Macedonia Overview
(Republika Makedonija). State of the Balkan Peninsula (25,713 km²). Capital: Skopje. Administrative division: municipality (30). Population: 2,045,177 (2008 estimate). Language: Macedonian and Albanian (official). Religion: Orthodox 54.4%, Sunni Muslims 29.9%, non-religious / atheists 6.6%, Catholics 3.5%, others 5.6%. Monetary unit: denar (100 deni). Human Development Index: 0.808 (68th place). Borders: Serbia to the N, Albania to the W, Greece to the S, Bulgaria to the E. Member of: Council of Europe, EBRD, UN and OSCE, EU associate. Small country in the southern Balkans and landlocked, it is crossed from NW to SE by the Vardar River, the main communication route between the Aegean and the Danube regions. The almost entirely mountainous territory is crossed by numerous river valleys within which the major inhabited centers are located. The name of the…