North Macedonia,[d] officially theRepublic of North Macedonia,[e], also known by its former official nameMacedonia, is alandlocked country inSoutheast Europe. It shares land borders withGreece to the south,Albania to the west,Bulgaria to the east,Kosovo[f] to the northwest andSerbia to the north.[8] It constitutes approximately the northern third of the larger geographicalregion of Macedonia.Skopje, the capital and largest city, is home to a quarter of the country's population of over 1.83 million. The majority of the residents are ethnicMacedonians, aSouth Slavic people.Albanians form a significant minority at around 25%, followed byTurks,Roma,Serbs,Bosniaks,Aromanians and a few other minorities.
The state's name derives from theGreek wordΜακεδονία (Makedonía),[10][11] akingdom (later,region) named after theancient Macedonians. Their name,Μακεδόνες (Makedónes), ultimately derives from theancient Greek adjectiveμακεδνός (makednós), meaning 'tall' or 'taper',[12] which shares the same root as the adjectiveμακρός (makrós, 'long, tall, high') in ancient Greek.[13] The name is believed to have originally meant either 'highlanders' or 'the tall ones', possibly descriptive of thepeople.[11][14][15] According to the linguistRobert S. P. Beekes, both terms are ofpre-Greek substrate origin and cannot be explained in terms of Indo-European morphology.[16] According to linguist Filip De Decker, Beekes's arguments are insufficiently supported.[17]
ThePrespa agreement of June 2018 saw the country change its name to the "Republic of North Macedonia" eight months later.[26][27] A non-binding[28]national referendum on the matter passed with 90% approval but did not reach the required 50% turnout amidst a boycott, leaving the final decision with parliament to ratify the result.[29] Parliament approved of the name change on 19 October, reaching the required two-thirds majority needed to enact constitutional changes.[30] The vote to amend the constitution and change the name of the country passed on 11 January 2019 in favour of the amendment.[31] The amendment entered into force on 12 February, following the ratification of the Prespa agreement and the Protocol on the Accession of North Macedonia to NATO by theGreek Parliament.[32] Despite the renaming, the country is unofficially referred to as "Macedonia" by most of its citizens and most local media outlets.[33][34][35][failed verification]
Philip II of Macedon absorbed[51] the regions ofUpper Macedonia (Lynkestis and Pelagonia) and the southern part of Paeonia (Deuriopus) into the kingdom of Macedon in 356 BC.[52] Philip's sonAlexander the Great conquered the remainder of the region and incorporated it in his empire, reaching as far north asScupi, but the city and the surrounding area remained part ofDardania.[53] 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.[54]
The Romans established theprovince of Macedonia in 146 BC. By the time ofDiocletian, the province had been subdivided betweenMacedonia Prima ("first Macedonia") in the south, encompassing most of the kingdom of Macedon, andMacedonia Salutaris (meaning "wholesome Macedonia", known also asMacedonia Secunda, "second Macedonia") in the north, encompassing parts of Dardania and the whole of Paeonia, with the city ofStobi as its capital.[55] This comprised most of the territory of the modern country. Roman expansion brought the Scupi area under Roman rule in the time ofDomitian (81–96 AD), and it fell within the Province ofMoesia.[56] Whilst Greek remained the dominant language in the eastern part of the Roman empire, especially south of theJireček Line, Latin spread to Macedonia to some extent.[57]
Slavic tribes settled in the Balkan region including North Macedonia by the late 6th century AD. They were led byPannonian Avars.[58][59][60] The Slavs settled on places of earlier settlements and probably merged later with the local populations to form mixed Byzantine-Slavic communities.[61] Historical records document that inc. 680 aBulgar ruler calledKuber led a group of largely Christians calledSermesianoi, who were his subjects, and they settled in the region ofPelagonia. They may have consisted of Bulgars, Byzantines, Slavs and even Germanic tribes.[62] There is no more information of Kuber's life.[63][64]Presian's reign apparently coincides with the extension of Bulgarian control over the Slavic tribes in and around Macedonia. The Slavic tribes that settled in the region of Macedonia converted to Christianity around the 9th century during the reign of TsarBoris I of Bulgaria. TheOhrid Literary School became one of the two major cultural centres of the First Bulgarian Empire, along with thePreslav Literary School. Established in Ohrid in 886 by SaintClement of Ohrid on the order of Boris I, the Ohrid Literary School was involved in the spreading of theCyrillic script.[65]
AfterSviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria, the Byzantines took control of East Bulgaria.Samuil was proclaimedTsar of Bulgaria. He moved the capital to Skopje and then to Ohrid, which had been the cultural and military centre of southwestern Bulgaria since Boris I's rule. Samuil re-established Bulgarian power, but after several decades of conflicts, in 1014, the Byzantine EmperorBasil II defeated his armies, and within four years the Byzantines restored control over the Balkans (modern-day North Macedonia was included into a new province, calledBulgaria). The rank of the autocephalousBulgarian Patriarchate was lowered due to its subjugation toConstantinople and it was transformed into theArchbishopric of Ohrid. By the late 12th century, Byzantine decline saw the region contested by various political entities, including a briefNorman occupation in the 1080s.[citation needed]
In the early 13th century, a revivedBulgarian Empire gained control of the region. Plagued by political difficulties, the empire did not last, and the region came once again under Byzantine control in the early 14th century. In the 14th century, it became part of theSerbian Empire. Skopje became the capital of TsarStefan Dušan's empire. Following Dušan's death, a weak successor appeared, and power struggles between nobles divided the Balkans once again. These events coincided with the entry of theOttoman Turks into Europe.
TheKingdom of Prilep was one of the short-lived states that emerged from the collapse of the Serbian Empire in the 14th century and was seized by the Ottomans at the end of the same century.[66] Gradually, all of the central Balkans were conquered by theOttoman Empire and remained under its domination for five centuries as part of the province orEyalet ofRumelia. The nameRumelia (Turkish:Rumeli) means "Land of the Romans" in Turkish, referring to the lands conquered by the Ottoman Turks from the Byzantine Empire.[67] Over the centuries, Rumelia Eyalet was reduced in size through administrative reforms, until by the 19th century it consisted of a region of central Albania and western North Macedonia with its capital at Manastir or present-dayBitola.[68] Rumelia Eyalet was abolished in 1867 and that territory of Macedonia subsequently became part of vilayets ofManastir,Kosova andSelanik until the end of Ottoman rule in 1912. With the beginning of theBulgarian National Revival in the 19th century, many of the reformers were from this region, including theMiladinov brothers,[69]Rajko Žinzifov,Joakim Krčovski,[70]Kiril Pejčinoviḱ[71] and others. The bishoprics of Skopje,Debar,Bitola,Ohrid,Veles, andStrumica voted to join theBulgarian Exarchate after it was established in 1870.[72]
In the early years of the organisation, membership eligibility was exclusive to Bulgarians, but later it was extended to all inhabitants of European Turkey regardless of ethnicity or religion.[74] The majority of its members wereMacedonian Bulgarians.[75] In 1903, IMRO organised theIlinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising against theOttomans, which after some initial successes, including the forming of theKruševo Republic, was crushed with much loss of life.[76] The uprising and the forming of the Kruševo Republic are considered the cornerstone and precursors to the eventual establishment of the Macedonian state.[77][78][79] The leaders of the Ilinden uprising are celebrated as national heroes in North Macedonia. The names of IMRO revolutionaries likeGotse Delchev,Pitu Guli,Dame Gruev andYane Sandanski were included into the lyrics of the national anthem of the state of North Macedonia "Denes nad Makedonija" ("Today over Macedonia"). The major national holiday of North Macedonia, theRepublic Day, is celebrated on 2 August, Ilinden (St. Elijah day), the day of the Ilinden uprising.
