LOCATION, SIZE AND EXTENT
Macedonia (since 2018 officially renamed North Macedonia) is a landlocked country located in southeastern Europe. Macedonia has a total area of 25,333 sq km (9,781 sq mi). Macedonia shares boundaries with Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south, and Albania to the west, and has a total boundary length of 766 km (476 mi). Macedonia’s capital city, Skopje, is located in the northwestern part of the country.

TOPOGRAPHY
The topography of Macedonia features a mountainous landscape covered with deep basins and valleys. There are two large lakes, each divided by a frontier line. Approximately 24% of Macedonia’s land is arable. Natural resources include chromium, lead, zinc, manganese, tungsten, nickel, low-grade iron ore, asbestos, sulfur, and timber. Located above a thrust fault line of the Eurasian Tectonic Plate, the nation experiences frequent tremors and occasional severe earthquakes. In 1963, 6.0 magnitude quake at Skopje caused the death of about 1,100 people and destroyed much of the city.

CLIMATE
Macedonia’s climate features hot summers and cold winters. Fall tends to be dry in the country. In July the average temperature is between 20 and 23°c (68 and 73°f). The average temperature in January is between -20 and 0°c (-4 and 32°f). Rainfall averages 51 cm (20 in) a year. Snowfalls can be heavy in winter.

FLORA AND FAUNA
The terrain of Macedonia is rather hilly. Between the hills are deep basins and valleys, populated by European bison, fox, rabbits, brown bears, and deer. Pine trees are common in the higher mountain regions while beech and oak cover some of the lower mountain regions. The Macedonian pine is an ancient native species found most prominently on Mount Pelister near the south-west border. Ducks, turtles, frogs, raccoons, and muskrats inhabit the country’s waterways. As of 2002, there were at least 78 species of mammals, 109 species of birds, and over 3,500 species of plants throughout the country.

ENVIRONMENT
Air pollution from metallurgical plants is a problem in Macedonia, as in the other former Yugoslav republics. In 2000, the total of carbon dioxide emissions was at 11.2 million metric tons. All urban dwellers have access to safe drinking water. Earthquakes are a natural hazard. Forest and woodland cover 35% of the nation’s land area. As of 2003, approximately 7.1% of Macedonia’s total land area was protected, including one World Heritage Site and one Ramsar Wetland of International Importance. According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), threatened species included nine types of mammals, nine species of birds, two types of reptiles, four species of fish, and five species of invertebrates. Threatened species include the field adder, Apollo butterfly, and noble crayfish. One species of mollusk has become extinct.

POPULATION
The population of Macedonia in 2005 was estimated by the United Nations (UN) at 2,039,000, which placed it at number 139 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In 2005, approximately 11% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 20% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 100 males for every 100 females in the country. According to the UN, the annual population rate of change for 2005–10 was expected to be 0.4%, a rate the government viewed as satisfactory. The projected population for the year 2025 was 2,120,000. The population density was 79 per sq km (205 per sq mi), with lowland regions being the most populated. The UN estimated that 59% of the population lived in urban areas in 2005, and that urban areas were growing at an annual rate of 0.73%. The capital city, Skopje, had a population of 447,000 in that year. Most towns have fewer than 15,000 residents.

ETHNIC GROUPS
According to the 2002 census, Macedonians comprise about 64.2% of the population. Another 25.2% are ethnic Albanians, mostly living in the west, particularly the northwest. Other groups include Turks (3.9%), Roma (2.7%), Serbs (1.8%), and others (including Bosniaks and Vlachs, 2.2%).

LANGUAGES
Macedonian is a southern Slavic tongue that was not officially recognized in Yugoslavia until 1944 and is the primary language of 66.5% of the population. It is written in the Cyrillic alphabet. Minority languages are officially recognized at the local level. Albanian is spoken by less than about 20% of the population, Turkish by about 3.5%, Roma by 1.9%, Serbian by 1.2%, and various other languages by 1.8%.

RELIGIONS
About 66% of the population are nominally Macedonian Orthodox; another 30% are Muslim, 1% are Roman Catholic, and about 3% belong to various other faiths. The other faiths are mostly various Protestant denominations. Islam is commonly practiced among ethnic Albanians living primarily in the western part of the country and in the capital of Skopje. The Roman Catholic community is centered in Skopje, as is a small Jewish community.

USEFUL LINKS

www.visitmacedonia.mk
www.incomingmacedonia.com – Scheduled and Private tours in Macedonia
www.tourismmacedonia.gov.mk
www.historyofmacedonia.org

Capital: Podgorica (administrative) Cetinje (historical and cultural capital)
Population: 685,000
Total Area: 14,026 square kilometers
Official Language: Montenegrin, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, and Croatian.
Religions: Majority Eastern Orthodox, with a Muslim minority.
Borders with: Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania

Brief history
Montenegro is mainly mountainous. Its complex mountain systems includes the Dinaric Alps close to the border with Serbia and Albania and the last ramifications of the Karst which form the mountains of Garac and Njegos towards the Adriatic coast. Near the Bay of Kotor there is Mount Lovcen considered a sacred place by the Montenegrins. The main plateaus extends near the capitol and the confluence of the Lovcen and Orjen rivers in the Bay of Kotor. Considered as the only fjord in Southern Europe, the Bay of Kotor, thanks to its morphology, is a perfect and impregnable port disputed by all the population who have lived in the Balkans over the corse of the centuries. Since 1979 the Bay of Kotor is a Unesco’s heritage site.

