Republic Of Macedonia

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Includes information on the arts, food, history, politics, ... The Republic of Macedonia is a Southeast European country, north of Greece and west of Bulgaria. ...
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(Skopje, Republic of Macedonia; June 7, 1995) ... In 1994, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia became a member of FIFA and ...
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Macedonia Country, Balkan Peninsula , southeastern Europe. Area: 9,928 sq mi (25, ... Macedonia once again became a republic of Yugoslavia in 1946. ...
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{{Infobox Country or territory|native_name = |conventional_long_name = Republic of Macedonia|common_name = the Republic of Macedonia|image_flag = Flag of Macedonia.svg|image_coat = Republic-of-Macedonia-coat-of-arms.svg|image_map = Europe location MKD.png|map_caption = |national_anthem = (Macedonian language)"Today over Macedonia"|national motto = (Macedonian)"Freedom or death"||official_languages = Macedonian language, Albanian language1|demonym = Macedonian|capital = Skopje [republic|leader_title2 = [Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia|leader_name1 = Branko Crvenkovski|area_rank = 148th|area_magnitude = 1 E10|area_km2 = 25,333|area_sq_mi = 9,779 -->|population_density_rank = 111th|GDP_PPP_year = 2006|GDP_PPP = $16.94 billion|GDP_PPP_rank = 121st|GDP_PPP_per_capita = $7,645|GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 80th|sovereignty_type = History of the Republic of Macedonia#1990s|sovereignty_note = from Yugoslavia [1991|currency_code = MKD|country_code =|time_zone = [Central European Time|utc_offset = +1|time_zone_DST = Central European Summer Time|utc_offset_DST = +2|cctld = .mk is designated as the primary official language. As of June 2002, any language spoken by at least 20% of the population is also an official language. At present, only [Albanian language fulfills this requirement, but it can only be used as prescribed by law (e.g., issuing official documents, when communicating with government offices, in municipal self-government) and always in addition to Cyrillic alphabet Macedonian. In communities where over 20% of the population speak another language, that language can be used as a municipal official language along with Macedonian and any other official languages; such languages include Turkish language, Serbian language, Romany language and Aromanian language.-->

The Republic of Macedonia (, , Britannica, Macedonia, Retrieved on 2007-06-18.) , often referred to as Macedonia, is a landlocked country on the Balkans in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Serbia to the north, Albania to the west, Greece to the south, and Bulgaria to the east. It was admitted to the United Nations in 1993; however, the UN and many other international institutions and countries use the provisional reference the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M.), pending resolution of a Macedonia naming dispute. United Nations Resolution 225 (1993)

The capital is Skopje, with 500,000 inhabitants, and there are a number of smaller cities, notably Bitola, Kumanovo, Prilep, Tetovo, Ohrid, Veles (city), Štip, Kočani, Gostivar and Strumica. It has more than 50 natural and artificial lakes and sixteen mountains higher than 2,000 meters (6,550 ) above sea level.

The country is a member of the United Nations and the Council of Europe and a member of La Francophonie, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Since December 2005 it is also a candidate for joining the European Union and has applied for NATO membership.

History The lands governed by the Republic of Macedonia were previously the southernmost part of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. Its current borders were fixed shortly after World War II when the government of the then People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia established the People's Republic of Macedonia, recognizing the region as a separate nation within Yugoslavia.

The territory which forms today the Republic of Macedonia previously came under a number of different states and former empires. The first recorded state on the territory was the Thraco-Illyrian kingdom of Paionia. Parts of the territory passed to the successive rule of: ancient Macedon (originally centered in today's Greek Macedonia) www.cs.indiana.edu, the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Bulgarian Empires, the Serbian Empire and the Ottoman Empire., town in ancient Macedon mosaic from Heraclea Lyncestis - near BitolaIn the late 6th century AD, Byzantine control over the area disintegrated, and the region was invaded by a succession of Sclaveni tribes from the north, pushing out some existing populations, while many others were assimilated. These included Greek, Latin, Illyrian and Thracian-speaking inhabitants in the regions of today's Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria. The Slavic invaders of Byzantine Macedonia organized themselves in autonomous rural societies called by the Greeks Scaviniai. They laid various sieges to Byzantine lands, conquering virtually all of Greece except for some major cities such as Thessaloniki and Athens. They continued to occupy the entire Balkans, including all of Macedonia, Thrace, Moesia, and even most of Greece properSoutheastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1250 - Florin Curta. The Byzantine emporers would aim to Hellenize and incorporate the Skavinai into the socio-economic rule of Byzantium. While Byzantine achieved this with the slavs of the Thracian theme, the emporers had to resort to military expeditions to pacify the Skavinai of Macedonia, often repeatedly. These expeditions reached their peak with Justinian II, who is said to have removed as many as 200,000 from Macedonia to central Anatolia, forcing them to pay tribute and serve in the imperial army . Whilst many of the slavs in Macedonia had to acknowledge Byzantine authority, the majority remained ethnically independent, and continued to form the demographic majority in the region as a whole. With the growth of the First Bulgarian Empire, all these regions and their people were incorporated into the empire, cementing the slavic character of the entire region.