Following the twoBalkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 and thedissolution of the Ottoman Empire, most of its European-held territories were divided between Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia.[80] Most of the territory that was to become North Macedonia was annexed by Serbia conforming to thetreaty 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] As many as 641 Bulgarian schools and 761 churches were closed by the Serbs, while Exarchist clergy and teachers were expelled.[82] The use of allMacedonian dialects and standard Bulgarian were proscribed.[82] IMRO, together with local Albanians, organised theOhrid–Debar uprising against the Serbian rule. Within a few days the rebels captured the towns of Gostivar, Struga and Ohrid, expelling the Serbian troops. According to theCarnegie Endowment for International Peace report, a Serbian army of 100,000 regulars suppressed the uprising. Many were killed and tens of thousands of refugees fled to Bulgaria and Albania.[83][84]
During theFirst World War, most of today's North Macedonia was part of theBulgarian occupied zone of Serbia after the country wasinvaded by theCentral Powers in the fall of 1915.[82] The region was known as the "Military Inspection Area of Macedonia" and was administered by a Bulgarian military commander.[85] A policy ofBulgarisation of the region and its population was immediately initiated,[86][87] during the period the IMRO arose from a clandestine organisation to serve as gendarmerie, taking control of the whole police structure, enforcing the Bulgarisation of the region.[86] According toRobert Gerwarth, the Bulgarian denationalisation policy, including its paramilitary aspect, was almost identical in its intent and execution to the Serbian policy that preceded it.[86]
Bulgarian language was to be exclusively used,Serbian Cyrillic was forbidden, Serbian priests were arrested and deported, Serbian-sounding names had to be changed to Bulgarian ones,[88] school teachers 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 Serbianintelligentsia were deported or executed.[87] According toPaul Mojzes the aim of the Bulgarian government was to create pure Bulgarian territories by denationalising the non-Bulgarian Slavic population of Macedonia.[90]
After the capitulation of Bulgaria and the end of the First World War, the area returned under Belgrade control as part of the newly formedKingdom 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] Also after theTreaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine, the Strumica region was annexed to Serbian Macedonia in 1919.
The Serbian government pursued a policy of forcedSerbianisation in the region,[92][93] which included systematic suppression of Bulgarian activists, altering family surnames, internal colonisation, exploiting workers, and intense propaganda.[94] To aid the implementation of this policy, some 50,000 Serbian army andgendarmerie were stationed in present-day North Macedonia.[82] By 1940 about 280 Serbian colonies (comprising 4,200 families) were established as part of the government's internal colonisation program (initial plans envisaged 50,000 families settling in present-day North Macedonia).[82]
In 1929, the Kingdom was officially renamed theKingdom of Yugoslavia, and divided into provinces calledbanovinas. South Serbia, including all of present-day North Macedonia, became theVardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.[95]
TheMacedonist ideas increased in Yugoslav Vardar Macedonia and among the left diaspora in Bulgaria during the interwar period. They were supported by the Comintern.[100] In 1934, the Comintern issued aspecial resolution in which for the first time directions were provided for recognising the existence of a separate Macedonian nation and Macedonian language.[101]
During World War II, Yugoslavia was occupied by theAxis 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 army.[103] The committees were mostly formed by former members of IMRO and Macedonian Youth Secret Revolutionary Organization (MYSRO, but someIMRO (United) former members also participated.[104][105]
In Vardar Macedonia, after theBulgarian 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 government, four armies, 455,000 strong in total, were mobilised and reorganised. Most of them re-entered occupied Yugoslavia in early October 1944 and moved fromSofia toNiš, Skopje andPristina with the strategic task of blocking the German forces withdrawing from Greece.[113] The Bulgarian army wouldreach the Alps in Austria, participating in the expulsion of the Germans to the west, through Yugoslavia and Hungary.
Compelled by theSoviet Union with a view towards the creation of a largeSouth Slav Federation, in 1946 the new Communist government, led byGeorgi Dimitrov, agreed to give Bulgarian Macedonia to aUnited Macedonia. With theBled agreement, in 1947 Bulgaria formally confirmed the envisioned unification 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 existence of a separate Macedonian ethnicity and language. After theTito–Stalin split the region of Pirin Macedonia remained part of Bulgaria and later the Bulgarian Communist Party revised its view of the existence of a separate Macedonian nation and language.
Lazar Koliševski was the political leader of SR Macedonia and briefly of SFR Yugoslavia.
In December 1944, theAnti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) proclaimed the People's Republic of Macedonia as part of the People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.[116] ASNOM remained an acting government until the end of the war. The Macedonian alphabet was codified by linguists of ASNOM, who based their alphabet on the phonetic alphabet ofVuk Stefanović Karadžić and the principles ofKrste Petkov Misirkov. During thecivil 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 removed "Socialist" from its name in 1991 when it peacefully seceded from Yugoslavia.
The new republic became one of the six republics of the Yugoslav federation. Following the federation's renaming as theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1963, the People's Republic of Macedonia was likewise renamed the Socialist Republic of Macedonia.[117][118][119]
Macedonia remained at peace through theYugoslav 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. It was seriously destabilised by theKosovo War in 1999, when an estimated 360,000 ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo took refuge in the country.[122] They departed shortly after the war, andAlbanian nationalists on both sides of the border took up arms soon after in pursuit of autonomy or independence for the Albanian-populated areas of Macedonia.[122][123]
Aconflict took place between the government and ethnic Albanian insurgents, mostly in the north and west of the country, between February and August 2001.[123][124][125] The war ended with the intervention of aNATO ceasefire monitoring force. Under the terms of theOhrid Agreement, the government agreed to devolve greater political power 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, theNLA were to disarm and hand over their weapons to a NATO force.[127] However the Macedonian security forces had two more armed confrontations with Albanian militant groups, in2007 and2015 respectively.
