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The Republic of Macedonia

Geography                 Economy                 Defense Forces
 

People                    Transportation          Government



Communications            History      	          Travel

Location

Area

• Total area: 25,333 sq km
• Land area: 24,856 sq km
• Comparative area: slightly larger than Vermont

Land Boundaries

Coastline

Maritime Claims

International Disputes

Climate

Terrain

Natural Resources

• Chromium
• Lead
• Zinc
• Manganese
• Tungsten
• Nickel
• Low-grade iron ore
• Asbestos
• Sulphur
• Timber

Land Use

• Arable land: 5%
• Permanent crops: 5%
• Meadows and pastures: 20%
• Forest and woodland: 30%
• Other: 40%

Irrigated Land

Environment

• Current issues: air pollution from metallurgical plants
• Natural hazards: high seismic risks
• International agreements: party to - Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection

Population

Note: The Macedonian government census of July 1994 put the population at 1.94 million, but ethnic allocations were likely undercounted

Age Structure

0-14 Years

15-64 Years

65 Years and Over

Population Growth Rate

Birth Rate

Death Rate

Net Migration Rate

Sex ratio:

Infant Mortality Rate

Life Expectancy at Birth

• Total population: 71.94 years (1996 est.), 74 years (1995 est.)
• Male: 69.86 years (1996 est.), 71.87 years (1995 est.)
• Female: 74.18 years (1996 est.), 76.3 years (1995 est.)

Total Fertility Rate

Nationality

• Noun: Macedonian(s)
• Adjective: Macedonian

Ethnic Divisions

• Macedonian 65%
• Albanian 22%
• Turkish 4%
• Serb 2%
• Gypsies 3%
• Other 4%

Religions

• Eastern Orthodox 67%
• Muslim 30%
• Other 3%

Languages

Literacy

Labor Force

By occupation:

• Manufacturing and mining 40% (1992)

  GOVERNMENT

  Names

  • Conventional long form: The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
  • Conventional short form: None
  • Local long form: Republika Makedonija
  • Local short form: Makedonija

  Abbreviation

  FYROM

  Digraph

  MK

  Type

  Emerging democracy

  Capital

  Skopje

  Administrative Divisions

  34 counties (opstinas, singular - opstina) Berovo, Bitola, Brod, Debar, Delcevo, Gevgelija, Gostivar, Kavadarci, Kicevo, Kocani, Kratovo, Kriva Palanka, Krusevo, Kumanovo, Murgasevo, Negotino, Ohrid, Prilep, Probistip, Radovis, Resen, Skopje-Centar, Skopje-Cair, Skopje-Karpos, Skopje-Kisela Voda, Skopje-Gazi Baba, Stip, Struga, Strumica, Sveti Nikole, Tetovo, Titov Veles, Valandovo, Vinica

  Independence

  17 September 1991 (from Yugoslavia)

  National Holiday

  8 September

  Constitution

  Adopted 17 November 1991, effective 20 November 1991

  Legal System

  Based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts

  Suffrage

  18 years of age; universal

  Executive Branch

  • Chief of state: President Kiro GLIGOROV (since 27 January 1991) was elected by the Assembly in 1991 and reelected by popular vote in 1994; election last held 16 October 1994 (next to be held NA 1997); results - percent of vote NA; note - following a failed assassination attempt on the president in October 1995, then Parliamentary Speaker Stojan ANDOV was acting president; GLIGOROV resumed his duties in early 1996
  • Head of government: Prime Minister Branko CRVENKOVSKI (since 4 September 1992)
  • Cabinet: Council of Ministers were elected by the majority vote of all the deputies in the Assembly; note - after the withdrawal of the Liberal Party from the ruling coalition in early 1996, the Council of Ministers was reorganized without LP participation

  Legislative Branch

  Unicameral

  Assembly (Sobranje)

  Elections last held 16 and 30 October 1994 (next to be held November 1998); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (120 total) SDSM - 61; LP - 27; SPM - 8; DPT - 1; PDP - 9; PDPA - 5; DPM - 1; PCERM -2; SDPM - 1; independant Mps - 5.

  Judicial Branch

  Constitutional Court, judges are elected by the Judicial Council; Judicial Court of the Republic, judges are elected by the Judicial Council

  Political Parties and Leaders

  Social-Democratic Alliance of Macedonia (SDSM; former Communist Party), Branko CRVENKOVSKI, president; Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP), Abdurahman HALITI, president; National Democratic Party (NDP), Ilijas HALINI, president; Alliance of Reform Forces of Macedonia - Liberal Party (SRSM-LP), Stojan ANDOV, president; Socialist Party of Macedonia (SPM), Kiro POPOVSKI, president; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE), Ljupco GEORGIEVSKI, president; Party of Yugoslavs in Macedonia (SJM), Milan DURCINOV, president; Democratic Party (DP), Petar GOSEV, president; Party for Democratic Prosperity of Albanians (PDPA), Arben XHAFFERI, president

  Other Political or Pressure Groups

  Movement for All Macedonian Action (MAAK); Democratic Party of Serbs; Democratic Party of Turks; Party for Democratic Action (Slavic Muslim)

  Member of

  CCC, CE, CEI, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer)

  Flag

  A rising yellow sun with 8 rays extending to the edges of the red field

  

  Overview

  The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, although the poorest republic in the former Yugoslav federation, can meet basic food and energy needs through its own agricultural and coal resources. Its economic decline will continue unless ties are reforged or enlarged with its neighbors Serbia and Montenegro, Albania, Greece, and Bulgaria. The economy depends on outside sources for all of its oil and gas and most of its modern machinery and parts. An important supplement of GDP is the remittances from thousands of Macedonians working in Germany and other West European nations. The end of sanctions on Serbia and the lifting of the Greek embargo on Macedonia have reopened its natural trade corridors, but the country has been slow to capitalize on these opportunities. Moreover, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's geographical isolation, technological underdevelopment, and potential political instability place it far down the list of countries of interest to Western investors. An internal commitment to economic reform would encourage foreign investment over the long run.

