trade blockade in 1995 and the two
countries agreed to normalize relations, although differences over
Macedonia's name remain. The undetermined status of neighboring
Kosovo, implementation of the Framework Agreement - which ended the
2001 ethnic Albanian armed insurgency - and a weak economy continue
to be challenges for Macedonia.

Geography Macedonia

Location:
Southeastern Europe, north of Greece

Geographic coordinates:
41 50 N, 22 00 E

Map references:
Europe

Area:
total: 25,333 sq km
land: 24,856 sq km
water: 477 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly larger than Vermont

Land boundaries:
total: 766 km
border countries: Albania 151 km, Bulgaria 148 km, Greece 246 km,
Serbia and Montenegro 221 km

Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)

Climate:
warm, dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with
heavy snowfall

Terrain:
mountainous territory covered with deep basins and valleys; three
large lakes, each divided by a frontier line; country bisected by
the Vardar River

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Vardar River 50 m
highest point: Golem Korab (Maja e Korabit) 2,764 m

Natural resources:
low-grade iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromite, manganese,
nickel, tungsten, gold, silver, asbestos, gypsum, timber, arable land

Land use:
arable land: 22.26%
permanent crops: 1.81%
other: 75.93% (2001)

Irrigated land:
550 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
high seismic risks

Environment - current issues:
air pollution from metallurgical plants

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of
the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
landlocked; major transportation corridor from Western and Central
Europe to Aegean Sea and Southern Europe to Western Europe

People Macedonia

Population:
2,045,262 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 20.5% (male 217,057/female 202,465)
15-64 years: 68.7% (male 707,489/female 697,150)
65 years and over: 10.8% (male 97,117/female 123,984) (2005 est.)

Median age:
total: 32.8 years
male: 31.7 years
female: 33.9 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:
0.26% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:
12 births/1,000