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

Area--comparative: slightly larger than Vermont

Land boundaries:
total: 748 km
border countries: Albania 151 km, Bulgaria 148 km, Greece 228 km,
Serbia and Montenegro 221 km (all with Serbia)

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 (Majae Korabit) 2,753 m

Natural resources: chromium, lead, zinc, manganese, tungsten,
nickel, low-grade iron ore, asbestos, sulfur, timber

Land use:
arable land: 24%
permanent crops: 2%
permanent pastures: 25%
forests and woodland: 39%
other: 10% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 830 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: high seismic risks

Environment--current issues: air pollution from metallurgical
plants

Environment--international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
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

Population: 2,022,604 (July 1999 est.)
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: 23% (male 243,190; female 228,491)
15-64 years: 67% (male 680,692; female 673,923)
65 years and over: 10% (male 88,116; female 108,192) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.64% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 15.21 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 8.03 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.83 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 18.68 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 73.05 years
male: 70.93 years
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