North Macedonia

History

North Macedonia is a Balkan country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. North Macedonia is a landlocked country bordering with Kosovo to the northwest, Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south, and Albania to the west. Skopje, the capital and largest city, is home to a quarter of the country’s 1.83 million population. The majority of the residents are ethnic Macedonians, South Slavic people. Albanians form a significant minority at around 25%, followed by Turks, Romani, Serbs, Bosniaks, Romanians, and a few other minorities.

Explore

North Macedonia has a total area of 25,713 km² and is geographically defined by a central valley formed by the Vardar river and framed along its borders by mountain ranges of Sharr and Osogovo/Bjelasica. Three large and beautiful lakes: Lake Ohrid, Prespa and Dojran lie on the southern borders with Albania and Greece. Ohrid is considered to be one of the oldest lakes and biotopes in the world.

Mount Korab of the Shar Mountains on the Albanian border, at 2,764 m (9,068 ft), is the tallest mountain in North Macedonia. The rivers flow into three different basins: the Aegean, Adriatic and Black sea.

The country has four national parks: Sharri national park, Mavrovo, Galicica and Pelister national park. Tourism plays a significant role in countries economy and the best tourism branches are lake tourism 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 and cultural tourism represented through gastronomy, traditional music, cultural celebrations and cultural heritage sites. Must visit: capital city of Skopje, city of Ohrid, Struga, hiking in Sharri mountain, lakes of Ohrid and Prespa, wine region of Kavadarci, etc.