Inter-ethnic tensions flared in Macedonia in 2012, with incidents of violence between ethnic Albanians and Macedonians.[128] In April 2017, about 200 protesters - reportedly mostly from the conservative VMRO-DPMNE party,stormed the Macedonian Parliament in response to the election of Talat Xhaferi, an ethnic Albanian and formerNational Liberation Army commander during the 2001 conflict, as the Speaker of the Assembly.[129][130]
Upon its coming to power in 2006, but especially 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 pressure on Greece as well as for the purposes of domestic identity-building.[131] Statues ofAlexander the Great andPhilip of Macedon have been erected in several cities across the country. Additionally, many pieces of public infrastructure, such as airports, highways, and stadiums were renamed after Alexander and Philip. These actions were seen as deliberate provocations in neighbouring Greece, exacerbating the dispute and further stalling the country's EU and NATO applications.[132] The policy has also attracted criticism domestically, as well as from EU diplomats,[131] and, following the Prespa agreement, it has been partly reversed after 2016 by the newSDSM government of North Macedonia.[133][134] Moreover, per Prespa agreement both countries have acknowledged that their respective understanding of the terms "Macedonia" and "Macedonian" refers to a different historical context and cultural heritage.
In August 2017, what was then the Republic of Macedonia signed afriendship agreement with Bulgaria, aiming to end the "anti-Bulgarian ideology" in the country and to solve the historical issues between the two.
Under thePrespa agreement, signed with Greece on 17 June 2018, the country agreed to change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia and stop public use of theVergina Sun. It retained the demonym "Macedonian", but clarified this as distinct from the Hellenistic Macedonian identity in northern Greece. The agreement included removal of irredentist material from textbooks and maps in both countries, and official UN recognition of the SlavicMacedonian language. It replaced the bilateral Interim Accord of 1995.[135]
The withdrawal of the Greek veto, along with the signing the friendship agreement with Bulgaria, resulted in the European Union on 27 June approving the start ofaccession talks, which were expected to take place in 2019, under the condition that the Prespa deal was implemented.[136] On 5 July, the Prespa agreement was ratified by the Macedonian parliament with 69 MPs voting in favour of it.[137] On 12 July,NATO invited Macedonia to start accession talks in a bid to become the alliance's 30th member.[138] On 30 July, the parliament of Macedonia approved plans to hold a non-bindingreferendum on changing the country's name, which took place on 30 September.[139] Ninety-one percent of voters voted in favour with a 37% turnout,[140] but the referendum was not carried because of a constitutional requirement for a 50% turnout.[141]
North Macedonia commemorates its accession to NATO at the US Department of State.
On 6 February 2019, the permanent representatives of NATO member states and Macedonian Foreign Affairs Minister Nikola Dimitrov, signed inBrussels theaccession protocol of North Macedonia into NATO.[142][143] 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 country as North Macedonia and informed accordingly the United Nations and its member states.[144][145][146]
In March 2020, after the ratification process by all NATO members was completed, North Macedoniaacceded to NATO, becoming the 30th member state.[147][148] The same month, the leaders of theEuropean Union formally gave approval to North Macedonia to begin talks to join the EU.[149][150] On 17 November 2020, Bulgaria refused to approve the European Union's negotiation framework for North Macedonia, effectively blocking the official start of accession talks with this country.[151] The explanation from the Bulgarian side was: no implementation of the friendship treaty from 2017, state-supported hate speech, minority claims, and an "ongoing nation-building process" based on historical negationism of the Bulgarian identity, culture and legacy in the broaderregion of Macedonia.[152] The veto received condemnation by intellectuals from both states[153] and criticism from international observers.[154][155][156]
Protests broke out inJuly 2022, organised by the opposition parties, over the French proposal for theaccession of North Macedonia to the EU.[157] The accession talks for the accession of North Macedonia to the EU officially began in the same month, after the French proposal was passed by the Assembly of North Macedonia.[158]
The 2023 European Commission Progress Report has cited the unfulfilled constitutional changes, as the primary reasons for the blocking of the further country's accession path. The EU's intention regarding the country's accession seems unclear, excluding desire to maintain its geopolitical influence here, countering the Chinese and Russian impact in the Western Balkans.[159] On 25 September 2024, the EU announced the separation of Albania from North Macedonia on the EU accession path, due to the disputes between North Macedonia and Bulgaria.[160] Following the decision, the EU opened negotiations on the first chapters with Albania separately on October 15, 2024.
Mount Korab, the highest mountain in North Macedonia
North Macedonia has a total area of 25,436 km2 (9,821 sq mi).[4] It lies between latitudes40° and43° N, and mostly between longitudes20° and23° E (a small area lies east of 23°). North Macedonia has some 748 km (465 mi) of boundaries, shared withSerbia (62 km or 39 mi) to the North,Kosovo (159 km or 99 mi) to the northwest,Bulgaria (148 km or 92 mi) to the east,Greece (228 km or 142 mi) to the south, andAlbania (151 km or 94 mi) to the west. It is a transit way for shipment of goods from Greece, through the Balkans, towards Eastern, Western and Central Europe and through Bulgaria to the east. It is part of the larger region ofMacedonia, which also includesGreek Macedonia and theBlagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria.
North Macedonia is alandlocked country that is geographically clearly defined by a central valley formed by the Vardar river and framed along its borders by mountain ranges. The terrain is mostly rugged, located between theŠar Mountains andOsogovo, which frame the valley of theVardar river. Three large lakes—Lake Ohrid,Lake Prespa andDojran 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 world.[161] 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.[162]
North Macedonia also has scenic mountains. They belong to two different mountain ranges: the first is the Šar Mountains[163][164] that continues to the West Vardar/Pelagonia group of mountains (Baba Mountain,Nidže,Kožuf andJakupica), also known as theDinaric range. The second range is theOsogovo–Belasica mountain chain, also known as theRhodope range. 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 mountain group.Mount Korab of the Šar Mountains on the Albanian border, at 2,764 m (9,068 ft), is the tallest mountain in North Macedonia. In North Macedonia there are 1,100 large sources of water. The rivers flow into three different basins: the Aegean, theAdriatic and theBlack Sea.[165]
The Aegean basin is the largest. It covers 87% of the territory of North Macedonia, which is 22,075 square kilometres (8,523 sq mi).Vardar, the largest river in this basin, drains 80% of the territory or 20,459 square kilometres (7,899 sq mi). Its valley plays an important part in the economy and the communication system of the country. The Vardar Valley project is considered to be crucial for the strategic development of the country. The riverBlack Drin forms the Adriatic basin, which covers an area of about 3,320 km2 (1,282 sq mi), i.e., 13% of the territory. It receives water from Lakes Prespa and Ohrid. The Black Sea basin is the smallest with only 37 km2 (14 sq mi). It covers the northern side of MountSkopska Crna Gora. This is the source of the riverBinačka Morava, which joins theMorava, and later, theDanube, which flows into the Black Sea. North Macedonia has around fifty ponds and three natural lakes,Lake Ohrid,Lake Prespa andLake Dojran. In North Macedonia there are nine spa towns and resorts: Banište, Banja Bansko, Istibanja, Katlanovo,Kežovica, Kosovrasti, Banja Kočani, Kumanovski Banji and Negorci.[citation needed]
Köppen–Geiger climate classification map for North Macedonia
Four different seasons are found in the country with warm and dry summers and moderately cold and snowy 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 heat seasons during summer arise due to the subtropical pressure of the Aegean Sea and climate influences from theMiddle East, with the latter causing dry periods.[166] There are three main climatic zones in the country: mildlycontinental in the north, temperateMediterranean in the south andmountainous in the zones with high altitude.[167] Along the valleys of the Vardar andStrumica rivers, in the regions ofGevgelija,Valandovo,Dojran, Strumica, andRadoviš, the climate is temperate Mediterranean. The warmest regions areDemir Kapija and Gevgelija, where the temperature in July and August frequently exceeds 40 °C (104 °F).[168]
Average annual precipitation varies from 1,700 mm (66.9 in) in the western mountainous area to 500 mm (19.7 in) in the eastern area. There is a low level of precipitation in the Vardar valley with 500 mm (19.7 in) of water per year.[166] The climate and irrigation diversity allow the cultivation of different plant types, includingwheat,corn,potatoes, poppies, peanuts, andrice.[169] There are thirty main and regular weather stations in the country.