The Slavic tribes in today's region of Republic of Macedonia (then part of the medieval state of Bulgaria) accepted Christianity as their own religion around the 9th century, during the reign of prince Boris I of Bulgaria. The creators of the Glagolitic alphabet, the Byzantine Greeks monks Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius, under the guidance of the Patriarchate at Constantinople, were promoters of Christianity and initiated Slavic literacy among the Slavic people. They were based in Thessaloniki, where slavic was spoken universally as a second language after Greek. Their work was accepted in early medieval Bulgaria and continued by St. Clement of Ohrid, creator of Cyrillic alphabet and St. Naum of Ohrid as founders of the Ohrid Literary School.

The Byzantines resumed full control of the Balkans by the early 11th century, but by the late 12th century Byzantine decline brought about the birth of the Second Bulgarian Empire. The empire soon met with political difficulties, and the wider geographical Macedonia (region) region fell once again under Byzantine control. In the 14th century, it became part of the Serbian Empire, who saw themselves as liberators of slavic kin from the despotism of Byzantine, and culture and Christianity flourished once again. Skopje became the capital of Czar Stefan Dusan's empire.

However, with his death, his weak successor and power struggles between nobles divided the Balkans once again. This tragically coincided with the entry of the Ottoman Empire into Europe. With no major Balkan power left to defend Christianity, the entire Balkans fell to Turkish rule, which would remain so for five centuries.

Byzantine Empire Fortress behind a war monument in the historic part of Skopje.Ottoman rule over the region was considered harsh. One of the earliest uprisings against Ottoman rule came in 1689 with Karposh's Rebellion. Several movements whose goals where the establishment of autonomus Macedonia, encompassing the entire region of Macedonia (region), began to arise in the late 1800s; the earliest of these was the IMRO, later transformed to SMORO. In 1905 it was renamed as IMORO and after World War I the organization separated into the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization and the ITRO. The early organization did not proclaim any ethnic identities; it was officially open to "...uniting all the disgruntled elements in Macedonia and the Adrianople region, regardless of their nationality...".M. Glenny, "The Balkans" The majority of its members were however Slavic/Buglarian-speakers. In 1903, IMRO organized the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottoman Turks, which after some initial successes, including the forming of the Krushevo Republic, was crushed with much loss of life. The uprising and the forming of the Krushevo Republic are considered the cornerstone and precursors to the eventual establishment of the Republic of Macedonia.

Following the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913 and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, its most of its European held territories were divided between Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia. The territory of the present-day Republic of Macedonia was then named , "Stara Srbija". After the First World War, Serbia became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. In 1929, the Kingdom was officially renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and divided into provinces called banovinas. So-called "Southern Serbia" (Vardar Macedonia), including all of what is now the Republic of Macedonia, became known as the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

In 1941, Yugoslavia was occupied by the Axis Powers and the Vardar Banovina was divided between Bulgaria and Italy-occupied Albania. Local recruits and volunteers formed the Bulgarian 5th Army, based in Skopje, which was responsible for the round-up and deportation of over 7,000 Jews in Skopje and Bitola. Harsh rule by the occupying forces encouraged some Bulgarians to support the Communist Partisans (Yugoslavia) 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 as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1963, the People's Republic of Macedonia was likewise renamed, becoming the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. It dropped the "Socialist" from its name in 1991 when it peacefully seceded from Yugoslavia.

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

The Republic of 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 destabilized by the Kosovo War in 1999, when an estimated 360,000 Albanians refugees from Kosovo took refuge in the country. Although they departed shortly after the war, soon after, Macedonian NLA on both sides of the border took up arms in pursuit of autonomy or independence for the Albanian-populated areas of the Republic.

