North Macedonia

country in Southeast Europe
This article is about the modern country. For other uses, see Macedonia ( disambiguation )
North Macedonia [ speed of light ] ( Macedonia before February 2019 ), officially the Republic of North Macedonia, [ vitamin d ] is a state in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. North Macedonia is a landlocked nation bordering with Kosovo [ vitamin e ] to the northwest, Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south, and Albania to the west. [ 11 ] It constitutes approximately the northerly one-third of the larger geographic region of Macedonia. Skopje, the capital and largest city, is home to a quarter of the country ‘s 1.83 million population. The majority of the residents are cultural Macedonians, a South Slavic people. Albanians form a significant minority at around 25 %, followed by Turks, Romani, Serbs, Bosniaks, Aromanians and a few early minorities.

Reading: North Macedonia

The history of the region begins with the kingdom of Paeonia, a assorted Thraco – illyrian civil order. [ 12 ] In the recently sixth hundred BC, the area was subjugated by the Persian Achaemenid Empire, then incorporated into the Kingdom of Macedonia in the fourth hundred BC. The Roman Empire conquered the area in the second century BC and made it separate of the larger state of Macedonia. The sphere remained part of the Byzantine Empire, but was often raided and settled by Slavic tribes beginning in the sixth hundred of the Christian era. Following centuries of controversy between the Bulgarian, Byzantine, and serbian Empires, it was separate of the Ottoman Empire from the mid-14th until the early twentieth hundred, when, following the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, the mod territory of North Macedonia came under serbian rule. During the First World War, it was ruled by Bulgaria, but after the end of the war it returned to being under serbian principle as function of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. During the moment World War, it was ruled by Bulgaria again and in 1945 it was established as a constituent submit of communist Yugoslavia, which it remained until its peaceful secession in 1991. The area became a member of the United Nations in April 1993, but as a leave of a dispute with Greece over the name “ Macedonia ”, it was admitted under the probationary description “ the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ” [ fluorine ] ( abbreviated as “ FYR Macedonia ” or “ FYROM ” ). In June 2018, Macedonia and Greece resolved the dispute with an agreement that the country should rename itself “ Republic of North Macedonia ”. This rename came into effect in February 2019. A unitary parliamentary built-in democracy, North Macedonia is a member of the UN, NATO, the Council of Europe, the World Bank, OSCE, CEFTA, BSEC and the WTO. Since 2005, it has besides been a candidate for joining the European Union. North Macedonia is an upper-middle-income nation [ 15 ] and has undergone considerable economic reform since independence in developing an receptive economy. North Macedonia is a evolve nation, ranking 82nd on the Human Development Index, and provides a social security, universal health care system, and free primary and secondary education to its citizens .

Names and etymology

The state ‘s identify derives from the greek give voice Μακεδονία ( Makedonía ), [ 16 ] [ 17 ] a kingdom ( later, region ) named after the ancient Macedonians. Their diagnose, Μακεδόνες ( Makedónes ), ultimately derives from the ancient Greek adjectival μακεδνός ( makednós ), meaning ‘tall ‘ or ‘taper ‘, [ 18 ] which shares the same solution as the adjective μακρός ( makrós, ‘long, tall, high ‘ ) in ancient Greek. [ 19 ] The identify is believed to have primitively meant either ‘highlanders ‘ or ‘the tall ones ‘, possibly descriptive of the people. [ 17 ] [ 20 ] [ 21 ] According to linguist Robert S. P. Beekes, both terms are of pre-Greek substrate origin and can not be explained in terms of Indo-European morphology. [ 22 ] however, according to linguist Filip De Decker, Beekes ‘s arguments are insufficient. [ 23 ] In the early nineteenth hundred, the name of Macedonia was about unknown in the contemporary area. [ 24 ] [ 25 ] [ 26 ] It was revived lone in middle of the hundred, with the rebel of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire. [ 27 ] [ 28 ] [ 29 ] In the early twentieth century the region was already a national causal agent, contested among bulgarian, greek and serbian nationalists. During the interwar period the use of the name Macedonia was prohibited in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, due to the follow through policy of Serbianisation of the local Slavic-speakers. [ 30 ] [ 31 ] The name Macedonia was adopted formally for the first fourth dimension at the end of the Second World War by the new Socialist Republic of Macedonia, which became one of the six part countries of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After the fall of Communism, with the begin of the dissolution of Yugoslavia, this federal entity declared independence and changed its official name to Republic of Macedonia in 1991. Prior to June 2018, the habit of the name Macedonia was disputed between Greece and the then-Republic of Macedonia. The Prespa agreement of June 2018 saw the country change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia eight months belated. [ 32 ] [ 33 ] A non-binding [ 34 ] national referendum on the matter passed with 90 % approval but did not reach the needed 50 % turnout amidst a boycott, leaving the concluding decision with parliament to ratify the result. [ 35 ] Parliament approved of the identify change on 19 October, reaching the ask two-thirds majority needed to enact constitutional changes. [ 36 ] The vote to amend the constitution and change the list of the area passed on 11 January 2019 in favor of the amendment. [ 37 ] The amendment entered into push on 12 February, following the ratification of the Prespa agreement and the Protocol on the Accession of North Macedonia to NATO by the greek Parliament. [ 38 ] Despite the rename, the area is unofficially referred to as ‘Macedonia ‘ by most of its citizens and most of the local media outlets. [ citation needed ]

history

early history

Tribal ethnes in the southern Balkans anterior to the expansion of Macedon North Macedonia geographically roughly corresponds to the ancient kingdom of Paeonia, [ 39 ] [ 40 ] [ 41 ] [ 42 ] [ 43 ] which was located immediately north of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia. [ 44 ] Paeonia was inhabited by the Paeonians, a thracian people, [ 45 ] whilst the northwest was inhabited by the Dardani and the southwest by tribes known historically as the Enchelae, Pelagones, and Lyncestae ; the latter two are broadly regarded as Molossian tribe of the northwestern Greek group, whilst the former two are considered illyrian. [ 46 ] [ 47 ] [ 48 ] [ 49 ] [ 50 ] [ 51 ] The headwaters of the Axios river are mentioned by Homer as the home of the Paeonians allies of Troy. [ 52 ] In the recently sixth hundred BC, the Achaemenid Persians under Darius the Great conquered the Paeonians, incorporating what is today North Macedonia within their huge territories. [ 55 ] Following the loss in the Second Persian invasion of Greece in 479 BC, the Persians finally withdrew from their european territories, including from what is today North Macedonia .
Philip II of Macedon absorbed [ 56 ] the regions of Upper Macedonia ( Lynkestis and Pelagonia ) and the southerly part of Paeonia ( Deuriopus ) into the kingdom of Macedon in 356 BC. [ 57 ] Philip ‘s son Alexander the Great conquered the remainder of the region and incorporated it in his empire, reaching as far union as Scupi, but the city and the surrounding area remained depart of Dardania. [ 58 ] After the death of Alexander, Celtic armies began to bear down on the southern regions, threatening the kingdom of Macedon. In 310 BC, they attacked the area, but were defeated. [ 59 ] The Romans established the state of Macedonia in 146 BC. By the time of Diocletian, the state had been subdivided between Macedonia Prima ( “ first Macedonia ” ) on the south, encompassing most of the kingdom of Macedon, and Macedonia Salutaris ( meaning “ wholesome Macedonia ”, known besides as Macedonia Secunda, “ second Macedonia ” ) on the north, encompassing partially Dardania and the wholly of Paeonia ; most of the country ‘s modern boundaries fell within the latter, with the city of Stobi as its capital. [ 60 ] Roman expansion brought the Scupi area under Roman rule in the time of Domitian ( 81–96 AD ), and it fell within the Province of Moesia. [ 61 ] Whilst Greek remained the dominant language in the eastern part of the Roman empire, particularly south of the Jireček Line, Latin gap to some extent in Macedonia. [ 62 ]

