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Basic Facts about the Republic of Macedonia PDF Print E-mail
Sunday, 06 November 2005

Name:

conventional long form: Republic of Macedonia
conventional short form: Macedonia
local long form: Republika Makedonija
local short form: Makedonija

Geography: Southeastern Europe, north of Greece, landlocked; major transportation corridor from Western and Central Europe to Aegean Sea and Southern Europe to Western Europe, slightly larger than Vermont

Size: 25,333 sq km

Population: 2,045,262 (July 2005 est.)

Language: Makedonski/Macedonian (Indo-European language family)

Ethnic Composition: Macedonian 64.2%, Albanian 25.2%, Turkish 3.9%, Roma 2.7%, Serb 1.8%, other 2.2% (2002 census)

Religion: Macedonian Orthodox approx 70%, other Christian 0.2%, Muslim 16.9%, other and unspecified (2002 census)

Neighboring states: Albania 151 km, Bulgaria 148 km, Greece 246 km, Serbia and Montenegro 221 km

Capital: Skopje

Flag: a yellow sun with eight broadening rays extending to the edges of the red field

National Currency: Macedonian denar (MKD)

National Holidays:

January 7 - Bozhik/Christmas
March/April/May (depending on Orthodox Calendar) - Pascha/Easter
May 24 - St. Kiril and Metodij
August 2 (1903) - Uprising Day (St. Elijah's Day-Ilinden)
September 8 (1991) - Independence Day

Land: mountainous territory covered with deep basins and valleys; three large lakes, each divided by a frontier line; country bisected by the Vardar River

Climate: warm, dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall

Largest Cities: Bitola, Prilep, Veles, Tetovo, Kumanovo, Gostivar, Ohrid, Stip

Highest peak: Golem Korab 2,764 m

Largest body of water: Lake Ohrid

Natural resources: low-grade iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromite, manganese, nickel, tungsten, gold, silver, asbestos, gypsum, timber, arable land

 
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UMD Urges All Macedonians to Call Their Representatives to Co-Sponsor H. Res. 1070
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"The Greek government views the term "Macedonian" as a geographic term that describes all Greek citizens living in the Macedonian region in northern Greece. The government denies the assertions of the ethnic Macedonians in Greece that they are are a minority group; officials refer to them as "Slavophone Greeks" or "bilinguals." - Human Rights Watch

Click HERE to read Human Rights Watch Report on Greece. - A MUST READ

Click HERE to read the U.S. Department of State's Human Rights Report on Greece.

Click HERE to read MHRMI 2008 Annual Report on Greece.

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