A 2001 Macedonia conflict was fought between government and ethnic Albanian rebels, mostly in the north and west of the country, between March and June 2001. This war ended with the intervention of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization ceasefire monitoring force. In the Ohrid Agreement, the government agreed to devolve greater political power and cultural recognition to the Albanian minority. The Albanian side agreed to surrender separatist demands and to fully recognize all Macedonian institutions. In addition, according to this accord, the NLA were to disarm and hand over their weapons to a NATO force. In 2005, the country was officially recognized as a European Union candidate state, under the reference "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia".

Politics The Republic of Macedonia is a parliamentary democracy with an executive government composed of a coalition of parties from the unicameral legislature () 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 President of the Government. The President is the commander-in-chief of the state armed forces and a president of the state Security Council. The President of the Republic is elected every five years and he or she can be elected twice at most. The current President is Branko Crvenkovski.

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

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.

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, the Republic'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, the country saw a relatively calm and democratic Macedonian parliamentary election, 2006 in the elections held on 5 July 2006. The elections were marked by a decisive victory of the center-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 (the coalition between these two parties is recently broken ). However, recently a dialog was 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. .

Foreign relations General situation The Republic of Macedonia under the name of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M.) is a member of a number of international organizations such as the United Nations, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe, associate member of La Francophonie, World Trade Organization (WTO) etc. 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 Enlargement of the European Union 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, an Internet Service Provider (On.net), has created a MESH Network to provide WIFI services in the 11 largest cities/towns in the country.

Diplomatic representation The Republic of Macedonia is represented abroad by embassies in the following countries: Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, People's Republic of China, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, and the Vatican City.

The Republic of Macedonia also maintains consulates or representative offices in Pristina, Serbia; Thessaloniki, Greece; Toronto, Canada; Detroit, USA; Istanbul, Turkey and Podgorica, Montenegro. There are also permanent missions at the UN, NATO, EU, UNESCO, Council of Europe, and FAO headquarters. There is currently no representation in Taiwan (Republic of China) since 2001 when diplomatic relations were formally severed between the two countries and the Macedonian embassy in Beijing was reopened.

Greece The Republic of Macedonia generally has good relations with Greece and enjoys substantial inward investment from Greece. However, the Macedonia naming dispute has inhibited the establishment of full diplomatic relations so far but has not prevented Greece and the Republic from engaging in military and security co-operation, cross-border investments, and cultural exchanges. The November 2005 European Commission report 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." For the official position of the Hellenic Republic on its trade relations with the Republic, and on the name issue, see and

The November 2006 European Commission report states that, , "In December 2005 the two countries opened an Office for Consular, Economic and Trade Relations in Bitola and a Consulate in Thessaloniki respectively. Cooperation has developed in many areas, including transport, health, security, culture and customs. However, there has been no progress on the name issue which remains an open problem. Renewed efforts are needed, with a constructive approach, to find a negotiated and mutually acceptable solution on the name issue with Greece, under the auspices of the UN, within the framework of UN Security Council Resolutions (EEC) No 817/93 and (EEC) No 845/93, thereby contributing to regional cooperation and good neighborly relations."

Former Greek foreign minister, M. Papakonstandinou, clearly expressed Athens' position towards the republic, "Greek interests demand that this state survives. It must exist This is the firm position of New Democracy (Greece) and Panhellenic Socialist Movement."(ref: Interview with the minister. In, 'Andi' (weekly socio-political journal), Nr 588, [13 October 1995).

According to the latest Greek census held in 2001, there are 962 holders of citizenship of the Republic of Macedonia in Greece , although it should be noted that Greek census, like the censuses of some other EU member states (Italy, Spain, Denmark, France etc), do not take into account the ethnicity of the inhabitants of the country and that immigration has significantly increased since then. According to a study conducted for the Hellenic Migration Policy Institute (ΙΜΕΠΟ, IMEPO), in 2003 90,651 visa applications were made by citizens of the Republic of Macedonia, out of which 90,549 were granted and 102 rejected .

Macedonia dispute revised since 1995

After the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, the name 'Macedonia' became a symbol of the dispute between Greece and the new state as well certain aspects of history (see also Vergina Sun). According to the New York Times, an image of the seaside White Tower of Thessaloniki appeared on a proposed design for the landlocked new country's currency in January 1992, provoking outrage in Greece.

