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| Official languages | Macedonian | ||||
| Capital | Skopje | ||||
| President | Branko Crvenkovski | ||||
| Prime Minister | Vlado Bučkovski | ||||
| Area – Total – % water |
Ranked 146th 25,333 km² 1.9% | ||||
| Population – Total (2005 est.) – Density |
Ranked 140th 2,045,262 81/km² | ||||
| HDI (2003) | 0.797 (59th) – medium | ||||
| Independence | 8 September 1991 | ||||
| Currency | Macedonian Denar (MKD) | ||||
| Time zone – in summer |
CET (UTC+1) CEST (UTC+2) | ||||
| National anthem | Денес Над Македонија (Denes Nad Makedonija: Today Over Macedonia) | ||||
| Internet TLD | .mk | ||||
| Calling Code | 389 | ||||
| All the languages of the ethnic communities with over 20% of representation in municipalities are municipal official languages. These include Albanian, Turkish, Serbian, and Romany | |||||
The Republic of Macedonia (Macedonian: Република Македонија), or Macedonia, is an independent state on the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. The lands governed by the Republic of Macedonia were previously the southernmost part of Yugoslavia. Its current borders were fixed shortly after World War II when the government of Yugoslavia established the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, recognizing the Macedonians as a separate nation within Yugoslavia. Renamed as the Republic of Macedonia in 1991, it was the only Yugoslav republic to secede peacefully from the federation. A few very minor changes to its border with Serbia were agreed to resolve problems with the demarcation line between the two countries. Its history since independence has been troubled, having experienced severe economic difficulties and violent clashes between its two main ethnic groups. However, significant progress made in the last few years has resulted in the republic becoming a candidate for joining the European Union and NATO.
The Republic of Macedonia is often called a land of lakes and mountains. There are more than 50 natural and artificial lakes and sixteen mountain ranges higher than 2000 metres above sea level. The country borders Serbia and Montenegro to the north, Albania to the west, Greece to the south, and Bulgaria to the east. The capital is Skopje with more than 600,000 inhabitants. It has a number of smaller cities, notably Bitola, Prilep, Tetovo, Kumanovo, Ohrid, Veles, Stip and Strumica.
History
Main article: History of the Republic of Macedonia
The lands governed by today’s Republic of Macedonia were part of a number of ancient states and former empires; Paionia, the kingdom of ancient Macedon (which gave its name to the whole Macedonian region), the Roman and Byzantine empires, and the medieval Bulgarian and Serbian states. In the 14th century the region was conquered by the Ottoman Empire.
Following the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913 and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the wider region of Macedonia was divided between Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia. The territory of the present-day Republic of Macedonia was then known as Južna Srbija, "Southern Serbia", but had no separate or autonomous identity at the time. After the First World War Serbia joined the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. In 1929, the kingdom was officially renamed Yugoslavia and divided into provinces called "banovinas" or banates. Southern Serbia became a part of Banate of Vardar (Vardarska Banovina).
In 1941, Yugoslavia was occupied by the Axis Powers and the Banate of Vardar was divided between its neighbors, Bulgaria and Italian-occupied Albania. Harsh rule by the occupying forces encouraged many Macedonians to support the Communist Partisan resistance movement of Josip Broz Tito. After the end of the Second World War, when Tito became Yugoslavia's president, the People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was established. The People's Republic of Macedonia became one of the six republics of the Yugoslav federation. Following the federation's renaming to Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1963, the People's Republic of Macedonia was likewise renamed as the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. It dropped the "Socialist" from its name in 1991 when it peacefully seceded from Yugoslavia.
The Republic of Macedonia remained at peace through the Yugoslav wars of the early 1990s but was destabilized by the Kosovo War in 1999, when an estimated 360,000 ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo took refuge in the country. They returned quickly following the war but soon after, Albanian radicals on both sides of the border took up arms in pursuit of autonomy or independence for the Albanian-populated areas of the Republic. A short war was fought between government and ethnic Albanian rebels, mostly in the north and west of the country, in March-June 2001. It ended with the intervention of a NATO ceasefire monitoring force and the government promising to devolve greater political power and cultural recognition to the Albanian minority.
Politics
Main article: Politics of the Republic of Macedonia
The Republic of 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 role of the President of the Republic is mostly ceremonial, with the real power resting in the hands of the President of the Government of Macedonia.
