Vardar Macedonia (Macedonian andSerbian:Вардарска Македонија,romanized:Vardarska Makedonija) is a historical term referring to the northern part of the broaderMacedonian region, roughly corresponding to present-dayNorth Macedonia. The name derives from theVardar River and is primarily associated with the period ofSerbian (1912–1918) and laterYugoslav rule (1918–1991).
Vardar Macedonia refers to the northern part of the broaderMacedonian region, which became part of theKingdom of Serbia following theBalkan Wars (1912–1913) and was formally assigned to Serbia by theTreaty of Bucharest. It was named after theVardar River, distinguishing it fromAegean Macedonia in Greece andPirin Macedonia in Bulgaria.[1]
The region was initially known asSerbian Macedonia[2][3] (Serbian:Српска Македонија /Srpska Makedonija) although the use of the nameMacedonia was prohibited later in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, due to the implemented policy ofSerbianisation of the local Slavic-speakers.[4][5] From 1919 to 1922, the area (including parts of today Kosovo and Eastern Serbia) was part ofSouth Serbia (Serbian:Jужна Србија /Južna Srbija),[6][7][8] In 1929, theKingdom of Yugoslavia was divided into provinces calledbanovinas. Vardar Macedonia as part of South Serbia then became part ofVardar Banovina.[9]
DuringWorld War I it was occupied byBulgaria as part of theMilitary Inspection Area of Macedonia. After the war the present-dayStrumica andNovo Selo municipalities were broken away fromBulgaria and ceded to Yugoslavia. During theSecond World War, Bulgaria established two administrative districts in the region – Bitola and Skopje. In August 1944 theDemocratic Federal Macedonia was proclaimed with Vardar Macedonia as part of it. In 1945, it became one of the six constituent countries ofSFR Yugoslavia and later was renamed in thePeople's Republic of Macedonia (1946–1963),[10] and finally toSocialist Republic of Macedonia (1963–1991). Before theindependence of the Republic of Macedonia, the region was also called Yugoslav Macedonia.
After thebreakup of Yugoslavia, besidesNorth Macedonia, the region encompasses alsoTrgovište andPreševo municipalities inCentral Serbia,[11] as well theElez Han municipality inKosovo.[12]