North Macedonia

Countries

North Macedonia is located on the Balkan Peninsula and borders Albania to the north-east, Bulgaria to the north, Serbia and Kosovo to the north and Greece to the south-east. It has a population of 1.8 million inhabitants, divided mainly into two ethnic groups, Macedonians (about 66% of the population) and Albanians (about 25%). The capital is Skopje. The official languages are Macedonian and Albanian. There are also small Romani, Turkish and Serbo-Bulgarian minorities.

The name of the country has long been the issue of a dispute with Greece, which ended in 2018 thanks to the Prespa Agreement, whereby the name North Macedonia was officially adopted. North Macedonia joined NATO in 2020 and is among the candidate countries for EU membership.

The landlocked territory of North Macedonia had formerly been the southernmost part of Yugoslavia, from which it separated peacefully in the 1990s without any territorial changes.

The most widespread religion in the country is Orthodox Christianity, followed by a minority of Muslims, about one third of the population.

The Western Balkans between Euro-Atlantic aspirations, ties with Russia and China, and inter-ethnic tensions

Tensions and winds of crisis in the Balkans. The article by Antonio Stango, published on the 25th of May 2024 in Il Giornale

Read the article