The flora of North Macedonia is represented by around 210families, 920genera, and around 3,700 plant species. The most abundant group are theflowering plants with around 3,200 species, followed bymosses (350 species) andferns (42).
The native forest fauna is abundant and includes bears,wild boars, wolves, foxes, squirrels,chamois and deer. Thelynx is found, very rarely, in the mountains of western Macedonia, while deer can be found in the region ofDemir Kapija. Forest birds include theblackcap, thegrouse, theblack grouse, theimperial eagle and the forest owl.
Since 2019, local government functions are divided between 80municipalities (општини,opštini;singular:општина,opština).[173] The capital, Skopje, is governed as a group of ten municipalities collectively 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 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, 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, North Macedonia saw a relatively calm and democratic change of government in theelections held on 5 July 2006. The elections were marked by a decisive victory of the centre-right partyVMRO-DPMNE led byNikola Gruevski. Gruevski's decision to include theDemocratic Party of Albanians in the new government, instead of theDemocratic 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. A dialogue was later 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.[174]
After the early parliamentary elections held in 2008, VMRO-DPMNE and Democratic Union for Integration formed a ruling coalition.[175] In April 2009, presidential and local elections in the country were carried out peacefully, which was crucial for Macedonian aspirations to join the EU.[176] 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 theSocial Democratic Party, became the new prime minister six months after early elections.[177][178] The new centre-left government ended 11 years of conservative VMRO-DPMNE rule led by former prime minister Nikola Gruevski.[179]
As of 4 January 2020[update], the acting prime minister of North Macedonia wasOliver Spasovski and the president of the Parliament wasTalat Xhaferi.[180][181] The election of Xhaferi was immediately met with protests led by VMRO-DPMNE, which was quickly handled by the police.[180]
The early parliamentary elections took place on 15 July 2020.[182] Zoran Zaev has served as the prime minister of the Republic of North Macedonia again since August 2020.[183]Stevo Pendarovski was sworn in as North Macedonia's president in May 2019.[184] Prime minister Zoran Zaev announced his resignation after his party, the Social Democratic Union, suffered losses in local elections in October 2021.[185] In January 2022,Dimitar Kovačevski was elected as prime minister. The new coalition cabinet composed of Kovačevski's Social Democrats and two ethnic Albanian parties.[186][177]Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova took office on 12 May 2024, becoming the country's first female president.[187][178]
Parliament, or Assembly (Macedonian:Собрание,Sobranie), is the country's legislative body. It makes, proposes and adopts laws. TheConstitution of North Macedonia has been in use since shortly after the independence of the republic in 1991. It limits the power of the governments, both local and national. The military is also limited by the constitution. The constitution states that North Macedonia is a social free state, and that Skopje is the capital.[188] 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 Parliament isJovan Mitreski since 2024.[189][190]
Executive power in North Macedonia is exercised by the Government, whose prime minister is the most politically powerful person in the country. 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 technology, society, internal 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 JudicialSupreme court, Constitutional Court and the Republican Judicial Council. The assembly appoints the judges.[177]
The flag of the then-Republic of Macedonia between 1992 and 1995, bearing theVergina Sun
The use of the name "Macedonia" was disputed between Greece and North Macedonia. The specific naming dispute was reignited after thebreakup of Yugoslavia and the newly gained independence of the former Socialist Republic of Macedonia in 1991.[191] Greece opposed the use of the name without a geographical qualifier so as to avoid confusion with its own region ofGreek Macedonia to the south.[192] As some ethnic Greeks identify themselves asMacedonians, unrelated to the Slavic people who are associated with North Macedonia, Greece further objected to the use of the termMacedonian for the neighbouring country's largest ethnic group; it accused the country of appropriating symbols and figures that are historically considered parts ofGreece's culture (such asVergina Sun andAlexander the Great), and of promoting theirredentist concept of aUnited Macedonia, which would include territories of Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, and Serbia.[193]
The UN adopted the provisional referencethe former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Macedonian:Поранешна Југословенска Република Македонија,romanised: Poranešna Jugoslovenska Republika Makedonija) when the country was admitted to the organisation in 1993.[194] The lower-cased "former" was chosen intentionally to display the provisionality of the name although most UN member countries soon abandoned the provisional reference and recognised the country as theRepublic of Macedonia instead.[195] Most international organisations adopted the same convention along with over 100 UN members and four of the five permanentUN Security Council members.[196][197] In the period between 1991 and 2019, the country's name was an ongoing issue in bilateral and international relations. The UN set up a negotiating process with a mediator,Matthew Nimetz, and the two parties to try to mediate the dispute. Following the ratification of the Prespa agreement, most major international organisations welcomed the settlement of the long-standing dispute, and adopted the country's new name.[198][199][200]
North Macedonia became a member state 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 resolution of thelong-running dispute with Greece about the country's name.
The major interest of the country is a full integration in the European and theTrans-Atlantic integration processes.[201]
In 2005, the country was officially recognised as aEuropean Union candidate state.
At the NATO2008 Bucharest summit, Macedonia failed to gain an invitation to join the organisation because Greece vetoed the move after the dispute over the name issue.[203] The U.S. had previously expressed support for an invitation,[204] but the summit then decided to extend an invitation only on condition of a resolution of the naming conflict with Greece.
In March 2009, theEuropean Parliament expressed support for North Macedonia's EU candidacy and asked the EU Commission to grant the country a date for the start of accession talks by the end of 2009. The parliament also recommended a speedy lifting of the visa regime for Macedonian citizens.[205] Prior to the Prespa agreement, the country failed to receive a start date for accession talks as a result of the naming dispute. However, after the Prespa agreement, North Macedonia became a member state of NATO on 27 March 2020. The EU's stance was similar to NATO's in that resolution of the naming dispute was a precondition for the start of accession talks.