medieval period

Slavic tribes settled in the Balkan area including North Macedonia by the belated sixth century AD. During the 580s, Byzantine literature attests to the Slavs raiding Byzantine territories in the region of Macedonia, late aided by Bulgars. Historical records document that in c. 680 a group of Bulgars, Slavs and Byzantines led by a Bulgar called Kuber settled in the region of the Keramisian plain, centred on the city of Bitola, forming a moment route for the Bulgar definitive liquidation on the Balkan Peninsula at the end of the seventh century. [ 63 ] Presian ‘s reign apparently coincides with the extension of bulgarian control over the Slavic tribe in and around Macedonia. The Slavic tribes that settled in the area of Macedonia converted to Christianity around the ninth century during the reign of Tsar Boris I of Bulgaria. The Ohrid Literary School became one of the two major cultural centres of the First Bulgarian Empire, along with the Preslav Literary School. Established in Ohrid in 886 by Saint Clement of Ohrid on the order of Boris I, the Ohrid Literary School was involved in the spread of the Cyrillic script. [ 64 ]
After Sviatoslav ‘s invasion of Bulgaria, the Byzantines took control of East Bulgaria. Samuil, one of the Cometopuli brothers, was proclaimed Tsar of Bulgaria. He moved the capital to Skopje and then to Ohrid, which had been the cultural and military center of southwestern Bulgaria since Boris I ‘s rule. Samuil reestablished bulgarian office, but after respective decades of conflicts, in 1014, the Byzantine Emperor Basil II defeated his armies, and within four years the Byzantines restored control over the Balkans ( contemporary North Macedonia was included into a fresh province, called Bulgaria ) for the foremost time since the seventh hundred. The rank of the autocephalous bulgarian Patriarchate was lowered due to its conquest to Constantinople and it was transformed into the Archbishopric of Ohrid. By the belated twelfth hundred, Byzantine decline saw the region contested by respective political entities, including a brief Norman occupation in the 1080s. In the early thirteenth century, a revived Bulgarian Empire gained see of the region. Plagued by political difficulties, the empire did not last, and the region came once again under Byzantine control in the early fourteenth century. In the fourteenth hundred, it became part of the serbian Empire. Skopje became the capital of Tsar Stefan Dušan ‘s empire. Following Dušan ‘s death, a weak successor appeared, and office struggles between nobles divided the Balkans once again. These events coincided with the submission of the Ottoman Turks into Europe .

Ottoman time period

The Kingdom of Prilep was one of the ephemeral states that emerged from the collapse of the serbian Empire in the fourteenth hundred, which was seized by the Ottomans at the end of the same century. [ 65 ] Gradually, all of the cardinal Balkans were conquered by the Ottoman Empire and remained under its domination for five centuries as separate of the province or Eyalet of Rumelia. The name Rumelia ( turkish : Rumeli ) means “ Land of the Romans ” in Turkish, referring to the lands conquered by the Ottoman Turks from the Byzantine Empire. [ 66 ] Over the centuries Rumelia Eyalet was reduced in size through administrative reforms, until by the nineteenth century it consisted of a region of central Albania and western North Macedonia with its capital at Manastir or contemporary Bitola. [ 67 ] Rumelia Eyalet was abolished in 1867 and that territory of Macedonia subsequently became part of vilayets of Manastir, Kosova and Selanik until the end of Ottoman govern in 1912. With the begin of the Bulgarian National Revival in the nineteenth century, many of the reformers were from this region, including the Miladinov brothers, [ 68 ] Rajko Žinzifov, Joakim Krčovski, [ 69 ] Kiril Pejčinoviḱ [ 70 ] and others. The bishoprics of Skopje, Debar, Bitola, Ohrid, Veles, and Strumica voted to join the bulgarian Exarchate after it was established in 1870. [ 71 ]

mod period

macedonian autonomism

respective movements whose goals were the establishment of an autonomous Macedonia, which would encompass the stallion region of Macedonia, began to arise in the recently nineteenth hundred ; the earliest of these was the bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees, former becoming Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization ( SMARO ). In 1905 it was renamed the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization ( IMARO ), and after World War I the organization separated into the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization ( IMRO ) and the Internal Thracian Revolutionary Organisation ( ITRO ). [ 72 ] In the early years of the arrangement, membership eligibility was exclusive to Bulgarians, but by and by it was extended to all inhabitants of european Turkey regardless of ethnicity or religion. [ 73 ] The majority of its members were macedonian Bulgarians. [ 74 ] In 1903, IMRO organised the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottomans, which after some initial successes, including the form of the Kruševo Republic, was crushed with much passing of life sentence. [ 75 ] The uprise and the form of the Kruševo Republic are considered the basis and precursors to the eventual establishment of the macedonian state. [ 76 ] [ 77 ] [ 78 ] The leaders of the Ilinden get up are celebrated as national heroes in North Macedonia. The names of IMRO revolutionaries like Gotse Delchev, Pitu Guli, Dame Gruev and Yane Sandanski were included into the lyrics of the national hymn of the department of state of North Macedonia “ Denes nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide Makedonija “ ( “ today over Macedonia ” ). The major national vacation of North Macedonia, the Republic Day, is celebrated on 2 August, Ilinden ( St. Elijah day ), the day of the Ilinden uprise .

Kingdom of Serbia

Following the two Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 and the adjournment of the Ottoman Empire, most of its European-held territories were divided between Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia. Almost the territory that was to become North Macedonia was annexed by Serbia conforming to the treaty of peace concluded at Bucharest. [ 81 ] however, Strumica region was passed to Bulgaria. Following the partition, an anti-Bulgarian campaign was carried out in the areas under serbian and greek control. [ 82 ] vitamin a many as 641 bulgarian schools and 761 churches were closed by the Serbs, while Exarchist clergy and teachers were expelled. [ 82 ] The use of all macedonian dialects and standard Bulgarian were proscribed. [ 82 ] IMRO, together with local Albanians, organised the Ohrid–Debar bristle against the serbian rule. Within a few days the rebels captured the towns of Gostivar, Struga and Ohrid, expelling the serbian troop. According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace report, a serbian army of 100,000 regulars suppressed the originate. many were killed and tens of thousands refugees fled to Bulgaria and Albania. [ 83 ] [ 84 ]

World War I

During the First World War, most of today ‘s North Macedonia was part of the Bulgarian occupied zone of Serbia after the country was invaded by the Central Powers in the drop of 1915. [ 82 ] The region was known as the “ Military Inspection Area of Macedonia ” and was administered by a bulgarian military air force officer. [ 85 ] A policy of Bulgarization of the region and its population was immediately initiated, [ 86 ] [ 87 ] during the period the IMRO get up from a clandestine constitution to serve as gendarmerie, taking control of the whole police structure, enforcing the Bulgarization of the region. [ 86 ] According to Robert Gerwarth, the bulgarian denationalization policy, including its paramilitary aspect, was about identical in its purpose and execution to the serbian policy that preceded it. [ 86 ] bulgarian lyric was to be entirely used, serbian Cyrillic was forbidden, serbian priests were arrested and deported, Serbian-sounding names had to be changed to bulgarian ones, [ 88 ] schoolteachers were brought from Bulgaria while serbian books were taken from schools and libraries and publicly destroyed. [ 89 ] Adult males were sent to labour camps or forced to join the bulgarian Army, representatives of the serbian intelligentsia were deported or executed. [ 87 ] According to Paul Mojzes the draw a bead on of the bulgarian government was to create pure bulgarian territories by denationalizing the non-Bulgarian Slavic population of Macedonia. [ 90 ]

