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Macedonia is a country of Southeast Europe. Located
within the Balkan peninsula, it covers an area of 25
333 km2. It borders Serbia and Kosovo to the
north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south and
Albania to the west. The main cities are Skopje, the
capital, with 399 000 inhabitants (2004), Bitola (81 300
inhab.), Prilep (63 900 inhab.), Kumanovo (81 600 inhab.)
And Tetovo (56 600 inhab.). The main river that runs
through the country is the Vardar River, which flows
south and flows into the Aegean Sea, near Thessaloniki,
Greece. Most of Macedonia's territory is situated on a
plateau located between 600 and 900 meters above sea
level. The soil is composed of shale and volcanic rocks.
Climate
The climate is temperate Mediterranean, with a strong
continental influence. The summer is hot and dry and the
winter is relatively cold and snowy.
Economy
Agriculture is an important activity in the country's
economy, occupying about 20% of the active
population. Maize, tobacco, rice, fruit and wine are
produced. Macedonia has an industry linked to lead,
zinc, copper and chromium. Macedonia's main trading
partners are Germany, Russia, Italy and the United
Kingdom.
Environmental indicator: the value of carbon dioxide
emissions, per capita(metric tons, 1999), is
5.6.
Population
It has a population of 2,050,554 inhabitants, (2006),
which corresponds to a population density of 80.74
inhab./km2. The birth and death rates are,
respectively, 12.02% and 8.77%. Average life expectancy
is 73.97 years. The value of the Human Development Index
(HDI) is 0.784 and the value of the Gender-adjusted
Development Index (IDG) was not assigned
(2001). Macedonia is ethnicly composed of Macedonians
(64.2%), Albanians (25.2%), Turks (3.8%), Roma (2%) and
Serbs (2%). In religious terms, they are Serbian
Orthodox Christians (54%) and Sunni Muslims (30%). The
official language is Macedonian.
History
Macedonia was first colonized by the Slavs in the 6th
century and suffered a series of conquests. In the 7th
century it was conquered by the Bulgarians, in 1014 by
the Byzantines and by Serbia in the 14th century. It
became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1355 and was
divided between Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece after the
Balkan war, already in 1912-13. After the First World
War, the Macedonian Serbs became part of the Federal
State of Yugoslavia. During the Second World War it was
occupied by Bulgaria between 1941-44 and in the post-war
period it was part of Yugoslavia, which did not lessen
the tensions between ethnic Macedonia and Serbia that
dominated the Federal Government.
After the death of Yugoslav President Tito in 1980,
it became clear that the federal structure was not going
to stay together. Macedonia tried to achieve
independence but the presence of a large Albanian
minority and the objections imposed by the Greek
Government on the idea of the birth of a state with
the same name as a region in northern Greece made the
transition difficult. After Croatia and Slovenia
separated from Yugoslavia, Macedonia was also driven, by
fearing Serbian rule, to declare independence from
Yugoslavia in 1991, the year in which a new constitution
enshrined in multiparty rule. The new state was admitted
to the United Nations in April 1993 under the name of
the Republic of Macedonia. Greece did not like it and
blocked the recognition of this country from the
European Union, contesting the name of the country and
the use, on the flag,the Great. Six member
countries of the European Union recognized the new
nation in December 1993, as did the United States in
February 1994. Greece responded with a trade embargo on
the Republic. In April 1994 the European Commission
initiated proceedings against Greece at the European
Court of Justice after its refusal to lift the embargo.
After independence, President Kiro Gligorov was
re-elected in October 1994 and only in December 1999 was
he replaced by Boris Trajkosvski, a center-right
politician with pro-European tendencies who managed to
avoid civil war in his country in the summer of 2001
After his death in an air accident in February 2004,
Branko Crvenkovski, former prime minister, was elected
on April 28, 2004.
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