Macedonia

Facts & Figures

Map of Macedonia

President: Gjorge Ivanov (2009)

Prime Minister: Nikola Gruevski (2006)

Land area: 9,928 sq mi (25,173 sq km); total area: 9,781 sq mi (25,333 sq km)

Population (2010 est.): 2,072,086 (growth rate: 0.2%); birth rate: 11.9/1000; infant mortality rate: 8.7/1000; life expectancy: 74.9; density per sq km: 82

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

More Facts & Figures

Index

Macedonia Main Page
The Yugoslavian Federation
Establishing Independence
Tensions Rise Between Albanians and Macedonians

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2009 est.): $18.77 billion; per capita $9,000. Real growth rate: –1.5%. Inflation: –0.8%. Unemployment: 31.7%. 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: $3.03 billion (2009 est.):food, beverages, tobacco; miscellaneous manufactures, iron and steel. Imports: $4.94 billion (2009 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).

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.