With the passage of a new law and elections held in 2005, local government functions are divided between 78 municipalities (opštini, singular - opština). The capital, Skopje, is governed as a group of ten municipalities collectively referred to as "the City of Skopje".
The country's main political divergence is between the largely ethnically-based political parties representing the country's 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, the Republic's parliament passed legislation redrawing local boundaries and giving greater local autonomy to ethnic Albanians in areas where they predominate.
- See also: Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia
International relations
Main article: Foreign relations of the Republic of Macedonia
The Republic of Macedonia is a member of a number of international organisations such as the United Nations and Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is seeking to join NATO and the European Union, although its accession to either is unlikely to occur before 2008 and 2012, respectively. In December 2005, the leaders of the EU formally named it as a candidate country but did not set a date for starting entry talks.
The United States Agency for International Development has underwritten a project called Macedonia Connects which has made the Republic of Macedonia the first all broadband wireless country its size or larger in the world. The Ministry of Education and Sciences reports that 461 schools (primary and secondary) are now connected to the internet. In addition, the Internet Service Provider named On.net has created a MESH Network to provide WIFI services in the 11 largest cities/towns in Macedonia.
Naming dispute
Since its independence, in 1991, the newly founded Republic of Macedonia has been commonly referred to as Macedonia, but the name is also used to designate the wider geographical region of Macedonia of which the northern Greek province of Macedonia is the best known. Due to a dispute between the governments of the Republic of Macedonia and Greece over the name, the United Nations agreed to refer to the country as "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (FYROM) (Macedonian: Поранешна Југословенска Република Македонија (ПЈРМ)). Many international organizations adopted the same convention, including the European Union, the European Broadcasting Union, NATO, and the International Olympic Committee, among others.
Nonetheless, this situation has not prevented Greece and the Republic of Macedonia engaging in military and security co-operation, cross-border investments, and cultural exchanges. The November 2005 EC report (see above for link) states that, "Relations with Greece have improved in the last few years. Greece is the most important investor in the country (57% of the total foreign investments) and trade has been constantly increasing."
Geography
Main article: Geography of the Republic of Macedonia
The Republic of Macedonia encompasses only a part of the wider geographical region of Macedonia. The remainder is divided between neighboring Greece (with about half of the total), Bulgaria (with under a tenth), and Albania.
The terrain is mostly rugged, located between the Šar and Rhodope mountains around the valley of the Vardar river. Three large lakes - Lake Ohrid, Lake Prespa and Lake Doiran - lie on the southern borders of the Republic, bisected by the frontiers with Albania and Greece. 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.
The Republic of Macedonia also has beautiful mountains. They are divided into two basic groups: Dinarska and Rodopska. The mountains belonging to the Dinarska group are older mountains, gradually eroded and the mountains belonging to the Rodopska group are younger mountains with rugged, alpine beauty. Ten highest mountains in the Republic of Macedonia are:
- Mount Korab (2764 m)
- Sar Mountain (2747 m)
- Baba Mountain (2601 m)
- Jakupica (2540 m)
- Nidze (2521 m)
- Deshat (2373 m)
- Krchin (2341 m)
- Galichica (2288 m)
- Stogovo (2273 m)
- Jablanica (2257 m)
The Republic's biggest city by far is Skopje, the capital, with an estimated 600,000 inhabitants. After Skopje, the largest cities are Bitola, Kumanovo, Prilep, and Tetovo, with populations ranging from about 50,000 to 120,000 people.
- See also: List of cities in the Republic of Macedonia
- See also: Mountains of the Republic of Macedonia
Economy
Main article: Economy of the Republic of Macedonia
Today the Republic of Macedonia is considered a country with an intermediary-developed industry, with continuing growth of the industrial production. The process of transition in the country economy was triggered in 1995. The Republic of Macedonia has arrangements with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank
The Republic was the poorest republic of the former Yugoslavia (and the next poorest federal entity after the autonomous region of Kosovo), producing only 5% of the total federal output of goods and services. 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.
The outbreak of the Yugoslav wars and the imposition of sanctions on Serbia and Montenegro caused great damage to the Republic's economy, with Serbia constituting 60% of its markets prior to the disintegration of Yugoslavia. Matters worsened when Greece imposed a trade embargo on the Republic between 1994-1995. 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 destabilization.