Until the early Middle Ages, Montenegrin history coincides with that of Serbia. In medieval times this region was called Doclea and evangelized by Benedictine monks and although it was under the administration of the Patriarch of Constantinopol, Catholicism was the main religion in the coastal cities. In 1166, Doclea was annexed to the Serbian kingdom (Raska) led by Stefan nemanja. The Nemanjic dynasty always tried to convert the population to the Serbian Orthodox Church, but was never successful. With the end of the Serbian Empire, the region (known as the Principality of Zeta) fell under the control of the Albanian Balsic family until the death of Balsa III in 1421. The following years saw the rise to power of the Crnojevic family. In 1482, Ivan Crnojevic moved his court from Zabljak on Lake Scutari due to the Turkish invasion, to the slopes of Mount Lovcen where he founded the town of Cetinje. Historians consider this event as the end of the Principality of Zeta and the beginning of the history of Montenegro. During the Ottoman times, the Republic of Venice ruled the coastal region and  the area between the Bay of Kotor and Budva, while the Turks controlled the hinterland. Relationships between the Turks and Montenegrins were good until the XVII century, when new taxes and limits on Christianity imposed by Constantinopol aroused the reaction of the population. Cetinje was the center of the revolutionaries led by the Vladikas, also called the princes  bishop for their religious and political functions. Thanks to the numerous victories over the Turks, the Vladicas increased their political and spiritual power quickly becoming the kings of highlands near Cetinje. In 1697 Vladika Danilo I Petrovic established the hereditary theocracy during his dynasty; the title was transmitted from uncle to nephew due to the celibacy of the Vladikas. It was the birth of the first Montenegrin state. Among the Vladicas the most famous was Peter II Petrovic Njegos who reorganized the state administration and established the Senate. Composed of 16 members led by the Vladica, the Senate exercised power and judicial functions. After his death, the title passed to his nephew Danilo who became the first Prince of Montenegro. In 1858, Danilo obtained independence from the Turks and gained international recognition for the new state. In 1918, Montenegro was annexed to Serbia, which formed the kingdom of the Serbians, Croatians and Slovenes. Thanks to the support of the Yugoslav Federation, the postwar period was characterized by a great economic and social growth for the Socialist Republic of Montenegro. After the end of Tito’s rule and the short-lived Federation with Serbia (1992-2006), a referendum established independence of the country.

Capital: Tirana
Population: 3.6 million
Total Area: 28,748 square kilometers
Official Language: Albanian (official – derived from Tosk dialect), Greek, Vlach, Romani, Macedonian.
Religions: Muslim 70%, Albanian Orthodox 20%, Roman Catholic 10% (estimates)
Border with: Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro

Brief history
The country known to us as the Republic of Albania is known locally as Shqipëria. The heritage of Albanians can be traced back to prehistoric times, when the area was ruled by Illyrian tribes. The country was later taken over by Greeks, followed by Romans who occupied the land from 168 BC and incorporated it into the Roman Empire. Albania became part of the Byzantine Empire when the Roman Empire divided into east and west in 395 AD. During the 14th century AD the territory was turned over to the Ottoman Turks, who ruled throughout the medieval era into the Middle Ages subduing all resistance in the Balkan region, including the small strip of Albanian coastline which was famously crushed after staging a fierce but futile battle against the occupiers in the 15th century. Albania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912 after five hundred years of domination, but fell to Italian rule under Mussolini in 1939. Communist partisans later liberated Albania from Italian control and in 1941 Enver Hoxha became leader of the ruling Albanian Communist Party, a position he held until his death in 1985. Albania was free of German control in 1944 and then allied itself with the USSR until 1960, followed by China until 1978. In the early 1990’s, Albania ended 46 years of Communist rule and established a multiparty democracy. Albania is a member of the United Nations, NATO, World Trade Organization, and is a potential candidate for EU accession and formally applied for membership in 2009.

Geography and weather
Albania is bordered by Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, Macedonia to the east and Greece to the southeast. It also has a coast on the Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea. About 70% of the country is mountainous and over a third of the territory is forested. The climate is generally pleasant and mild, with cool, cloudy, wet winters and hot, dry, clear summers. It’s generally drier towards the coastal lowlands where there’s a more Mediterranean climate, whereas the interior is much hotter in summer and wetter as altitude increases.

Visas
Visas are not required if you are a citizen of an EU country or Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Switzerland or the USA. South Africans can apply for a visa from the Albanian consulate in London. You can check your visa requirements at www.mfa.gov.al.

Local currency
The monetary unit in Albania is the lekë (ALL).
For up to date exchange rates with your own currency visit www.oanda.com or www.xe.com.

Changing money, credit cards & ATMs
All major currencies can be exchanged at banks and bureaux de change. Currency markets operate on the street in front of the main post office or bank in most towns, a perfectly legal way to exchange your money and avoid bank commission. You will not be able to exchange lekë outside of Albania so make sure you exchange before you leave.
While most rural towns still deal exclusively in cash, supermarkets in cities, the better bookstores and the better boutique stores will generally accept credit or debit cards. The most widely accepted credit cards are VISA, Mastercard, and Diner’s Club. Most banks will give cash advances on credit cards with a passport. There are ATMs in most towns which you can use to withdraw cash from most international Visa and Mastercard credit or debit cards. Traveller’s cheques can be changed in banks in most larger towns.

Security
Generally people find Eastern Europe to be safe and feel confident wandering alone during the day. However if you are unfamiliar with an area it is recommended that you exercise more caution at night and taxi taxis rather than walk, especially if you are a lone female traveler. In some cities bag snatching can occur so always keep a firm hand/eye on your personal items.

Useful link:

www.albania.al