Due to the dispute over the name, the United Nations agreed to a provisional reference — "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (F.Y.R.O.M.) () — when it became a member state in 1993 . Most international organizations adopted the same convention, including the European Union, NATO, the International Monetary Fund, the European Broadcasting Union, and the International Olympic Committee, among others. The European Union recognizes the country as the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M.) and the negotiations with the EU are held using this reference , . F.Y.R.O.M. is also used as a provisional name in any discussion to which Greece is a party but is inconsistently used by other countries.

However, an increasing number of countries have abandoned the United Nations provisional reference and have recognized the country as the Republic of Macedonia or simply Macedonia instead. These include four of the five permanent UN Security Council members, the United States, Russia, United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China, as well two of its immediate neighbors: Bulgaria and Serbia. However, the United States Senate, controlled by the Democratic Party (United States), uses the designation "Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M.)" & "Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M.)" instead .

From 1992 to 1995, the two countries also engaged in a dispute over the Republic's first flag, which incorporated the Vergina Sun symbol, a presumed symbol of the ancient Kingdom of Macedon. Its adoption by the Republic of Macedonia, on 3 July 1992, was seen as a reaction by Skopje to Athens' pressure to change the name. This aspect of the dispute was permanently resolved after an interim accord between the two states, when the flag was changed by an act of parliament, in October 1995.

Irredentist ethnic/Slav Macedonian groups, however, propagate the idea of United Macedonia, calling for the bringing of Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian and Albanian territories under the control of the Republic of Macedonia.

Bulgaria The Republic of Macedonia maintains uneven relations with the Republic of Bulgaria. Bulgaria was the first country to recognize Macedonian independence and the republic under its constitutional name. Many Macedonian students matriculate in Bulgarian universities. Bulgaria supports the Macedonian bid to enter the EU and NATO. It also donated a large amount of tanks, artillery and other materials to the Macedonian army.

According to Bulgarian media and international minority rights NGOs, there have been repeated cases of anti-Bulgarian violence towards citizens with a Bulgarian national background and desecrations . A number of independent international organisations maintain that in Macedonia is conducted an active propaganda against Bulgaria (the police being indifferent in this respect), and that Skopje maintains a harsh attitude towards its citizens with a Bulgarian background.

Issues have also been raised over appropriation and falsification of Bulgarian history by authors with Macedonian nationalistic agenda, and the treatment in the Republic of Macedonia of people espousing a Bulgarian national identity. The organization of the Bulgarian minority in the Republic of Macedonia Radko for example (which was later banned by the Macedonian Constitutional Court in violation of International Treaties in this respect) had been publicly harassed after they claimed that there is no Macedonian ethnicity today, and the perpetrators were acclaimed as heroes by the media. In the Republic of Macedonia, there is a persistent intimidation and beating of people with a Bulgarian ethnic identity, as it is reported by minority rights NGOs

Bulgaria is also concerned at repeated territorial claims against it, backed by the Skopje authorities; for instance, according to the new Macedonian encyclopedia (funded by the Ministry of Culture), some parts of Bulgaria are represented in Macedonia.

Another point of contention in the relationship between the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria is the latter's refusal to recognize the existence of a separate Macedonian ethnicity, instead considering Macedonians (ethnic group) to be Bulgarians and their language as a regional "norm" based on local Bulgarian dialects . The so-called "language dispute", which started in 1993 and was effectively impeding diplomatic relations, was resolved in 1999 when the two governments adopted the formula "the official language in the Republic of Macedonia, and the official language in Bulgaria" in their bilateral agreements where they use the Macedonian and Bulgarian languages.

Similarly, the Bulgarian Constitutional Court has banned the political party of the ethnic Macedonians in Bulgaria UMO Ilinden-Pirin as separatist; this measure was found not to be "proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued" on October 20 2005 by the European Court of Human Rights.

Turkey Turkey has very close relations with the Republic of Macedonia and recognises this state with its constitutional name (Makedonya Cumhuriyeti).

European Union candidacy and membership The EU leaders on the meeting held in Thessaloniki in 2003 promised western Balkan countries that they will become an integral part of the EU, once they meet the established criteria. As part of the enlargement of the European Union, the European Union (EU) granted the Republic of Macedonia candidate status on 17 December 2005, but with no promise of when such negotiations could start. France had made a budget deal as a condition for granting the Republic of Macedonia candidate status and Greece agreed not to veto the decision on the premise that the name dispute will be resolved. The Republic of Macedonia applied for full membership on 22 March 2004. Vlado Bučkovski, then minister of defence and later prime minister, hailed the decision as a "one-way ticket" to the EU for his country.