In October 2012, the EU Enlargement CommissionerŠtefan Füle proposed a start of accession negotiations with the country for the fourth time, while the previous efforts were blocked each time by Greece. At the same time Füle visited Bulgaria in a bid to clarify the state's position with respect to Macedonia. He established that Bulgaria had almost joined Greece in vetoing the accession talks. The Bulgarian position was that Sofia cannot grant an EU certificate to Skopje, which is systematically employing an ideology of hate towards Bulgaria.[206]
Macedonian soldiers of the Special Operations Regiment in Kabul, Afghanistan
The Army of the Republic of North Macedonia (ARSM) is led by theGeneral Staff. Below it are the Operations Command, which includes theMechanized Infantry Brigade, theAir Brigade, theSpecial Operations Regiment, and several independent battalions; the Training and Doctrine Command, which also oversees theMilitary Reserve Force; and the Logistics Base. There is also an Honor Guard Battalion that is directly subordinated to the General Staff.[207] As of 2024 the ARSM had 8,000 active personnel and 4,850 reservists, and as of 2023 it had a military budget of US$275 million.[208] It has been a volunteer military since conscription was ended in 2007. North Macedonia has deployed troops to Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Kosovo, and Lebanon, as part of NATO, EU, or UN missions.[209]
The Ministry of Defence develops the Republic's defence strategy and assesses possible threats and risks. It is also responsible for the defence system, including training, readiness, equipment, and development, and for drawing up and presenting the defence budget.[210]
According to human rights organisations, in 2003 there were suspected extrajudicial executions, threats against, and intimidation of, human rights activists and opposition journalists, and allegations of torture by the police.[211][212]
In August 2004, the country was reorganised into 84 municipalities (opštini; sing.opština); 10 of the municipalities constitute the City ofSkopje, a distinct unit of local self-government and the country'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 government was organised into 34 administrative districts, communes, or counties (also opštini).
Ranked as the fourth "best reformatory state" out of 178 countries ranked by theWorld Bank in 2009, North Macedonia has undergone considerable economic reform since independence.[213] The country has developed anopen economy with trade accounting for more than 90% of GDP in recent years. Since 1996, North Macedonia has witnessed steady, though slow, economic growth with GDP growing by 3.1% in 2005. This figure was projected to rise to an average of 5.2% in the 2006–2010 period.[214] The government has proven successful in its efforts to combat inflation, with aninflation rate of only 3% in 2006 and 2% in 2007,[213] and has implemented policies focused on attractingforeign investment and promoting the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
In terms of GDP structure, as of 2013[update], the manufacturing sector (including mining and construction) constituted the largest part of GDP at 21.4%, up from 21.1% in 2012. The trade, transportation and accommodation 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 previous year.[219]
In terms of foreign trade, the largest sector contributing to the country's export in 2014 was "chemicals and related products" at 21.4%, followed by the "machinery and transport equipment" sector at 21.1%. North Macedonia's main import sectors in 2014 were "manufactured goods classified chiefly by material" with 34.2%, "machinery and transport equipment" with 18.7% and "mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials" with 14.4% of the total imports. Even 68.8% of the foreign trade 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, etc.). Almost 12% of the total external trade in 2014 was done with the Western Balkan countries.[220] In 2007, North Macedonia's information technology market increased 63.8% year on year, which was the fastest growing in the Adriatic region.[221]
North Macedonia has one of the highest shares of people struggling financially, with 72% of its citizens stating that they could manage on their household's income only "with difficulty" or "with great difficulty", though North Macedonia, along with Croatia, was the only country in the Western Balkans to not report an increase in this statistic.[222] Corruption and a relatively ineffective legal system also act as significant restraints on successfuleconomic development. North Macedonia still has one of the lowestper capita GDPs in Europe. Furthermore, the country'sgrey market is estimated at close to 20% of GDP.[223] PPS GDP per capita stood at 36% of the EU average in 2017.[224] With a GDP per capita of US$9,157 atpurchasing power parity and aHuman Development Index of 0.701, North Macedonia is less developed and has a considerably smaller economy than most of the former Yugoslav states.
Trade
The outbreak of the Yugoslav wars and the imposition of sanctions onSerbia and Montenegro caused great damage to the country's economy, with Serbia constituting 60% of its markets before the disintegration of Yugoslavia. When Greece imposed atrade embargo on the Republic in 1994–95, the economy was also affected. Some relief was afforded by the end of theBosnian War in November 1995 and the lifting of the Greek embargo, but theKosovo War of 1999 and the 2001 Albanian crisis caused further destabilisation.
Since the end of the Greek embargo, Greece has become the country's most important business partner. (SeeGreek investments in North Macedonia.) Many Greek companies have bought former state companies in North Macedonia,[225] such as theoil refinery Okta, the baking company Zhito Luks, a marble mine inPrilep, textile facilities in Bitola, etc., and employ 20,000 people. The moving of business to North Macedonia in the oil sector has been caused by the rise of Greece in the oil markets.[226]
Other key partners are Germany, Italy, the United States, Slovenia, Austria and Turkey.
Tourism plays a significant role 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.[227] Following its independence, the most serious negative impact on tourism performance occurred due to the armed conflicts taking place in 2001.[228] The number of foreign visitors has been on the rise since, with a 14.6% increase in 2011.[229] In 2019, North Macedonia received 1,184,963 tourist arrivals out of which 757,593 foreign.[230] Most numerous are tourists fromTurkey, neighbouring Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria,Poland and other countries of Western Europe.[231] The biggest bulk of tourists, approximately 60% of the million tourists that visited the country in 2017, was situated in Skopje and the southwestern region of the country.[232]
The most significant tourism branches are lake tourism as there are three lakes in Ohrid, Prespa and Dojran and over 50 small glacial lakes of variable sizes, mountainous tourism as there are 16 mountains higher than 2,000 metres. Other forms of tourism also include rural and ecotourism, city tourism andcultural tourism, represented through gastronomy, traditional music, cultural celebrations and cultural heritage sites.[228]
North Macedonia (along withMontenegro,Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo) belongs to the less-developed southern region of the former Yugoslavia. It suffered severe economic difficulties after independence, when the Yugoslavinternal market collapsed and subsidies from Belgrade ended. In addition, it faced many of the same problems faced by other former socialistEast European countries during the transition to amarket 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.
North Macedonia is a landlocked country in the middle of the Balkan peninsula, and the main transport links in the country are those that connect the different parts of the peninsula (trans-Balkan links). Particularly important is the connection between north–south and Vardar valley, which connects Greece with the rest of Europe. As of 2019[update], there were 10,591 km (6,581 mi) of roads, of which about 6,000 km (3,700 mi) were paved.[233]
As of 2019[update], the total length of the railway network in North Macedonia was 922 km (573 mi).[233] Operated byMakedonski Železnici, the most important railway line is the line on the border with Serbia–Kumanovo–Skopje–Veles–Gevgelija–border with Greece. Since 2001, the railway line Beljakovci has been built—the border with Bulgaria, which will get a direct connection Skopje-Sofia. The most important railway hub in the country 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 theWorld Postal Union in 1997, PTT Macedonia was divided into Macedonian Telekom and Macedonian Post (later renamed North Macedonia Post).
As far as water transport is concerned, only lake traffic through Ohrid and Prespan Lake has been developed, mostly for tourist purposes.