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

After the capitulation of Bulgaria and the end of the First World War, the sphere returned under Belgrade command as part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes [ 91 ] and saw a reintroduction of anti-Bulgarian measures. bulgarian teachers and clergy were expelled, bulgarian language signs and books removed, and all bulgarian organisations dissolved. [ 82 ] besides after the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine, Strumica region was annexed to Serbian Macedonia in 1919. The serbian government pursued a policy of forced Serbianisation in the region, [ 92 ] [ 93 ] which included taxonomic inhibition of bulgarian activists, altering kin surnames, internal colonization, exploiting workers, and acute propaganda. [ 94 ] To aid the execution of this policy, some 50,000 serbian united states army and gendarmerie were stationed in contemporary North Macedonia. [ 82 ] By 1940 about 280 serbian colonies ( comprising 4,200 families ) were established as separate of the government ‘s internal colonization platform ( initial plans envisaged 50,000 families settling in contemporary North Macedonia ). [ 82 ] In 1929, the Kingdom was formally renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and divided into provinces called banovinas. South Serbia, including all of contemporary North Macedonia, became the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. [ 95 ] The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization ( IMRO ) promoted the concept of an Independent Macedonia in the interwar time period. Its leaders—including Todor Alexandrov, Aleksandar Protogerov, and Ivan Mihailov —promoted independence of the macedonian district split between Serbia and Greece for the unharmed population, regardless of religion and ethnicity. [ 96 ] The bulgarian government of Alexander Malinov in 1918 offered to give Pirin Macedonia for that purpose after World War I, [ 97 ] but the great Powers did not adopt this idea because Serbia and Greece opposed it. In 1924, the Communist International ( Comintern ) suggested that all Balkan communist parties adopt a platform of a “ United Macedonia “ but the suggestion was rejected by the Bulgarian and greek communists. [ 98 ] IMRO followed by starting an guerrilla war in Vardar Macedonia, together with Macedonian Youth Secret Revolutionary Organization, which besides conducted guerrilla attacks against the serbian administrative and army officials there. In 1923 in Stip, a paramilitary organization called Association against Bulgarian Bandits was formed by serbian chetniks, IMRO renegades and macedonian Federative Organization ( MFO ) members to oppose IMRO and MMTRO. [ 99 ] On 9 October 1934 IMRO member Vlado Chernozemski assassinated Alexander I of Yugoslavia. The Macedonist ideas increased in Yugoslav Vardar Macedonia and among the leave diaspora in Bulgaria during the interwar period. They were supported by the Comintern. [ 100 ] In 1934, the Comintern issued a special resoluteness in which for the first time directions were provided for recognising the being of a offprint macedonian state and macedonian speech. [ 101 ]

World War II

During World War II, Yugoslavia was occupied by the Axis powers from 1941 to 1945. The Vardar Banovina was divided between Bulgaria and Italian-occupied Albania. bulgarian action Committees were established to prepare the region for the new bulgarian administration and united states army. [ 103 ] The committees were largely formed by erstwhile members of IMRO and Macedonian Youth Secret Revolutionary Organization ( MYSRO, but some IMRO ( United ) former members besides participated. [ 104 ] As drawing card of the Vardar Macedonian communists, Metodi Shatorov ( “ Sharlo ” ) switched from the Yugoslav Communist Party to the Bulgarian Communist Party [ 106 ] and refused to start military action against the bulgarian Army. [ 107 ] The bulgarian authorities, under german pressure, [ 108 ] were responsible for the round-up and exile of over 7,000 Jews in Skopje and Bitola. [ 109 ] Harsh rule by the fill forces encouraged many Vardar Macedonians to support the Communist Partisan resistance movement of Josip Broz Tito after 1943, [ gigabyte ] and the National Liberation War ensued. [ 110 ] [ 111 ] In Vardar Macedonia, after the Bulgarian coup d’état of 1944, the bulgarian troops, surrounded by german forces, fought their way back to the old borders of Bulgaria. [ 112 ] Under the leadership of the new bulgarian pro-Soviet politics, four armies, 455,000 solid in sum, were mobilised and reorganised. Most of them re-enter occupied yugoslavia in early October 1944 and moved from Sofia to Niš, Skopje and Pristina with the strategic undertaking of blocking the german forces withdrawing from Greece. [ 113 ] The bulgarian army would reach the Alps in Austria, participating in the extrusion of the Germans to the west, through Yugoslavia and Hungary. Compelled by the Soviet Union with a horizon towards the creation of a large South Slav Federation, in 1946 the newfangled communist government, led by Georgi Dimitrov, agreed to give bulgarian Macedonia to a United Macedonia. With the Bled agreement, in 1947 Bulgaria formally confirmed the envision union of the macedonian region, but postponed this act until after the formation of the future Federation. [ 114 ] [ 115 ] It was the first time it accepted the universe of a classify macedonian ethnicity and language. After the Tito–Stalin split the region of Pirin Macedonia remained depart of Bulgaria and later the Bulgarian Communist Party revised its view of universe of a separate macedonian nation and terminology .

socialistic Yugoslavia

Lazar Koliševski was the political leader of SR Macedonia and briefly of SFR Yugoslavia. In December 1944 the Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia ( ASNOM ) proclaimed the People ‘s Republic of Macedonia as function of the People’s Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. [ 116 ] ASNOM remained an act government until the end of the war. The macedonian rudiment was codified by linguists of ASNOM, who based their rudiment on the phonetic alphabet of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić and the principles of Krste Petkov Misirkov. During the civil war in Greece ( 1946–1949 ), macedonian communist insurgents supported the greek communists. many refugees fled to the Socialist Republic of Macedonia from there. The state dropped Socialist from its name in 1991 when it peacefully seceded from Yugoslavia. The raw democracy became one of the six republics of the Yugoslav confederation. Following the confederation ‘s rename as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1963, the People ‘s Republic of Macedonia was alike renamed the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. [ 117 ] [ 118 ] [ 119 ]

contract of independence

North Macedonia officially celebrates 8 September 1991 as Independence sidereal day ( macedonian : Ден на независноста, Den na nezavisnosta ), with regard to the referendum endorsing independence from Yugoslavia. [ 120 ] The anniversary of the originate of the Ilinden Uprising ( St. Elijah ‘s Day ) on 2 August is besides widely celebrated on an official degree as the Day of the Republic. Robert Badinter, as the principal of the Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia, recommended EC recognition in January 1992. [ 121 ] On January 15, 1992 Bulgaria was the beginning state to recognize the independence of the democracy. Macedonia remained at peace through the Yugoslav Wars of the early 1990s. A few identical minor changes to its edge with Yugoslavia were agreed upon to resolve problems with the limit argumentation between the two countries. It was seriously destabilised by the Kosovo War in 1999, when an estimated 360,000 heathen albanian refugees from Kosovo took refuge in the area. [ 122 ] They departed curtly after the war, and albanian nationalists on both sides of the border took up arms soon after in avocation of autonomy or independence for the Albanian-populated areas of Macedonia. [ 122 ] [ 123 ]

twenty-first century

2001 insurgency

Map of operations during the 2001 insurgency A battle took place between the government and ethnic albanian insurgents, largely in the north and west of the nation, between February and August 2001. [ 123 ] [ 124 ] [ 125 ] The war ended with the intervention of a NATO ceasefire monitor force. Under the terms of the Ohrid Agreement, the government agreed to devolve greater political ability and cultural recognition to the albanian minority. [ 126 ] The albanian side agreed to abandon separatist demands and to recognise all macedonian institutions fully. In addition, according to this accord, the NLA were to disarm and hand over their weapons to a NATO storm. [ 127 ] Inter-ethnic tensions flared in Macedonia in 2012, with incidents of violence between cultural Albanians and Macedonians. [ 128 ]

Antiquisation

Upon the coming to baron in 2006, but particularly since the country ‘s non-invitation to NATO in 2008, the VMRO-DPMNE government pursued a policy of “ Antiquisation “ ( “ Antikvizatzija ” ) as a way of putting atmospheric pressure on Greece vitamin a well as for the purposes of domestic identity-building. [ 129 ] Statues of Alexander the Great and Philip of Macedon have been built in several cities across the state. additionally, many pieces of populace infrastructure, such as airports, highways, and stadiums were renamed after Alexander and Philip. These actions were seen as debate provocations in neighbouring Greece, exacerbating the dispute and further stalling the nation ‘s EU and NATO applications. [ 130 ] The policy has besides attracted criticism domestically, ampere well as from EU diplomats, [ 129 ] and, following the Prespa agreement, it has been partially reversed after 2016 by the new SDSM government of North Macedonia. [ 131 ] [ 132 ] furthermore, per Prespa agreement both countries have acknowledged that their respective reason of the terms “ Macedonia ” and “ macedonian ” refers to a unlike diachronic context and cultural inheritance .

