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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 (2008 est.): 2,061,315 (growth
rate: 0.2%); birth rate: 12.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 9.2/1000;
life expectancy: 74.4; 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
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)
National Holiday:
Ilinden Uprising Day, August 2 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, © 2008 Pearson
Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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