Everything about The Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia totally explained
The
Republic of Macedonia (), often referred to as
Macedonia, is a
landlocked country on the
Balkan peninsula in southeastern
Europe. It is bordered by
Serbia (and
Kosovo) to the north,
Albania to the west,
Greece to the south, and
Bulgaria to the east.
It was admitted to the
United Nations in
1993 under the provisional reference the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia commonly abbreviated to
FYROM, pending resolution of a
naming dispute with Greece. Many other international institutions and countries have recognised the country under the same reference, although an overall majority of countries recognise it under its constitutional name.
The Republic of Macedonia forms approximately 35.8% of the land and 40.9% of the population of the wider geographical
region of Macedonia, as it was defined in the late 19th century. The capital is
Skopje, with just over 500,000 inhabitants, and there are a number of smaller cities, notably
Bitola,
Kumanovo,
Prilep,
Tetovo,
Ohrid,
Veles,
Štip,
Kočani,
Gostivar and
Strumica. It has more than 50 natural and artificial lakes and sixteen mountains higher than 2,000 meters (6,550
ft).
The country is a member of the
UN and the
Council of Europe and a member of
La Francophonie, the
World Trade Organization (WTO), and the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Since December 2005 it's also a candidate for joining the
European Union and has applied for
NATO membership.
History
Yugoslavia. Its current borders were fixed shortly after
World War II when the
Anti-Fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia declared the
People's Republic of Macedonia as a separate nation within Yugoslavia.
Over the centuries the territory which today forms the Republic of Macedonia was ruled by a number of different states and former empires.
Pre-History
The first recorded state on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia was the
Thraco-Illyrian kingdom of
Paionia, which covered the
Axius River valley and the surrounding areas.
Philip II of Macedon took over the southernmost regions of Paeonia in
336 BC and founded the city of
Heraclea Lyncestis, near what is now Bitola. Philip's son
Alexander the Great conquered the remainder of Paeonia, which then became part of his empire. Subsequently the territory was conquered by Rome and became part of two
Roman provinces. The greater part was within
Macedonia Salutaris, but the northern border regions, inhabited by the
Dardani, became a part of
Moesia Superior. By
400 AD the
Paeonians had lost their identity, and
Paeonia was merely a geographic term.
The Medieval period
In the late 6th century AD, as Byzantine control over the area disintegrated, the region was increasingly settled by various
Slavic tribes from the north, such as
Draguvites, Bersites, Sagudates, Smoleanoi and
Strymonoi. During this decay in Byzantine power, some of the pre-Slavic inhabitants retreated to fortified Greek cities along the Aegean Sea, others took refuge in mountains, whilst many others were assimilated by the Slavs. These people were a large mix of indigenous Balkaners (
Greeks,
Illyrians and
Thracians as well as "Roman" settlers and
foederati that had settled the area over the preceding centuries; sharing a sense of Graeco-Roman identity (by was of language and customs). The Slavs of Byzantine Macedonia organised themselves in autonomous rural societies called by the Greeks "Σκλαβινίαι" (
Sklaviniai). The Byzantine emperors would aim to Hellenise and incorporate the
Sklaviniai into the socio-economic rule of Byzantium. While Byzantine achieved this with the Slavs of the Thracian theme, the emperors had to resort to military expeditions to pacify the
Sklaviniai of Macedonia, often repeatedly. These expeditions reached their peak with
Justinian II, and Byzantine accounts report that as many as 200,000 from Macedonia to central Anatolia, forcing them to pay tribute and serve in the imperial army. Whilst many of the Slavs in Macedonia had to acknowledge Byzantine authority, the majority remained ethnically independent, and continued to form the demographic majority in the region as a whole. Rather than forming a unified Slavic state, they continued to live as separate tribes. Circa 850 AD, the
First Bulgarian Empire expanded into the region of Macedonia. John Fine suggests that Bulgaria's expansion into Macedonia was smooth, since Byzantine authority in the area was nominal, and most of the Slavic tribes of Macedonia willingly joined (the predominantly Slavic) Bulgarian confederacy.