EU and NATO path

emblematic sign of the Prespa agreement The Prespa agreement, which replaces the Interim Accord of 1995, [ 133 ] was signed on 17 June 2018 by the two alien ministers Nikola Dimitrov and Nikos Kotzias and in the presence of the respective flower ministers, Zoran Zaev and Alexis Tsipras. [ 134 ] The Prespa agreement was preceded by signing Friendship agreement with Bulgaria in August 2017, aiming to end the “ anti-Bulgarian ideology ” in North Macedonia and to solve the historical issues between the two countries. The secession of the greek veto, along with the signing the Friendship agreement with Bulgaria, resulted in the European Union on 27 June approving the startle of accession talks, which were expected to take rate in 2019, under the condition that the Prespa deal was implemented and the country ‘s diagnose was changed to Republic of North Macedonia. [ 135 ] On 5 July, the Prespa agreement was ratified again by the macedonian fantan with 69 MPs vote in favor of it. [ 136 ] On 12 July, NATO invited Macedonia to start entree talks in a bid to become the EuroAtlantic alliance ‘s thirtieth member. [ 137 ] On 30 July, the fantan of Macedonia approved plans to hold a non-binding referendum on changing the country ‘s name, which took topographic point on 30 September. [ 138 ] Ninety-one percentage of voters voted in favor with a 37 % output, [ 139 ] but the referendum was not carried because of a built-in requirement for a 50 % turnout. [ 140 ]
North Macedonia commemorates its accession to NATO at the US Department of State. On 6 February 2019, the permanent wave representatives of NATO penis states and macedonian Foreign Affairs Minister Nikola Dimitrov, signed in Brussels the accession protocol of North Macedonia into NATO. [ 141 ] [ 142 ] The protocol was then ratified on 8 February by the Greek parliament, thus completing all the preconditions for putting into force the Prespa agreement. subsequently, on 12 February the macedonian government announced the formal activation of the constitutional amendments which effectively renamed the area as North Macedonia and informed consequently the United Nations and its member states. [ 143 ] [ 144 ] [ 145 ] In March 2020, after the ratification summons by all NATO members was completed, North Macedonia acceded to NATO, becoming the thirtieth member state. [ 146 ] [ 147 ] The same month, the leaders of the European Union formally gave approval to North Macedonia begin talks to join the EU. [ 148 ] [ 149 ] On November 17, 2020, Bulgaria refused to approve the European Union ‘s negotiation framework for North Macedonia, efficaciously blocking the official begin of accession talks with this country. [ 150 ] The explanation from the bulgarian side was : no execution of the Friendship treaty from 2017, state-supported hate lecture, minority claims, and an ‘ongoing nation-building march ‘ based on historical negationism of the Bulgarian identity, culture and bequest in the broader region of Macedonia. [ 151 ] The forbid received execration by intellectuals from both states [ 152 ] and criticism from international observers. [ 153 ] [ 154 ] [ 155 ]

geography

location

North Macedonia has a entire sphere of 25,713 km2 ( 9,928 sq nautical mile ). It lies between latitudes 40° and 43° N, and largely between longitudes 20° and 23° E ( a humble area lies east of 23° ). North Macedonia has some 748 km ( 465 michigan ) of boundaries, shared with Serbia ( 62 kilometer or 39 mile ) to the North, Kosovo ( 159 kilometer or 99 michigan ) to the northwest, Bulgaria ( 148 kilometer or 92 mi ) to the east, Greece ( 228 kilometer or 142 nautical mile ) to the south, and Albania ( 151 kilometer or 94 michigan ) to the west. It is a transit way for cargo of goods from Greece, through the Balkans, towards Eastern, Western and Central Europe and through Bulgaria to the east. It is separate of the larger region of Macedonia, which besides includes greek Macedonia and the Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria. North Macedonia is a landlocked nation that is geographically clearly defined by a central valley formed by the Vardar river and framed along its borders by batch ranges. The terrain is by and large rugged, located between the Šar Mountains 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, bisected by the frontiers with Albania and Greece. Ohrid is considered to be one of the oldest lakes and biotopes in the worldly concern. [ 156 ] The region is seismically active and has been the locate of destructive earthquakes in the past, most recently in 1963 when Skopje was heavily damaged by a major earthquake, killing over 1,000. North Macedonia besides has scenic mountains. They belong to two different batch ranges : the inaugural is the Šar Mountains [ 157 ] [ 158 ] that continues to the West Vardar/Pelagonia group of mountains ( Baba Mountain, Nidže, Kozuf and Jakupica ), besides known as the Dinaric compass. The second gear stove is the Osogovo – Belasica mountain chain, besides known as the Rhodope compass. The mountains belonging to the Šar Mountains and the West Vardar/Pelagonia range are younger and higher than the older mountains of the Osogovo-Belasica batch group. Mount Korab of the Šar Mountains on the albanian border, at 2,764 thousand ( 9,068 foot ), is the tallest mountain in North Macedonia. In North Macedonia there are 1,100 big sources of water. The rivers flow into three different basins : the Aegean, the Adriatic and the Black Sea. [ 159 ]
The Aegean basin is the largest. It covers 87 % of the territory of North Macedonia, which is 22,075 square kilometres ( 8,523 sq michigan ). Vardar, the largest river in this basin, drains 80 % of the district or 20,459 square kilometres ( 7,899 sq mi ). Its valley plays an crucial separate in the economy and the communication system of the area. The Vardar Valley project is considered to be crucial for the strategic development of the area. The river Black Drin forms the Adriatic river basin, which covers an area of about 3,320 km2 ( 1,282 sq mile ), i.e., 13 % of the territory. It receives body of water from Lakes Prespa and Ohrid. The Black Sea basin is the smallest with only 37 km2 ( 14 sq security service ). It covers the northerly side of Mount Skopska Crna Gora. This is the source of the river Binachka Morava, which joins the Morava, and late, the Danube, which flows into the Black Sea. North Macedonia has around fifty dollar bill ponds and three natural lakes, Lake Ohrid, Lake Prespa and Lake Dojran. In North Macedonia there are nine health spa towns and resorts : Banište, Banja Bansko, Istibanja, Katlanovo, Kežovica, Kosovrasti, Banja Kočani, Kumanovski Banji and Negorci .

climate

Köppen–Geiger climate classification map for North Macedonia Four different seasons are found in the area with warmly and dry summers and reasonably cold and snow-white winters. The range of temperatures recorded throughout the year ranges from −20 °C ( −4 °F ) in winter, to 40 °C ( 104 °F ) in summer. low winter temperatures are influenced by winds from the north while hotness seasons during summer arise ascribable to the subtropical coerce of the Aegean Sea and climate influences from the Middle East, with the latter causing dry periods. There are three main climatic zones in the nation : gently continental in the north, temperate Mediterranean in the south and mountainous in the zones with high altitude. Along the valley of the Vardar and Strumica rivers, in the regions of Gevgelija, Valandovo, Dojran, Strumica, and Radoviš, the climate is temperate Mediterranean. The warmest regions are Demir Kapija and Gevgelija, where the temperature in July and August frequently exceeds 40 °C ( 104 °F ). [ 162 ] average annual precipitation varies from 1,700 millimeter ( 66.9 in ) in the western cragged area to 500 millimeter ( 19.7 in ) in the eastern area. There is a first gear tied of precipitation in the Vardar valley with 500 mm ( 19.7 in ) of water per class. The climate and irrigation diversity allow the cultivation of different plant types, including wheat, corn, potatoes, poppies, peanuts, and rice. There are thirty main and regular upwind stations in the state .