  National Product

  GDP - purchasing power parity - $1.9 billion (1995 est.), $1.9 billion (1994 est.)

  National Product Real Growth Rate

  4% (1996 est.) 1% (1995 est.)

  National Product Per Capita

  $880 (1995 est.)
  $900 (1994 est.)

  Inflation Rate (consumer Prices)

  14.8% (1995 est.)

  Unemployment Rate

  31% (1996 est.) 37% (1995 est.)

  Budget

  • Revenues: $1 billion (projected for 1997)
  • Expenditures: $1.05 billion (projected for 1997)

  Exports

  $916.2 million (1995)
  $1.06 billion (1993)

  Commodities:

  • Manufactured goods 40%
  • Machinery and transport equipment 14%
  • Miscellaneous manufactured articles 23%
  • Raw materials 7.6%
  • Food (rice) and live animals 5.7%
  • Beverages and tobacco 4.5%
  • Chemicals 4.7% (1990)

  Partners:

  • Principally Serbia and Montenegro and the other former Yugoslav republics
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Albania

  Imports

  $199 million (1995)

  Commodities:

  • Fuels and lubricants 19%
  • Manufactured goods 18%
  • Machinery and transport equipment 15%
  • Food and live animals 14%
  • Chemicals 11.4%
  • Raw materials 10%
  • Miscellaneous manufactured articles 8.0%
  • Beverages and tobacco 3.5% (1990)

  Partners:

  • Other former Yugoslav republics
  • Greece
  • Albania
  • Germany
  • Bulgaria

  External Debt

  $840 million (1992)

  Industrial Production

  Growth rate +4% (1996), -14% (1993)

  Electricity

  • Capacity: 1,600,000 kW
  • Production: 6.046 billion kWh
  • Consumption per capita: 2,941 kWh (1992)

  Industries

  • Low levels of technology predominate, such as, oil refining by distillation only
  • Produces basic liquid fuels, coal, metallic chromium, lead, zinc, and ferronickel
  • Light industry produces basic textiles, wood products, and tobacco

  Agriculture

  Meets the basic needs for food; principal crops are rice, tobacco, wheat, corn, and millet; also grown are cotton, sesame, mulberry leaves, citrus fruit, and vegetables; agricultural production is highly labor intensive

  Illicit Drugs

  Limited illicit opium cultivation; transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin

  Economic Aid

  • Recipient: US, $10 million (for humanitarian and technical assistance); in December 1995, the EU agreed to provide a credit line of ECU 21.7 million for investment projects

  Currency

  The denar, which was adopted by the Macedonian legislature 26 April 1992, was initially issued in the form of a coupon pegged to the German mark; subsequently repegged to a basket of seven currencies. Macedonia currency is represented with 6 paper bills of 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000 denars and coins of 1, 2, 3, denears and 50 denies. (1 denar = 100 deni)

  Exchange Rates

  Denar per US$1 - US$1 = MKD42, 38.8 (December 1995), 39 (November 1994), 865 (October 1992)

  Fiscal Year

  Calendar year

  TRANSPORTATION

  Railroads

  • Total: 699 km
  • Standard gauge: 699 km 1.435-m gauge (232 km electrified) (1995)

  Highways

  • Total: 10,591 km
  • Paved: 5,091 km
  • Unpaved: gravel 1,404 km; earth 4,096 km (1991)

  Inland Waterways

  None, lake transport only

  Pipelines

  A natural gas pipeline from the Bulgarian border up to the capital Skopje is scheduled to extend to the Albanian border by the year 2000.

  Ports

  None

  Airports

  • Total: 16
  • With paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
  • With paved runways under 914 m: 11
  • With unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 1
  • With unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 2

  COMMUNICATIONS

  Telephone System

  200,000 telephones (250,000 planned by 1999)

  Mobile Telephone System

  GSM: currently functioning in 1/2 of country; whole country should be covered by 1998.
  • Local: NA
  • Intercity: NA
  • International: Satellite links with Canada, Germany, and Australia

  Radio

  • National broadcast stations: AM 6, FM 2, shortwave 0
  • Radios: 370,000

  Television

  • National broadcast stations: 5 (relays 2)
  • Televisions: 325,000

    DEFENSE FORCES

  Branches

  Army, Police Force

  Manpower Availability

  Males age 15-49 571,927; males fit for military service 458,231; males reach military age (19) annually 16,698 (1996 est.)

  Defense Expenditures

  7 billion denars, NA of GNP (1993 est.); note - conversion of the military budget into U.S. dollars using the prevailing exchange rate could produce misleading results

  History
  World Atlas

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