The country is still included in the black visa list of the EU . According to the EU, namely in accordance with its Copenhagen criteria, the main obstacles towards eventual EU membership for Republic of Macedonia concern good relations with neighboring countries and reforms to its judicial and police systems. Also, growth rate lags behind that of most EU members, unemployment is high and foreign investment is relatively low. The decentralization process imposed after the six-month conflict in 2001 still requires full implementation. In principle, the relatively low population and European characteristics of the Republic promise few strains on the EU budget. At a press conference held in March 2006, German chancellor Angela Merkel suggested a privileged partnership for potential members. Following the rejection of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe by the French and Dutch voters, the EU is in a period of reflection (time to decide what to do next) that can last for several years. This decision seems to delay the prospect of EU membership for candidates like Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Turkey for some period. The French have warned that they want strict application of the notion of absorption capacity for the EU - a concept which has existed since 1993 but which has rarely been highlighted.

Another problem in the relations between the EU and the Republic of Macedonia is the EU visa regime with the country, fostering resentment and inhibiting progress on trade, business, education etc, contributing negatively to regional stability. .

In February 2006, the Republic became the fourth member of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), joining Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania. CEFTA acts as 'sandbox' to encourage joint efforts for the integration of participating countries in Western European institutions and look for opportunities for close economic and political co-operation.

The Foreign relations of the Republic of Macedonia#Greece with Greece remains an unresolved issue in the country's accession to the EU. On August 29, 2006, the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Greece), Ms. Dora Bakoyannis, affirmed that "...the Hellenic Parliament, under any composition, will not ratify the accession of the neighboring country to the EU and NATO if the name issue is not resolved beforehand."

More recently, EU sources have confirmed that the Republic of Macedonia's hope of starting accession talks next year cannot succeed, since its new prime minister Nikola Gruevski has shut out the former Yugoslav republic's ethnic Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia and has politicized many state institutions.

Municipalities

In August 2004, the Republic of Macedonia was reorganized into 85 municipalities (; sing. ), 10 of which comprise Greater Skopje. This is reduced from the previous 123 municipalities established in September, 1996. Prior to this, local government was organized into 34 administrative districts.

Statistical regions Macedona's statistical regions exist solely for legal and statistical purposes.The regions are:

Skopje statistical region
Pelagonia statistical region
Polog statistical region
Eastern statistical region
Southeastern statistical region
Northeastern statistical region
Southwestern statistical region
Vardar statistical region

Geography mountain, the highest mountain in the country mountain in springThe Republic of 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 Republic's terrain is mostly rugged, located between the Šar Mountain 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 of the Republic, bisected by the frontiers with Albania and Greece. Ohrid is considered to be one of the oldest lakes and biotopes in the world . 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.

The Republic of Macedonia also has scenic mountains. They belong to two different ranges: Dinarska and Rodopska. The Dinarska range is the oldest with subsequent erosion; the Rodopska range is younger offering rugged, alpine scenery. The ten highest mountains in the Republic of Macedonia are:{| class="wikitable"|- |[Mount Korab --> |- |[Šar Mountain || 2,747 m || 9,012 ft |-| Baba Mountain ] || 2,540 m || 8,333 ft|-| Nidze ] || 2,373 m || 7,785 ft|-| Galichica ] || 2,273 m || 7,457 ft|-| Jablanica ] || 2,251 m || 7,383 ft|-| Mount Bistra ] || 1,754 m || 5,754 ft|}

See also: Mountains of the Republic of Macedonia

Climate in summerThe Republic of Macedonia has 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 (67 inches) in the western mountainous area to 500 mm (20 inches) 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 Radovish the climate is temperate Mediterranean. The warmest region is the Demir Kapija and Gevgelija region, where the temperature in July and August frequently exceeds 40 C. The mountainous climate is present in the mountainous regions of the country and it is characterized by long and snowy winters and short and cold summers. The spring is colder than the fall. The majority of the country has a moderate continental climate with warm and dry summers and relatively cold and wet winters. There are 30 main and regular weather stations in the country.