biodiversity

The vegetation of North Macedonia is represented by around 210 families, 920 genus, and around 3,700 plant species. The most abundant group are the flowering plants with around 3,200 species, followed by mosses ( 350 species ) and ferns ( 42 ). Phytogeographically, North Macedonia belongs to the illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF ) and the Digital Map of European Ecological Regions by the European Environment Agency, the district of the Republic can be subdivided into four planetary ecoregions : the Pindus Mountains mix forests, Balkan mix forests, Rodope montane mix forests, and Aegean and Western Turkey sclerophyllous and assorted forests. [ 164 ] North Macedonia had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 7.42/10, ranking it 40th globally out of 172 countries. [ 165 ] The native afforest animal is abundant and includes bears, barbarian boars, wolves, foxes, squirrels, chamois and deer. The lynx is found, identical rarely, in the mountains of westerly Macedonia, while deer can be found in the region of Demir Kapija. Forest birds include the black raspberry, the grouse, the black grouse, the imperial eagle and the forest owl. The nation has four national parks :

Politics

North Macedonia is a parliamentary democracy with an executive government composed of a coalition of parties from the unicameral legislature ( Собрание, Sobranie ) and an autonomous judicial branch with a constitutional woo. The fabrication is made up of 120 seats and the members are elected every four years. The function of the President is largely ceremony, with the veridical power perch in the hands of the Prime Minister. The President is the commander-in-chief of the state armed forces and a president of the state Security Council. The President is elected every five years and he or she can be elected twice at most. With the passage of a newfangled law and elections held in 2005, local anesthetic government functions are divided between 78 municipalities ( општини, opštini ; singular : општина, opština ). The capital, Skopje, is governed as a group of ten municipalities jointly referred to as the “ City of Skopje ”. Municipalities in North Macedonia are units of local self-government. Neighbouring municipalities may establish co-operative arrangements. The nation ‘s main political divergence is between the largely ethnically based political parties representing the country ‘s heathen macedonian majority and albanian minority. The issue of the exponent balance between the two communities led to a brief war in 2001, following which a power-sharing agreement was reached. In August 2004, fantan passed legislation redrawing local boundaries and giving greater local autonomy to heathen Albanians in areas where they predominate. After a troublesome pre-election campaign, North Macedonia saw a relatively calm and democratic change of government in the elections held on 5 July 2006. The elections were marked by a critical victory of the centre-right party VMRO-DPMNE led by Nikola Gruevski. Gruevski ‘s decision to include the democratic Party of Albanians in the new government, rather of the Democratic Union for Integration – Party for democratic Prosperity alliance which won the majority of the albanian votes, triggered protests throughout the parts of the country with a respective count of albanian population. A dialogue was late established between the Democratic Union for Integration and the ruling VMRO-DMPNE party as an attempt to talk about the disputes between the two parties and to support european and NATO aspirations of the state. [ 166 ] After the early parliamentary elections held in 2008, VMRO-DPMNE and Democratic Union for Integration formed a opinion coalescence. [ 167 ] In April 2009, presidential and local elections in the area were carried out peacefully, which was crucial for macedonian aspirations to join the EU. [ 168 ] The ruling conservative VMRO-DPMNE party won a victory in the local elections and the candidate supported by the party, Gjorgi Ivanov, was elected as the new president. In June 2017, Zoran Zaev of Social Democratic Party, became modern Prime Minister six months after early elections. The fresh center-left government ended 11 years of conservative VMRO-DPMNE govern led by former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. [ 169 ] As of 4 January 2020, the acting Prime Minister of North Macedonia was Oliver Spasovski and the current President of the Parliament is Talat Xhaferi. [ 170 ] The election of Xhaferi was immediately met with protests led by VMRO-DPMNE, which was quickly handled by the patrol. [ 170 ] The early parliamentary elections took space on July 15, 2020. [ 171 ] Zoran Zaev has served as the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia again since August 2020. [ 172 ] Stevo Pendarovski was sworn in as North Macedonia ‘s new president of the united states in May 2019. [ 173 ] Prime minister Zoran Zaev announced his resignation after his party, the Social Democratic Union, suffered losses in local elections in October 2021 [ 174 ] Parliament, or Sobranie ( macedonian : Собрание ), is the country ‘s legislative body. It makes, proposes and adopts laws. The Constitution of North Macedonia has been in use since the formation of the democracy in the 1993. It limits the might of the governments, both local and national. The military is besides limited by the constitution. The constitution states that North Macedonia is a social free submit, and that Skopje is the capital. [ 175 ] The 120 members are elected for a mandate of four years through a general election. Each citizen aged 18 years or older can vote for one of the political parties. The current president of the united states of Parliament is Talat Xhaferi. executive baron in North Macedonia is exercised by the Government, whose flower minister is the most politically herculean person in the area. The members of the government are chosen by the Prime Minister and there are ministers for each branch of the society. There are ministers for economy, finance, information engineering, society, inner affairs, foreign affairs and other areas. The members of the Government are elected for a mandate of four years. judiciary power is exercised by courts, with the court system being headed by the Judicial Supreme motor hotel, Constitutional Court and the Republican Judicial Council. The assembly appoints the judges .

foreign relations

North Macedonia became a member submit of the UN on 8 April 1993, eighteen months after its independence from Yugoslavia. It was referred to within the UN as “ the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ”, until the settlement of the long-running dispute with Greece about the area ‘s name. The major matter to of the area is a full consolidation in the European and the Trans-Atlantic consolidation processes. [ 176 ] North Macedonia is a member of the pursuit international and regional organisations : [ 177 ] IMF ( since 1992 ), WHO ( since 1993 ), EBRD ( since 1993 ), central european Initiative ( since 1993 ), Council of Europe ( since 1995 ), OSCE ( since 1995 ), SECI ( since 1996 ), La Francophonie ( since 2001 ), WTO ( since 2003 ), CEFTA ( since 2006 ), NATO ( since 2020 ). In 2005, the country was formally recognised as a European Union campaigner department of state. At the NATO 2008 Bucharest summit, Macedonia failed to gain an invitation to join the organization because Greece vetoed the move after the challenge over the name issue. [ 178 ] The U.S. had previously expressed documentation for an invitation, [ 179 ] but the acme then decided to extend an invitation merely on circumstance of a resolution of the identify dispute with Greece.

military

The military of North Macedonia comprises the united states army, air force, and especial forces. The government ‘s national refutation policy aims to guarantee the preservation of the independence and reign of the state, the integrity of its land area and airspace and its constitutional ordering. Its main goals remain the development and alimony of a credible capability to defend the state ‘s critical interests and growth of the Armed Forces in a means that ensures their interoperability with the arm forces of NATO and the European Union member states and their capability to participate in the broad compass of NATO missions. The Ministry of Defence develops the Republic ‘s defense strategy and assesses potential threats and risks. It is besides creditworthy for the refutation system, including prepare, facility, equipment, and development, and for drawing up and presenting the defense budget. [ 182 ]

