The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has an area of 25 713 km2 and is located in the middle of the Balkan Peninsula in south-eastern Europe. It borders the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the north [now Serbia], Bulgaria to the east, Albania to the west and Greece to the south. It is a landlocked, mountainous (some 80% of its total area) country with three natural lakes towards the southern end … The estimated population for July 1999 was 2,022,604. Of these, 66% are classified as ethnic Macedonians, 23% Albanians, 4% Turks, 2.3% Roma, 2% Serbs and 0.4% Vlachs. The predominant religions are Orthodox Christian (67%) and Islam (30%). The capital city is Skopje with around 550 000 inhabitants. Urbanization continues, with at the 1994 census, 57% living in an urban setting: an increase from 53.9% ten years earlier.
The official language is Macedonian, using the Cyrillic alphabet, and this is the primary language of 70% of the population. Other languages spoken are Albanian (21%), Turkish (3%) and Serbian and Croatian (3%).1
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The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has an area of 25 713 km2 and is located in the middle of the Balkan Peninsula in south-eastern Europe. It borders the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the north [now Serbia], Bulgaria to the east, Albania to the west and Greece to the south. It is a landlocked, mountainous (some 80% of its total area) country with three natural lakes towards the southern end …