TheUnited States Agency for International Development has underwritten a project calledMacedonia Connects, which has made North Macedonia the first all-broadband wireless country in the world. The Ministry of Education and Sciences reports that 461 schools (primary and secondary) are now connected to the Internet.[236] In addition, anInternet service provider (On.net), has created a MESH Network to provide WIFI services in the 11 largest cities/towns in the country.
The above table shows ethnic affiliation of the population according to the2021 census:[2]
The results from the last2021 census show a population of 1,836,713. The population density of the country is 72.2 persons per km2 and the average age of the population is 40.08 years. 598,632 households were recorded with an average number of household members of 3.06. The gender balance of the country is 50.4% female to 49.6% male.[237]
Based on the 2021 census data, the largest ethnic group in the country are the ethnicMacedonians. The second-largest group are theAlbanians, who dominated much of the northwestern part of the country. Following them,Turks are the third-biggest ethnic group of the country where official census data put them close to 70,000 and unofficial estimates[citation needed] suggest numbers between 170,000 and 200,000. Some unofficial estimates indicate that there are possibly up to 260,000Roma.[238]
Eastern Orthodox Christianity is the most practiced religion in North Macedonia, making up 46.1% of the population, the vast majority of whom belong to theMacedonian Orthodox Church. Various other Christian denominations account for 13.9% of the population. Muslims constitute 32.2% of the population. North Macedonia has the fifth-highest proportion of Muslims in Europe, after those of Kosovo (96%),[240] Turkey (90%),[citation needed] Albania (59%),[241] and Bosnia and Herzegovina (51%).[242]Most Muslims are Albanians, Turks, Romani or Bosniaks; few areMacedonian Muslims. The remaining 1.4% was determined to be "unaffiliated" by a 2010 Pew Research estimation.[243]
There were 1,842 churches and 580 mosques in the country at the end of 2011.[244] The Orthodox and Islamic religious communities have secondary religion schools in Skopje. There is an Orthodoxtheological college in the capital. The Macedonian Orthodox Church has jurisdiction over 10 provinces (seven in the country and three abroad), has 10 bishops and about 350 priests. A total of 30,000 people are baptised in all the provinces every year.
The Macedonian Orthodox Church, which declaredautocephaly in 1967, remained unrecognised by the other Orthodox Churches until 2022 when it restored relations with theSerbian Orthodox Church and theEcumenical Patriarchate, which has been followed by recognition from other churches.[245][246]
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 and harming the religious feelings of local citizens" by distributing Serbian Orthodox church calendars and pamphlets.[247]
TheMacedonian Byzantine Catholic Church has approximately 11,000 adherents in North Macedonia. The Church was established in 1918, and is made up mostly of converts to Catholicism and their descendants. The Church is of theByzantine Rite and is in communion with the Roman andEastern Catholic Churches. Its liturgical worship is performed in Macedonian.[248]
There is a smallProtestant community. Former PresidentBoris Trajkovski was a well-known Protestant. He was from theMethodist community, which is the largest and oldest Protestant church in the Republic, dating back to the late 19th century. Since the 1980s the Protestant community has grown, partly through new confidence and partly with outside missionary help.[citation needed]
After their liberation and the end of the War, most opted to emigrate toIsrael. Today, the country's Jewish community numbers approximately 200 persons, almost all of whom live in Skopje. Most Macedonian Jews areSephardic—the descendants of 15th-century refugees who had been expelled fromCastile, Aragon andPortugal.[citation needed]
The national and official language in all aspects of the whole territory of North Macedonia and in its international relations is theMacedonian language. Since 2019Albanian is co-official at a state level (excluding defence, central police and monetary policy).[250] Macedonian belongs to theEastern branch of theSouth Slavic language group, while Albanian occupies an independent branch of theIndo-European family of languages. In municipalities where at least 20% of the population is part of another ethnic minority, those individual languages are used for official purposes in local government, alongside Macedonian and Albanian or just Macedonian.
Macedonian is closely related to andmutually intelligible with standardBulgarian. It also has some similarities with standardSerbian and the intermediateTorlakian/Shop dialects spoken mostly in southeastern Serbia and western Bulgaria (and by speakers in the northeastern corner of the country). Thestandard language wascodified in the period following World War II and has accumulated a thriving literary tradition.
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]
North Macedonia has a rich cultural heritage in art, architecture, poetry and music. It has many ancient, protected religious sites. Poetry, cinema, and music festivals are held annually.Macedonian music styles developed under the strong influence ofByzantine church music. North Macedonia has a significant number of preservedByzantine fresco paintings, mainly from the period between the 11th and 16th centuries. There are several thousands of square metres offresco painting preserved, the major part of which is in very good condition and represent masterworks of the Macedonian school of ecclesiastical painting.
The most important cultural events in the country are theOhrid Summer Festival of classical music and drama, theStruga Poetry Evenings which gather poets from more than 50 countries in the world, International Camera Festival inBitola, Open Youth Theatre andSkopje Jazz Festival in Skopje etc.The National Opera opened in 1947, then named "Macedonian Opera", with a performance ofCavalleria 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 ofKiril Makedonski'sTsar Samuil in May 1972.[257]
The country's cuisine is representative of that of the Balkans—reflectingMediterranean andMiddle Eastern (Ottoman) influences, and to a lesser extentItalian,German and Eastern European (especiallyHungarian) ones.[258] The relatively warm climate in North Macedonia provides excellent growth conditions for a variety of vegetables, herbs and fruits. Thus, Macedonian cuisine is particularly diverse.
Macedonian cuisine is also noted for the diversity and quality of itsdairy products, wines, and local alcoholic beverages, such asrakija.Tavče gravče andmastika are considered the national dish and drink of North Macedonia, respectively. Some other important dishes includeŠopska salad, an appetiser and side dish that accompanies the main meal,ajvar, stuffed peppers,pastrmajlija and others.[259]
Thehistory of film making in the country dates back over 110 years.[citation needed] The first film to be produced on the territory of the present-day country was made in 1895 byJanaki and Milton Manaki in Bitola. Throughout the past century, the medium of film has depicted the history, culture and everyday life 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 prestigious awards. The first Macedonian feature film wasFrosina, released in 1952 and directed byVojislav Nanović.[263]
The first feature film in colour wasMiss Stone, a movie about a Protestant missionary in Ottoman Macedonia. It was released in 1958. The highest grossing feature film in North Macedonia wasBal-Can-Can, having been seen by over 500,000 people in its first year alone. In 1994,Milcho Manchevski's filmBefore the Rain was nominated for anAcademy Award in the category ofBest International Feature Film.[264] Manchevski continues to be the most prominent modern filmmaker in the country having subsequently written and directedDust andShadows. In 2020, the documentaryHoneyland (2019) directed byTamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov, received nominations in the categories forBest International Feature Film andBest Documentary Feature at the92nd Academy Awards, making it the first non-fictional film to receive a nomination in both categories.[265]
Sun: The officialflag 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 thecoat 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 centre 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".