Naming challenge

The flag of the then-Republic of Macedonia between 1992 and 1995, bearing the Vergina Sun The practice of the list “ Macedonia “ was disputed between Greece and North Macedonia. The specific naming dispute was reignited after the separation of Yugoslavia and the newly gained independence of the erstwhile Socialist Republic of Macedonia in 1991. [ 183 ] Greece opposed the habit of the name without a geographic qualifier thus as to avoid confusion with its own area of Greek Macedonia to the south. [ 184 ] As some ethnic Greeks name themselves as Macedonians, unrelated to the Slavic people who are associated with North Macedonia, Greece far objected to the use of the condition Macedonian for the neighbor area ‘s largest ethnic group ; it accused the area of appropriating symbols and figures that are historically considered parts of Greece ‘s culture ( such as Vergina Sun and Alexander the Great ), and of promoting the irredentist concept of a United Macedonia, which would include territories of Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, and Serbia. [ 185 ] The UN adopted the probationary address the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ( macedonian : Поранешна Југословенска Република Македонија ) when the state was admitted to the organization in 1993. [ 186 ] The lower-cased “ erstwhile ” was chosen intentionally to display the provisionality of the name although most united nations member countries soon abandoned the probationary reference and recognised the nation as the Republic of Macedonia alternatively. [ 187 ] Most international organisations adopted the like convention along with over 100 united nations members and four of the five permanent UN Security Council members. [ 188 ] [ 189 ] In the period between 1991 and 2019, the area ‘s name was an ongoing issue in bilateral and international relations. The UN set up a negociate process with a mediator, Matthew Nimetz, and the two parties to try to mediate the quarrel. Following the ratification of the Prespa agreement, most major international organisations welcomed the settlement of the long-standing dispute, and adopted the area ‘s new identify. [ 190 ] [ 191 ] [ 192 ]

Human rights

North Macedonia is a signer to the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and Convention against Torture, and the Constitution guarantees basic human rights to all macedonian citizens. According to homo rights organisations, in 2003 there were suspected extrajudicial executions, threats against, and intimidation of, human rights activists and opposition journalists, and allegations of agony by the police. [ 193 ] [ 194 ]

Subdivisions

Rural/Urban municipalities statistical regions of North Macedonia North Macedonia ‘s statistical regions exist entirely for legal and statistical purposes. The regions are :
In August 2004, the nation was reorganised into 84 municipalities ( opštini ; sing. opština ) ; 10 of the municipalities constitute the City of Skopje, a discrete unit of measurement of local anesthetic self-government and the nation ‘s capital. Most of the current municipalities were unaltered or merely amalgamated from the previous 123 municipalities established in September 1996 ; others were consolidated and their borders changed. prior to this, local politics was organised into 34 administrative districts, communes, or counties ( besides opštini ) .

economy

Ranked as the fourth “ best reformatory state ” out of 178 countries ranked by the World Bank in 2009, North Macedonia has undergone considerable economic reform since independence. [ 195 ] The country has developed an clear economy with trade account for more than 90 % of GDP in recent years. Since 1996, North Macedonia has witnessed steady, though dense, economic growth with GDP growing by 3.1 % in 2005. This design was projected to rise to an average of 5.2 % in the 2006–2010 period. [ 196 ] The government has proven successful in its efforts to combat inflation, with an ostentation pace of only 3 % in 2006 and 2 % in 2007, [ 195 ] and has implemented policies focused on attracting extraneous investment and promoting the exploitation of minor and medium-sized enterprises ( SMEs ) .
Vineyard in North Macedonia The stream government introduced a bland tax system with the purpose of making the state more attractive to extraneous investment. The categoric tax rate was 12 % in 2007 and was far lowered to 10 % in 2008. [ 197 ] [ 198 ] Despite these reforms, as of 2005 North Macedonia ‘s unemployment rate was 37.2 % [ 199 ] and as of 2006 its poverty rate was 22 %. [ 196 ] Due to a number of employment measures american samoa well as the successful process of attracting multinational corporations, and according to the State Statistical Office of North Macedonia, the country ‘s unemployment rate in the first gear quarter of 2015 decreased to 27.3 %. [ 200 ] Government ‘s policies and efforts in regards to alien aim investments have resulted with the establishment of local subsidiaries of several universe leading manufacturing companies, specially from the automotive industry, such as : Johnson Controls Inc., Van Hool NV, Johnson Matthey plc, Lear Corp., Visteon Corp., Kostal GmbH, Gentherm Inc., Dräxlmaier Group, Kromberg & Schubert, Marquardt GmbH, Amphenol Corp., Tekno Hose SpA, KEMET Corp., Key Safety Systems Inc., ODW-Elektrik GmbH, etc. In terms of GDP structure, as of 2013 the manufacture sector, including mining and construction constituted the largest function of GDP at 21.4 %, up from 21.1 % in 2012. The trade wind, exile and adjustment sector represents 18.2 % of GDP in 2013, up from 16.7 % in 2012, while agriculture represents 9.6 %, up from 9.1 % in the former year. [ 201 ]
graphic depicting of North Macedonia ‘s product exports. In terms of foreign trade, the largest sector contributing to the state ‘s export in 2014 was “ chemicals and relate products ” at 21.4 %, followed by the “ machinery and transmit equipment ” sector at 21.1 %. North Macedonia ‘s chief spell sectors in 2014 were “ manufactured goods classified chiefly by material ” with 34.2 %, “ machinery and conveyance equipment ” with 18.7 % and “ mineral fuels, lubricants and refer materials ” with 14.4 % of the total imports. even 68.8 % of the extraneous trade wind in 2014 was done with the EU which makes the Union by far the largest trading partner of North Macedonia ( 23.3 % with Germany, 7.9 % with the UK, 7.3 % with Greece, 6.2 % with Italy, and so forth ). Almost 12 % of the full external barter in 2014 was done with the western Balkan countries. [ 202 ] North Macedonia has one of the highest shares of people struggling financially, with 72 % of its citizens stating that they could manage on their family ‘s income only “ with difficulty ” or “ with great difficulty ”, though North Macedonia, along with Croatia, was the alone country in the western Balkans to not report an increase in this statistic. [ 203 ] Corruption and a relatively ineffective legal system besides act as significant restraints on successful economic development. North Macedonia even has one of the lowest per head gross domestic product in Europe. furthermore, the country ‘s grey marketplace is estimated at close to 20 % of GDP. [ 204 ] PPS GDP per head stood at 36 % of the EU average in 2017. [ 205 ] With a GDP per head of US $ 9,157 at purchasing ability parity and a Human Development Index of 0.701, North Macedonia is less grow and has a well smaller economy than most of the erstwhile Yugoslav states .

Trade

The outbreak of the Yugoslav wars and the imposition of sanctions on Serbia and Montenegro caused bang-up wrong to the country ‘s economy, with Serbia constituting 60 % of its markets before the decay of Yugoslavia. When Greece imposed a trade embargo on the Republic in 1994–95, the economy was besides affected. Some relief was afforded by the end of the Bosnian War in November 1995 and the lift of the Greek embargo, but the Kosovo War of 1999 and the 2001 albanian crisis caused promote destabilization. Since the end of the Greek embargo, Greece has become the state ‘s most authoritative business collaborator. ( See greek investments in North Macedonia. ) many greek companies have bought former state companies in North Macedonia, [ 206 ] such as the anoint refinery Okta, the baking party Zhito Luks, a marble mine in Prilep, fabric facilities in Bitola, and so forth, and employ 20,000 people. The moving of occupation to North Macedonia in the anoint sector has been caused by the rise of Greece in the vegetable oil markets. [ 207 ] early key partners are Germany, Italy, the United States, Slovenia, Austria and Turkey .

