermont. It is a mountainous country
with small basins of agricultural land. The Vardar is the largest and most
important river.
Government
Parliamentary democracy.
History
The Republic of Macedonia occupies the western half of the ancient
Kingdom of Macedonia. Historic Macedonia was defeated by Rome and became a
Roman province in 148 B.C. After the Roman
Empire was divided in A.D. 395, Macedonia was
intermittently ruled by the Byzantine Empire until Turkey took possession
of the land in 1371. The Ottoman Turks dominated Macedonia for the next
five centuries, until 1913. During the 19th and 20th centuries, there was
a constant struggle by the Balkan powers to possess Macedonia for its
economic wealth and its strategic military corridors. The Treaty of San
Stefano in 1878, ending the Russo-Turkish War, gave the largest part of
Macedonia to Bulgaria. Bulgaria lost much of its Macedonian territory when
it was defeated by the Greeks and Serbs in the Second Balkan War of 1913.
Most of Macedonia went to Serbia and the remainder was divided among
Greece and Bulgaria.
In 1918, Serbia, which included much of Macedonia, joined in union with
Croatia, Slovenia, and Montenegro to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats,
and Slovenes, which was renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. Bulgaria joined the
Axis powers in World War II and occupied parts of Yugoslavia, including
Macedonia, in 1941. During the occupation of their country, Macedonian
resistance fighters fought a guerrilla war against the invading troops.
The Yugoslavian federation was reestablished after the defeat of Germany
in 1945, and in 1946, the government removed the Vardar territory of
Macedonia from Serbian control and made it an autonomous Yugoslavian
republic. Later, when President Tito recognized the Macedonian people as a
separate nation, Macedonia's distinct culture and language were able to
flourish, no longer suppressed by outside rule.
On Sept. 8, 1991, Macedonia declared its independence from Yugoslavia
and asked for recognition from the European Union nations. It became a
member of the UN in 1993 under the provisional name of the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) because Greece vociferously protested
Macedonia's right to the name, which is also the name of a large northern
province of Greece. To Greece, the use of the name implies Macedonia's
interest in territorial expansion into the Greek province. Greece has
imposed two trade embargoes against the country as a result.
Tensions between ethnic Albanians and Macedonians continued to rise
during the Kosovo crisis, during which more than 140,000 refugees streamed
into the country from neighboring Kosovo. Most of the refugees returned to
Kosovo in 2000.
The long-simmering resentment of Macedonia's ethnic Albanians erupted
into violence in March 2001, prompting the government to send troops into
the heavily Albanian western section of the country. The rebels sought
greater autonomy within Macedonia. In Aug. 2001, after six months of
fighting, the rebels and the Macedonian government signed a peace
agreement that allowed a British-led NATO force to enter the country and
disarm the guerrillas. In Nov. 2001, Macedonia's parliament agreed to
constitutional amendments giving broader rights to its Albanian minority.
Albanian became one of the country's two official languages.
In Sept. 2002 elections, a center-left coalition ousted the governing
coalition, which had been embroiled in previous years' guerrilla
insurgency. Branko Crvenkovski of the Together for Macedonia coalition
became the new prime minister. In Feb. 2004, President Boris Trajkovski
was killed in a plane crash. Prime Minister Crvenkovski was then elected
president; three prime ministers have served under him. In August 2004,
parliament approved legislation redrawing internal borders and giving
ethnic Albanians more local autonomy in regions where Albanians
predominate.
On June 1, 2008, one person died and nine people were wounded when
violence erupted between two ethnic Albanian groups, the Democratic Union
for Integration and the Democratic Party of Albanians, during
parliamentary elections. At least 17 polling stations suspended voting due
to intimidation, violence, and missing ballot boxes and voting materials.
The election interruption further impeded Macedonia's chance of becoming a
European Union member.
Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, of the coalition "For a Better
Macedonia" party, won parliamentary elections on June 1, 2008, with 48% of
the vote. The Democratic Union for Integration and the Democratic Party of
Albanians took 11% and 10% of the vote, respectively.
See also Encyclopedia: Macedonia
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Macedonia
State Statistical Office
http://www.stat.gov.mk/english/index_eng.htm .
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education,
Inc. All rights reserved.
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