Economy Today the Republic of Macedonia is considered a country with an intermediary-developed industry, with continuing growth, albeit slow, of the industrial production. The process of transition in the economy was triggered in 1995. The government has signed arrangements with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank. It has an open economy that is integrating into international trade, with a total trade-to-GDP ratio of 79.5%. The most important sectors are agriculture and industry. The service sector also grew in the past few years. The work force has competitive education and skills, but lacks adequate jobs, leading to steady brain drain. The country's economic policy is to attract foreign investments and to increase employment. One of the biggest features of the country's economy is the fiscal discipline which maintained a stable currency for a long period. The country also makes efforts to develop the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise sector.

Looking back, the country together with Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo belonged to the less developed regions in 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.

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. 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 destabilization. Since the end of the Greek embargo, Greece has become the most important business partner of the Republic of Macedonia. Many Greek companies have bought former state companies in the country, such as the oil refinery Okta, the baking company Zhito Luks, a marble mine in Prilep, textile facilities in Bitola etc. Other key partners are Germany, Italy and Slovenia.

The Macedonian economy has since made a sluggish recovery, though the extent of unemployment, the grey market, corruption and a relatively ineffective legal system keep the growth rate low and cause significant problems. The Republic still has one of the lowest List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita in Europe. The official unemployment rate is 36%. The active population numbers about 900,000 people with about 320,000 of them unemployed. However, many of the employed go unreported. This is reflected in the large gray market, estimated at close to 20% of GDP.The 2006 CIA Factbook

Growth barely recovered in 2002 to 0.9%, then 3.4%, 2.9%, 3.7% and 3.2% in the following years. The current government has announced plans to introduce flat tax system with the intention to make the country more attractive location for prospective foreign investors. The flat tax rate will amount to 12% in 2007 and will be further lowered to 10% in 2008.

Demographics Population The Republic of Macedonia has an estimated population of 2,055,915 citizens, according to the last population census in 2002 with 58% of the population living in urban areas. Following is a list of the largest Macedonian cities according to the 1994 census data as more recent census does not list city populations and municipalities according to the 2002 census data:

{]BitolaVeles (city)ŠtipStrumicaTetovoKumanovoPrilepGostivarOhridStrugaKočaniRadoviš] || 444,000 || || Greater Skopje || 80,000 || || [Bitola municipality || 71,000 || || [Kumanovo municipality ] || 68,000 || || Prilep municipality ] || 60,000 || || Tetovo municipality ] || 46,000 || || Gostivar municipality ] || 42,000 || || Štip municipality ] || 51,000 || || Ohrid municipality ] || 48,000 || || Veles municipality ] || 40,000 || || Strumica municipality ] || 27,000 || ||Kočani municipality ] || 16,223 || || Radoviš || 28,244|}

See also: List of cities in the Republic of Macedonia

Ethnicities The largest ethnic group in the country are the Macedonians (ethnic group). According to the 2002 census,http://www.stat.gov.mk/pdf/kniga_13.pdf 1,297,981 inhabitants declared themselves to be Macedonians, representing 64.18% of the total population. Approximately 535,000 inhabitants are declared as Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia, representing 25.2% of the populationhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mk.html. Smaller ethnic minorities include Turks in the Republic of Macedonia (77,959 or 3.85%), Roma (people) (53,879 or 2.66%), Serbs (35,939 or 1.78%), Bosniaks (17,018 or 0.84%), Vlachs (9,695 or 0.48%), and other (20,993 or 1.04%). The Macedonian national census records most ethnic groups, but the smaller ones are not enumerated separately in the final report.

The demographic table, according to the 2002 population census.{]| 1,297,981| 64.18|-| style="background:#F5F5DC;" | Albanians| 77,959| 3.85|-| style="background:#F5F5DC;" | [Roms| 35,939| 1.78|-| style="background:#F5F5DC;" | [Vlachs| 9,695| 0.48|-| style="background:#F5F5DC;" | others| 38,011| 1.88|}

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 language, which belongs to the Eastern branch of the South Slavic languages language group. Structurally, it is closer to Bulgarian than any other Slavic language. Its current form was codified after World War II and has accumulated a thriving literary tradition.

Other languages including Albanian language, Bulgarian language, Romani language, Turkish language, Serbian language, Vlach (Aromanian language and Megleno-Romanian language), Circassian language, Greek language and others are spoken roughly in proportion with their associated ethnic groups.

Macedonian is the only language explicitly designated as an official national language in the constitution. It also provides however that languages spoken by over 20% of the total population are also official - at present, only Albanian fulfils this requirement. Additionally, 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.

Religion in Ohrid.The majority (64.7%) of the population belongs to the

Republic of Macedonia
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