tourism

Tourism plays a meaning function in the economy of North Macedonia accounting for 6.7 % of its GDP in 2016. The annual income from tourism was estimated at 38.5 billion denars ( €616 million ) in that year. [ 208 ] Following its independence, the most serious damaging impact on tourism performance occurred due to the armed conflicts taking identify in 2001. [ 209 ] The number of foreign visitors has been on the rebel since, with a 14.6 % increase in 2011. [ 210 ] In 2019, North Macedonia received 1,184,963 tourist arrivals out of which 757,593 foreign. [ 211 ] Most numerous are tourists from Turkey, neighboring Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria, Poland and early countries of Western Europe. [ 212 ] The biggest bulk of tourists, approximately 60 % of the million tourists that visited the country in 2017, was situated in Skopje and the southwest region of the state. [ 213 ] The most significant tourism branches are lake tourism as there are three lakes in Ohrid, Prespa and Dojran and over 50 small arctic lakes of variable sizes, mountainous tourism as there are 16 mountains higher than 2,000 metres. other forms of tourism besides include rural and ecotourism, city tourism and cultural tourism, represented through gastronomy, traditional music, cultural celebrations and cultural heritage sites. [ 209 ]

infrastructure

transport

Map of current and planned highways North Macedonia ( along with Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo ) belongs to the less-developed southerly area of 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 lapp problems faced by other former socialist East european countries during the transition to a market economy. Its main state and rail exports route, through Serbia, remains undependable with high transit costs, thereby affecting the export of its once highly profitable, early vegetables market to Germany. North Macedonia ‘s IT grocery store increased 63.8 % year on year in 2007, which was the fastest grow in the adriatic region. [ 214 ] North Macedonia is in its position a continental area in the middle of the Balkan peninsula, and the chief transmit links in the nation are those that connect the different parts of the peninsula ( transbalkan links ). Particularly authoritative is the connection between north–south and Vardar valley, which connects Greece with the stay of Europe .
The total length of the railroad track net in North Macedonia is 699 kilometer ( 434 nautical mile ). Operated by Makedonski Železnici, the most authoritative railway line is the line on the border with Serbia–Kumanovo–Skopje–Veles–Gevgelija–border with Greece. Since 2001, the railroad track line Beljakovci has been built—the border with Bulgaria, which will get a direct connection Skopje-Sofia. The most significant railroad track hub in the state is Skopje, while the other two are Veles and Kumanovo. North Macedonia Post is the state-owned company for the provision of postal traffic. It was founded in 1992 as PTT Macedonia. In 1993 it was admitted to the World Postal Union in 1997, PTT Macedonia was divided into macedonian Telekom and macedonian Post ( late renamed North Macedonia Post ). ampere army for the liberation of rwanda as water conveyance is concerned, merely lake traffic through Ohrid and Prespan Lake has been developed, by and large for tourist purposes. There are 17 airports officially in North Macedonia, of which 11 are with solid substrates. Among them are two airports of international character, since they are listed on the airport ‘s IATA airport code International Airport Skopje and Ohrid St. Paul the Apostle Airport .

education

The higher levels of education can be obtained at one of the five state universities : Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, St. Clement of Ohrid University of Bitola, Goce Delčev University of Štip, State University of Tetova and University of Information Science and Technology “ St. Paul The Apostle ” in Ohrid. There are a number of private university institutions, such as the European University, [ 215 ] Slavic University in Sveti Nikole, the South East European University and others. North Macedonia was ranked 57th in the Global Innovation Index in 2020, up from 59th in 2019. [ 216 ] [ 217 ] [ 218 ] [ 219 ] The United States Agency for International Development has underwritten a visualize called Macedonia Connects, which has made North Macedonia the first all-broadband wireless area in the world. The Ministry of Education and Sciences reports that 461 schools ( primary and secondary ) are now connected to the Internet. [ 220 ] 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 state. The national library of North Macedonia, National and University Library “ St. Kliment of Ohrid ”, is in Skopje .

Demographics

Ethnic groups in 2002

Macedonians

64.2%

Albanians

25.2%

Turks

3.9%

Romani

2.7%

Serbs

1.8%

Bosniaks

0.8%

Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians

0.5%

other

1.0%

The above table (figures rounded) shows ethnic affiliation of the population according to the 2002 census:[2]
The last census data from 2002 shows a population of 2,022,547 inhabitants. [ 2 ] The last official estimate from 2009, without significant change, gives a name of 2,050,671. [ 221 ] According to the last census data, the largest cultural group in the country are the ethnic Macedonians. The second-largest group are the Albanians, who dominated a lot of the northwestern partially of the area. Following them, Turks are the third-biggest heathen group of the country where official census data put them close to 80,000 and unofficial estimates suggest numbers between 170,000 and 200,000. Some unofficial estimates indicate that there are possibly up to 260,000 Romani. [ 222 ]

religion

Eastern Orthodox Christianity is the majority religion of North Macedonia, making up 65 % of the population, the huge majority of whom belong to to the macedonian Orthodox Church. Various early christian denominations account for 0.4 % of the population. Muslims constitute 33.3 % of the population. North Macedonia has the fifth-highest proportion of Muslims in Europe, after those of Kosovo ( 96 % ), [ 223 ] Turkey ( 90 % ), [ citation needed ] Albania ( 59 % ), [ 224 ] and Bosnia and Herzegovina ( 51 % ). [ 225 ] Most Muslims are Albanians, Turks, or Romani ; few are macedonian Muslims. The remaining 1.4 % was determined to be “ unaffiliated ” by a 2010 Pew Research estimate. [ 226 ] All together, there were 1,842 churches and 580 mosques in the nation at the end of 2011. [ 227 ] The Orthodox and Islamic religious communities have secondary coil religion schools in Skopje. There is an orthodox theological college in the capital. The macedonian Orthodox Church has jurisdiction over 10 provinces ( seven in the nation and three afield ), has 10 bishops and about 350 priests. A total of 30,000 people are baptised in all the provinces every year .
Relations between the Macedonian Orthodox Church, which declared autocephaly in 1967 and remains unrecognised by the other Orthodox Churches, and the serbian Orthodox Church, which claims ecclesiastical legal power over North Macedonia, remain tense and politically fraught, specially since the serbian Church appointed Jovan Vraniškovski as its Exarch for the Archbishopric of Ohrid in September 2002. The reaction of the macedonian Orthodox Church was to cut off all relations with the new Ohrid Archbishopric and to prevent bishops of the serbian Orthodox Church from entering North Macedonia. Bishop Jovan was jailed for 18 months for “ defaming the macedonian Orthodox church service and harming the religious feelings of local citizens ” by distributing serbian Orthodox church calendars and pamphlets. [ 228 ]
The macedonian Byzantine Catholic Church has approximately 11,000 adherents in North Macedonia. The church service was established in 1918, and is made up largely of converts to Catholicism and their descendants. The Church is of the Byzantine Rite and is in communion with the Roman and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its liturgical worship is performed in Macedonian. [ 229 ] There is a small Protestant community. The most celebrated protestant in the country is the recently president of the united states Boris Trajkovski. He was from the Methodist community, which is the largest and oldest Protestant church in the Republic, dating back to the late nineteenth hundred. Since the 1980s the Protestant community has grown, partially through fresh confidence and partially with outside missionary assistant. The macedonian Jewish community, which numbered some 7,200 people on the eve of World War II, was about entirely destroyed during the war : lone 2 % survived the Holocaust. [ 230 ] After their dismissal and the end of the War, most opted to emigrate to Israel. today, the country ‘s Jewish community numbers approximately 200 persons, about all of whom live in Skopje. Most macedonian Jews are Sephardic —the descendants of 15th-century refugees who had been expelled from Castile, Aragon and Portugal. [ citation needed ]