^ National and official language in all aspects of the whole territory of the state and in its international relations
^ Co-official language at a state level (excluding defence, central police and monetary policy) and in local self-government units where speakers are 20% or more
^excluding the population for which data is unavailable/unknown/undeclared
^ North Macedonia has recognised Kosovo since 9 October 2008.[271]
^This policy changed after 1943 with the arrival of Tito's envoy Montenegrin SerbSvetozar Vukmanović-Tempo. He began in earnest to organise armed resistance to the Bulgarian rule and sharply criticisedSharlo's pro-Bulgarian policy. At a meeting of the partisan brigades, as well as a group of battalions in theResen region on 21 December 1943, Tempo makes the following comments about Shatorov and the leadership of the MCP: "They thought that the Macedonian people were Bulgarians and that they were oppressed by the hegemony of Great Serbia and had to be transferred to Bulgaria. Their basic slogan is: 'All non-Macedonians out of Macedonia'. The capitalJ [Serbo-Croatian spelling of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavian, etc.] was deleted from all documents. In fact they did not want Yugoslavia, no matter where it stood politically. When the war started, the initial decision of this leadership was to be separate from Yugoslavia and from Tito. They declared that Macedonia would be free as soon as the Bulgarians came...."
^μακεδνός, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott,A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus
^μακρός, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott,A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus
^Eugene N. Borza,Makedonika, Regina Books,ISBN0-941690-65-2, p. 114: The "highlanders" or "Makedones" of the mountainous regions of western Macedonia are derived from northwest Greek stock; they were akin both to those who at an earlier time may have migrated south to become the historical "Dorians".
^Nigel Guy Wilson (2009).Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece, Routledge, p. 439: The latest archaeological findings have confirmed that Macedonia took its name from a tribe of tall, Greek-speaking people, the Makednoi.
^Beekes, Robert (2010),Etymological Dictionary of Greek, vol. II, Leiden, Boston: Brill, p. 894
^De Decker, Filip (2016). "AN ETYMOLOGICAL CASE STUDY ON THE AND VOCABULARY IN ROBERT BEEKES'S NEW ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF GREEK".Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis.133 (2).doi:10.4467/20834624SL.16.006.5152.ISSN1897-1059.
^"What is often overlooked is howBulgarians andGreeks collaborated unknowingly from the middle decades of the 19th century onward in breathing new life into the geographical name Macedonia, which was all but forgotten during theByzantine andOttoman periods. In the late Ottoman period, "Macedonia" as such did not exist as an administrative unit in the empire...Greek nationalism, fixated on the continuity between ancient and modern Hellenes, was keen to project the name Macedonia as a way to assert theGreek historical character of the area. In 1845, for instance,the story of Alexander was published in a Slavo-Macedonian dialect scripted in Greek characters... For their part,Bulgarian nationalists readily accepted Macedonia as a regional denomination... Macedonia had become one of the "historic" Bulgarian lands... and "Macedonian Bulgarian" turned into a standard phrase." Dimitar Bechev, Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia, Scarecrow Press, 2009,ISBN0-8108-6295-6, Introduction, p. VII.
^"In the early 19th c. the modern Greeks with their Western-derived obsession with antiquity played a crucial role in reviving the classical name 'Macedonia' in the popular consciousness of the Balkan peoples. For a thousand years before that the name 'Macedonia' had meant different things for Westerners and Balkan Christians: for Westerners it always denoted the territories of the ancient Macedonians, but for the Greeks and all other Balkan Christians the name 'Macedonia' – if at all used – covered the territories of the former Byzantine theme 'Macedonia', situated between Adrianople (Edrine) and the river Nestos (Mesta) in classical and present-day Thrace. The central and northern parts of present-day 'geographic Macedonia' were traditionally called either 'Bulgaria' and 'Lower Moesia', but within a generation after Greek independence (gained in 1830) these names were replaced by 'Macedonia' in the minds of both Greeks and non-Greeks." Drezov K. (1999) Macedonian identity: an overview of the major claims. In: Pettifer J. (eds) The New Macedonian Question. St Antony's Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London,ISBN0-230-53579-8, pp. 50–51.
^"In 1813 Macedonia did not exist. A century later, it had become a hotly contested nationalist cause, a battlefield, and an obsession. What led to this dramatic transformation was modernity: a chilly wind of West European provenance that propelled to the Balkans concepts that few in the region understood, wanted or cared about. Among these, the idea of nationalism was the most potent, and the most lethal. Before the 1850s, Macedonia was a poverty-stricken province of the Ottoman Empire, where an Orthodox Christian and mostly peasant population speaking a variety of Slavonic idioms, Greek, or Vlach, was trying to eke out a modest living, and protect it from rapacious brigands and a decaying Ottoman administrative system. Religion was the only collective identity that most of them could make sense of, for ethnicity and language played little role in shaping their loyalties. But the winds of change quickly gathered momentum, and eventually shattered that multi-ethnic community, producing a 'Greek', or a 'Bulgarian', out of a 'Christian'." D. Livanios' review of Vemund Aarbakke, Ethnic Rivalry and the Quest for Macedonia, 1870–1913 in The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 83, No. 1 (Jan. 2005), pp. 141–142
^The ancient name 'Macedonia' disappeared during the period of Ottoman rule and was only restored in the nineteenth century originally as geographical term. The Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism, John Breuilly, Oxford University Press, 2013,ISBN0-19-920919-7, p. 192.
^"The region was not called "Macedonia" by the Ottomans, and the name "Macedonia" gained currency together with the ascendance of rival nationalism." Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian Question, Victor Roudometof, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002,ISBN0-275-97648-3, p. 89.
^"The Greeks were amongst the first to define these lands since the beginning of the 19th century. For educated Greeks, Macedonia was the historical Greek land of kings Philip and Alexander the Great." John S. Koliopoulos, Thanos M. Veremis, Modern Greece: A History since 1821. A New History of Modern Europe, John Wiley & Sons, 2009,ISBN1-4443-1483-1, p. 48.
^Donald Bloxham, The Final Solution: A Genocide, OUP Oxford, 2009,ISBN0-19-955033-6, p. 65.
^Chris Kostov, Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, Peter Lang, 2010,ISBN3-0343-0196-0, p. 76.
^Waterfield, Robin (2019).The Library, Books 16–20: Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Successors. Oxford University Press. p. 428.ISBN978-0-19-875988-1.Paeonia is roughly equivalent to the country currently known as the Republic of North Macedonia (the former FYROM).
^Reames, Jeanne; Howe, Timothy (2008).Macedonian Legacies: Studies in Ancient Macedonian History and Culture in Honor of Eugene N. Borza. Regina Books. p. 239.ISBN978-1-930053-56-4.Having just conquered Paeonia (roughly where the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is today).
^Peshkopia, Ridvan (2015).Conditioning Democratization: Institutional Reforms and EU Membership Conditionality in Albania and Macedonia. Anthem Press. p. 189.ISBN978-0-85728-325-2.Indeed, the territory of the Republic of Macedonia encompasses little of the ancient kingdom of Macedon, which, in most part, overlaps with the current region of the contemporary Greece, but the name Macedonia "flowed" northward with the creation of Roman region of Macedonia, after the Romans occupied Greece in 168 BC. Besides the former kingdom of Macedon, the Roman region included the territories of Paeonia, where the contemporary FYR Macedonia rests.