The Macedonian economy has since made a sluggish recovery, though the extent of unemployment, the grey market, corruption and a relatively feeble legal system continue to cause significant problems and a low growth rate. Today the 30% of the country's industry consist of Greek corporations. The Republic still has one of the lowest per capita GDPs in Europe. However the past few years saw a significant rise in the economy and with the recent candidacy for the EU, the country should be making rapid progress
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of the Republic of Macedonia
Ethnicities
The Republic of Macedonia is an ethnically diverse country. About 70% of its population - some 1.3 million people - are Macedonians, people of dominantly Slavic origin; their ethnic identity is disputed in name by Greece and in affiliation by Bulgaria. Of the remainder, the Albanians constitute the single largest minority group, numbering about 20% of the population; they are concentrated mostly in the western and northwestern part of the country. Smaller minorities include Turks (78,000 or 3.9%), Roma (54,000 or 2.7%) and Serbs (36,000 or 1.8%). Several other minorities also exist, including Aromanians, Bosniaks, Macedonian Muslims, Croats, Egyptians, Bulgarians, Greeks, and several others, they account for less than 3% of the population of the country. The Macedonian national census registers all the ethnic groups, but the smaller ones are not enumerated separately in the final report of the census.
Languages
A wide variety of languages are spoken in the Republic of Macedonia, reflecting its ethnic diversity. The official and most widely spoken language is Macedonian. Other languages – including Albanian, Turkish, Serbian, Aromanian, Greek, Romany and Megleno-Romanian – are spoken roughly in proportion with their associated ethnic groups.
Although Macedonian is the country's official national language, in municipalities where at least 20% of the population is from other ethnic minorities their individual languages are used for official purposes in local government. The languages of the minorities, for example the Albanian language, can also be used in the national parliament and other national level institutions.
Religion
The majority of the population belongs to the Macedonian Orthodox Church (52.4%). Muslims comprise 29% of the population and other Christian denominations comprise 0.2%. The remainder is recorded as "unspecified" in the 2002 national census. Most of the native Albanians, Turks and Bosniaks are Muslims, as are a small percentage of the country's ethnic Macedonian population, known as Macedonian Muslims.
Culture
Main article: Macedonian Culture The Republic of 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. Macedonia is among the countries with the most beautiful preserved Byzantine fresco painting, 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. In Macedonia the past meets the present. Its age-old architecture and monasteries and churches of exquisite beauty make an interesting contrast to the super modern new architecture. Most of the Macedonian monasteries, built in various periods, and particularly those built between the 11th and 15th -16th centuries, have been completely preserved until today. The Macedonian collection of icons, and in particular the Ohrid one, is among the most valuable collections in the world today. After the Sinai and the Moscow collection of icons, it is third in importance in Orthodoxy. From a Byzantological aspect, it is unique.
See also
- Communications in the Republic of Macedonia
- Foreign relations of the Republic of Macedonia
- Military of the Republic of Macedonia
- Transportation in the Republic of Macedonia
- List of Macedonians (ethnic group)
- Music of the Republic of Macedonia
- Public holidays in the Republic of Macedonia
External links
Official government sites
- Assembly of Republic of Macedonia
- Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Resource Management
- Ministry of Culture
- Ministry of Defense
- Ministry of Economy
- Ministry of Education and Science
- Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning
- Ministry of Finance
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Ministry of Health
- Ministry of Labor and Social Policy
- Ministry of Local Self-Government
- Ministry of Transport and Communications
- Official Government website
- President of Republic of Macedonia
- State Electoral Commission Republic of Macedonia
Other, unofficial web sites
- The first webpage dedicated to the Republic of Macedonia has general information about the country
- Macedonia Becomes First All Wireless Country
- Republic of Macedonia and the Balkans Discussion Forum
- A website with general information about the state
- macedonia :: general information
- "Interim Accord between the Hellenic Republic and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", United Nations, 13 September 1995
- Macedonia Competitiveness Activity
- Macedonian Discussions
- Detailed Profile of Macedonia from the Encyclopedia of Nations
- Macedonian Heritage FAQ from the Greek perspective
- A collection of articles which argues against the Greek definition of Macedonia
- a Macedonian search engine
- Macedonian search engine, indexing Macedonian and English-language content
- News from Macedonia
- News Portal, latest news from Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo
- Organization for the European Minorities' reports on Macedonia
- Photos of Macedonia
- UNGA Resolution about the use of the provisional reference
- Discussion Forum for albanians from Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro (English/Albanian)
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