Languages

linguistic map of North Macedonia, 2002 census The national and official language in all aspects of the whole territory of North Macedonia and in its external relations is the macedonian language. albanian is co-official at a state flat ( excluding defense mechanism, central patrol and monetary policy ) and in local self-government units where speakers are 20 % or more. macedonian belongs to the Eastern arm of the South Slavic lyric group, while albanian occupies an mugwump branch of the indo-european family of languages. In municipalities where at least 20 % of the population is share of another ethnic minority, those person languages are used for official purposes in local government, aboard macedonian and albanian or just macedonian. macedonian is close related to and mutually apprehensible with standard Bulgarian. It besides has some similarities with standard Serbian and the intermediate Torlakian / Shop dialects spoken by and large in southeast Serbia and westerly Bulgaria ( and by speakers in the northeast of Macedonia ). The standard speech was codified in the period following World War II and has accumulated a thriving literary custom. Besides macedonian and albanian, minority languages with substantial numbers of speakers are turkish ( including Balkan Gagauz [ 231 ] ), Romani, Serbian / Bosnian and Aromanian ( including Megleno-Romanian ). [ 232 ] [ 233 ] [ 234 ] [ 235 ] macedonian Sign Language is the primary language of those of the deafen community who did not pick up an oral linguistic process in childhood. According to the last census, 1,344,815 citizens of North Macedonia declared that they spoke Macedonian, 507,989 declared Albanian, 71,757 Turkish, 38,528 Romani, 24,773 serbian, 8,560 Bosnian, 6,884 Aromanian and 19,241 spoke other languages. [ 1 ]

Cities

culture

Female folk music dancers North Macedonia has a rich cultural heritage in art, architecture, poetry and music. It has many ancient, protected religious sites. Poetry, film, and music festivals are held annually. macedonian music styles developed under the strong influence of Byzantine church service music. North Macedonia has a significant number of preserve Byzantine fresco paintings, chiefly from the period between the 11th and 16th centuries. There are several thousands of square metres of fresco paint preserved, the major contribution of which is in very estimable circumstance and represent masterworks of the macedonian school of ecclesiastical paint. The most significant cultural events in the state are the Ohrid Summer festival of classical music and play, the Struga Poetry Evenings which gather poets from more than 50 countries in the global, International Camera Festival in Bitola, Open Youth Theatre and Skopje Jazz Festival in Skopje etc. The National Opera opened in 1947, then named “ macedonian opera ”, with a performance of Cavalleria rusticana under the direction of Branko Pomorisac. Every year, the May Opera Evenings are held in Skopje for around 20 nights. The first May Opera performance was that of Kiril Makedonski ‘s Tsar Samuil in May 1972. [ 236 ]

cuisine

The area ‘s cuisine is spokesperson of that of the Balkans—reflecting Mediterranean and Middle Eastern ( Ottoman ) influences, and to a lesser extent italian, german and easterly european ( particularly Hungarian ) ones. [ 237 ] The relatively ardent climate in North Macedonia provides excellent growth conditions for a variety of vegetables, herbs and fruits. frankincense, macedonian cuisine is particularly diverse. macedonian cuisine is besides noted for the diversity and quality of its dairy products, wines, and local alcoholic beverages, such as rakija. Tavče gravče and mastika are considered the national dish and drink of North Macedonia, respectively. Some other important dishes include Šopska salad, an appetizer and english dish that accompanies the main meal, ajvar, stuffed peppers, pastrmajlija and others. [ 238 ]

sport

football, handball, and basketball are the most popular sports in North Macedonia. The North Macedonia national football team is controlled by the Football Federation of Macedonia. Their home stadium is the Toše Proeski Arena. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA ‘s jubilee, Darko Pančev was selected as the Golden Player of Macedonia as their most great actor of the past 50 years. [ 239 ] He was the achiever of the European Golden Boot award in 1991 and he is well known for scoring the winning penalty in the 1991 european Cup Final, bringing Red Star Belgrade the most prestigious trophy in european football for the inaugural time in its 50-year universe. In 2020, the national team qualified for UEFA Euro 2020 ( held in 2021 ), their first major tournament in the country ‘s history. [ 240 ] handball is the other authoritative team fun in the country. macedonian clubs have enjoyed achiever in european competitions. RK Vardar won 2016–17 and 2018–19 EHF Champions League, while Kometal Gjorče Petrov Skopje won the 2002 EHF Women ‘s Champions League. The european Women ‘s Handball Championship took locate in 2008 in North Macedonia in Skopje and Ohrid ; the women ‘s national team finished seventh topographic point. The country ‘s men ‘s national team has appeared in the European and World championships multiple times, with a best complete of one-fifth at the former ( 2012 ) and ninth at the latter ( 2015 ). The North Macedonia national basketball team represents North Macedonia in international basketball. The team is run by the Basketball Federation of North Macedonia, the governing body of basketball in North Macedonia which was created in 1992 and joined FIBA in 1993. North Macedonia has participated in three EuroBaskets since then with its best finish at 4th station in 2011. It plays its home games at the Boris Trajkovski Sports Center in Skopje. Pero Antić became the first Macedonian basketball musician to play in the National Basketball Association. He besides won three EuroLeague trophies. In the summer months the Ohrid Swimming Marathon is an annual event on Lake Ohrid and during the winter months there is skiing in North Macedonia ‘s winter sports centres. North Macedonia besides takes part in the Olympic Games. engagement in the Games is organised by the Olympic Committee of North Macedonia. [ 241 ] Magomed Ibragimov competed for FYR Macedonia in the freestyle 85 kilogram rival at the 2000 Summer Olympics and won the bronze decoration, which was the first gear decoration for autonomous country. Wrestlers Shaban Tërstena and Shaban Sejdiu born in North Macedonia, ampere well as boxers Redžep Redžepovski and Ace Rusevski, won Olympic medals as part of Yugoslav Olympic team .

cinema

The history of film draw in the country dates binding over 110 years. [ citation needed ] The first film to be produced on the district of the contemporary the nation was made in 1895 by Janaki and Milton Manaki in Bitola. Throughout the by hundred, the medium of film has depicted the history, polish and everyday biography of the macedonian people. Over the years many macedonian films have been presented at film festivals around the world and several of these films have won esteemed awards. The first macedonian feature of speech film was Frosina, released in 1952 and directed by Vojislav Nanović. [ 242 ] The first base feature of speech film in color was Miss Stone, a movie about a Protestant missionary in Ottoman Macedonia. It was released in 1958. The highest gross feature movie in North Macedonia was Bal-Can-Can, having been seen by over 500,000 people in its inaugural year alone. In 1994, Milcho Manchevski ‘s film Before the Rain was nominated for an Academy Award in the class of Best International Feature Film. [ 243 ] Manchevski continues to be the most outstanding modern film maker in the country having subsequently written and directed Dust and Shadows. In 2020, the documentary Honeyland ( 2019 ) directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov, received nominations in the categories for Best International Feature Film and Best Documentary Feature at the 92nd Academy Awards, making it the first non-fictional film to receive a nomination in both categories. [ 244 ]

Media

The oldest newspaper in the state is Nova Makedonija from 1944. early well known newspaper and magazines are : Utrinski vesnik, Dnevnik, Vest, Fokus, Večer, Tea Moderna, Makedonsko Sonce, and Koha. Public channel is macedonian Radio Television founded in 1993 by the Assembly of North Macedonia. TEKO television ( 1989 ) from Štip is the first secret television receiver distribution channel in the country. other popular private channels are : Sitel, Kanal 5, Telma, Alfa television, and Alsat-M .

Public holidays

The independent public holidays in North Macedonia are :
Besides these, there are several major religious & minorities holidays. ( See : Public holidays in North Macedonia )

Symbols

Sun: The official flag of the Republic of North Macedonia, adopted in 1995, is a yellow sun with eight broadening rays extending to the edges of the red field.
Coat of arms: After independence in 1991, North Macedonia retained the coat of arms adopted in 1946 by the People’s Assembly of the People’s Republic of Macedonia on its second extraordinary session held on 27 July 1946, later on altered by article 8 of the Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Macedonia. The coat-of-arms is composed by a double bent garland of ears of wheat, tobacco and poppy, tied by a ribbon with the embroidery of a traditional folk costume. In the center of such a circular room there are mountains, rivers, lakes and the sun. All this is said to represent “the richness of our country, our struggle, and our freedom”.