Macedonia — map and facts

About North Macedonia

North Macedonia is a landlocked country in the south-central Balkans of approximately 2 million people, bordered by Kosovo, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Albania. Its capital is Skopje. The country declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and joined NATO in 2020. It is an EU candidate. The country's name was officially changed from "Macedonia" to "North Macedonia" in 2019 under the Prespa Agreement with Greece, which had objected to the original name as implying claims over its own northern region of Macedonia. The official language is Macedonian, a South Slavic language, and Albanian is also an official language in areas with Albanian majorities. The economy relies on small-scale manufacturing, agriculture, and services; remittances are significant.

Geography and Landscape

North Macedonia is characterised by a basin structure of high mountains surrounding broad river valleys and lakes. The Vardar River, the country's principal waterway, flows southward through the country before entering Greece and reaching the Aegean Sea. The Šar Mountains in the northwest and the Jakupica range in the centre exceed 2,700 metres. Lake Ohrid in the southwest is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes — estimated to be over three million years old — and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for both its natural and cultural significance. Lake Prespa is shared among North Macedonia, Greece, and Albania. The climate is continental in the interior and Mediterranean-influenced in the south and southwest around Ohrid.

History

The territory of modern North Macedonia has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Ancient Macedonia, the kingdom of Philip II and Alexander the Great, extended across the broader region. After Roman, Byzantine, and Bulgarian rule, the medieval Serbian Empire expanded here in the fourteenth century before Ottoman conquest in 1395 — under which the region remained for five centuries. The Ilinden Uprising of 1903 was a landmark event in Macedonian national consciousness. After the Balkan Wars (1912–1913), the territory was divided between Serbia, Greece, and Bulgaria. The region became part of Yugoslavia in 1918 and the Socialist Republic of Macedonia within the Yugoslav federation in 1944. North Macedonia declared independence in 1991, joined the UN in 1993, and NATO in 2020.