^The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 3, Part 3: The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman and N. G. L. Hammond, 1982,ISBN0-521-23447-6, p. 284.
^Macedonia yesterday and today Author Giorgio Nurigiani, Publisher Teleurope, 1967 p. 77.
^Stipčević, Aleksandar (1977). The Illyrians. Translated by Stojana Čulić Burton. Park Ridge, New Jersey: Noyes Press. p. 44.
^A Companion to Ancient Macedonia, By Joseph Roisman and Ian Worthington, p. 549
^"Scopje".Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved6 June 2011.
^A. F. Christidis (2007).A History of Ancient Greek: From the Beginnings to Late Antiquity, Cambridge University Press, p. 351: "Despite Roman domination, there was no retreat on the part of Greek tradition in the eastern part of the empire, and only in Macedonia did Latin spread in some extent".
^Bintliff J.L. (2003), The ethnoarchaeology of a 'passive' ethnicity: The Arvanites of Central Greece, p. 142. In: Brown K.S., Hamilakis Y. (Eds.) The Usable Past. Greek Metahistories. Lanham-Boulder: Lexington Books. 129–144.
^D. Hupchick (2002) The Balkans: From Constantinople to Communism, Springer, p. 33,ISBN0-312-29913-3.
^Sampimon, Janette (2006).Becoming Bulgarian: The articulation of Bulgarian identity in the nineteenth century in its international context: An intellectual history. Pegasus. p. 234.ISBN978-90-6143-311-8.
^Clarke, James Franklin; Hupchick, Dennis P. (1988).The pen and the sword: Studies in Bulgarian history. East European Monographs. p. 221.ISBN978-0-88033-149-4.Peichinovich of Tetovo, Macedonia, author of one of the first Bulgarian books
^Gawrych, George (2006).The Crescent and the Eagle: Ottoman Rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874–1913. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 28.ISBN978-1-84511-287-5.
^There was even an attempt to form a kind of revolutionary government led by the socialist Nikola Karev. The Krushevo manifesto was declared, assuring the population that the uprising was against the Sultan and not against Muslims in general, and that all peoples would be included. As the population of Krushevo was two-thirds hellenised Vlachs and Patriarchist Slavs, this was a wise move. Despite these promises, the insurgent flew Bulgarian flags everywhere and in many places the uprising did entail attacks on Muslim Turks and Albanians who themselves organised for self-defence." Who are the Macedonians? Hugh Poulton, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 1995,ISBN1-85065-238-4, p. 57.
^In fact Macedonian historians asBlaze Ristovski have recognised, that the "government" of the "republic", nowadays a symbol of Macedonian statehood, was actually composed of people who identified themselves as "Greeks", "Vlachs" and "Bulgarians". "We, the People: Politics of National Peculiarity in Southeastern Europe" Diana Mishkova, Central European University Press, 2009,ISBN963-9776-28-9, p. 124.
^"The IMARO activists saw the future autonomous Macedonia as a multinational polity, and did not pursue the self-determination of Macedonian Slavs as a separate ethnicity. Therefore, Macedonian was an umbrella term covering Bulgarians, Turks, Greeks, Vlachs, Albanians, Serbs, Jews, and so on." Historical Dictionary of Macedonia, Historical Dictionaries of Europe, Dimitar Bechev, Scarecrow Press, 2009,ISBN0-8108-6295-6, Introduction.
^The political and military leaders of the Slavs of Macedonia at the turn of the century seem not to have heard the call for a separate Macedonian national identity; they continued to identify themselves in a national sense as Bulgarians rather than Macedonians.[...] (They) never seem to have doubted "the predominantly Bulgarian character of the population of Macedonia". "The Macedonian conflict: ethnic nationalism in a transnational world", Princeton University Press, Danforth, Loring M. 1997,ISBN0-691-04356-6, p. 64.
^"Kraljevina Jugoslavija! Novi naziv naše države. No, mi smo itak med seboj vedno dejali Jugoslavija, četudi je bilo na vseh uradnih listih Kraljevina Srbov, Hrvatov in Slovencev. In tudi drugi narodi, kakor Nemci in Francozi, so pisali že prej v svojih listih mnogo o Jugoslaviji. 3. oktobra, ko je kralj Aleksander podpisal "Zakon o nazivu in razdelitvi kraljevine na upravna območja", pa je bil naslov kraljevine Srbov, Hrvatov in Slovencev za vedno izbrisan." (Naš rod ("Our Generation", a monthly Slovenian language periodical), Ljubljana 1929/30, št. 1, str. 22, letnik I.)
^Gerginov, Kr., Bilyarski, Ts. Unpublished documents for Todor Alexandrov's activities 1910–1919, magazine VIS, book 2, 1987, p. 214 – Гергинов, Кр. Билярски, Ц. Непубликувани документи за дейността на Тодор Александров 1910–1919, сп. ВИС, кн. 2 от 1987, с. 214.
^Duncan Perry, "The Republic of Macedonia: finding its way" in Karen Dawisha and Bruce Parrot (eds.), Politics, power and the struggle for Democracy in South-Eastern Europe, Cambridge University Press, 1997, pp. 228–229.
^Mitre Inadeski, Hronologija na Skopje: rabotničkoto i narodnoosloboditelnoto dviženje 1939–1945, tom 2, Arhiv, 1974, str. 181.
^Zikov, Mihailo (1995).Клима и климатска регионализација во Република Македонија, "Географски разгледи" [Climate and climatic regionalisation in the Republic of Macedonia "Geographical postcards"] (in Macedonian). Skopje.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Jovanovski, Mirche (April 2017). "Политичката криза не е добра реклама за туризмот" [The political crisis is not a good advertisement for tourism].Ekonomija I Biznis.19 (226):44–47.
^Friedman, Victor; Palmer, Veselka (1995), "La cuisine macédonien", in Aufray, Michel; Perret, Michel (eds.),Cuisines d'Orient et d'ailleurs(PDF), Paris: INALCO/Grenoble: Glénant, pp. 76–79, archived fromthe original(PDF) on 14 October 2017, retrieved10 February 2016
^Risteski, Michael (2016). "Culture and Food – Determining the Value of Food in Rural Tourism as an Important Part of the total Tourism Experience".XVI International Conference of Partner Institutions "Planning for Change". La Fondation pour la Formation Hoteliere, Nestle Pro Gastronomia.
^"Global Peace Index 2019"(PDF).visionofhumanity.org. Institute of Economics & Peace. p. 9. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 27 August 2019. Retrieved10 February 2020.
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Nicolle, David (2008).The Ottomans: Empire of Faith. Thalamus Publishing.ISBN978-1-902886-11-4.* Tziampiris, Aristotle. "Greek Historiography and Slav-Macedonian National Identity."The Historical Review/La Revue Historique 8 (2011): 215-225.online
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