The Slavic peoples of Macedonia accepted Christianity as their own religion around the 9th century, during the reign of prince
Boris I of Bulgaria. The creators of the
Glagolitic alphabet, the
Byzantine Greek monks
Saint Cyril and
Saint Methodius, under the guidance of the
Patriarchate at
Constantinople, were promoters of Christianity and initiated Slavic literacy among the Slavic people. They were based in
Thessaloniki, where Slavic was spoken universally as a second language after Greek, and used the Macedonian dialect spoken in the hinterland of Thessaloniki as the basis for what would become the universal
Old Slavonic. Their work was accepted in early medieval
Bulgaria and continued by St.
Clement of Ohrid, creator of
Cyrillic alphabet and St.
Naum of Ohrid as founders of the
Ohrid Literary School.
In 1014, Emperor
Basil II finally defeated the armies of
Tsar Samuil and by 1018 the Byzantines restored control over Macedonia (and all of the Balkans) for the first time since the 600s. However, by the late 12th century, inevitable Byzantine decline saw the region become contested by various political entities, including a brief
Norman occupation in the 1080s. In the early 13th century, a revived
Bulgarian Empire gained control of the region. Plagued by political difficulties the empire didn't last and the wider geographical
Macedonia region fell once again under Byzantine control. In the 14th century, it became part of the
Serbian Empire, who saw themselves as liberators of their Slavic kin from Byzantine despotism.
Skopje became the capital of
Tsar Stefan Dusan's empire.
However, with Dusan's death, a weak successor and power struggles between nobles divided the Balkans once again. This coincided with the entry of the
Ottoman Turks into Europe. With no major Balkan power left to defend Christianity, the entire Balkans fell to Turkish rule - which would remain so for five centuries.
The National Awakening
Ottoman rule over the region was considered harsh. One of the earliest uprisings against Ottoman rule came in 1689 with
Karposh's Rebellion. Several movements whose goals were the establishment of autonomous Macedonia, encompassing the entire region of
Macedonia, began to arise in the late 1800s; the earliest of these was the
Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees, later transformed to SMORO. In 1905 it was renamed as
IMORO and after
World War I the organization separated into the
IMRO and the
ITRO. The early organization didn't proclaim any ethnic identities; it was officially open to "
...uniting all the disgruntled elements in Macedonia and the Adrianople region, regardless of their nationality...". The majority of its members were however Slavic/Bulgarian-speakers.
The Republic of Macedonia remained at peace through the
Yugoslav wars of the early 1990s. A few very minor changes to its border with Yugoslavia were agreed upon to resolve problems with the demarcation line between the two countries. However, it was seriously destabilised by the
Kosovo War in 1999, when an estimated 360,000
ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo took refuge in the country. Although they departed shortly after the war, soon after,
Albanian radicals on both sides of the border took up arms in pursuit of autonomy or independence for the Albanian-populated areas of the Republic.
Macedonian civil conflict
The
civil war was fought between government and ethnic Albanian rebels, mostly in the north and west of the country, between March and June 2001. This war ended with the intervention of a
NATO ceasefire monitoring force. In the
Ohrid Agreement, the government agreed to devolve greater political power and cultural recognition to the Albanian minority. The Albanian side agreed to surrender separatist demands and to fully recognise all Macedonian institutions. In addition, according to this accord, the NLA were to disarm and hand over their weapons to a NATO force. In 2005, the country was officially recognised as a
European Union candidate state, under the reference "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia".
Geography
Topography
The Republic of Macedonia is a
landlocked country that's geographically clearly defined by a central valley formed by the Vardar river and framed along its borders by mountain ranges.
The Republic's terrain is mostly rugged, located between the
Šara and
Osogovo, which frame the valley of the
Vardar river. Three large lakes —
Lake Ohrid,
Lake Prespa and
Dojran Lake — lie on the southern borders of the Republic, bisected by the frontiers with Albania and Greece. Ohrid is considered to be one of the oldest lakes and biotopes in the world. The region is seismically active and has been the site of destructive earthquakes in the past, most recently in 1963 when
Skopje was heavily damaged by a major earthquake, killing over 1,000.
The Republic of Macedonia also has scenic mountains. They belong to two different ranges: Dinarska and Rodopska. The Dinarska range is the oldest with subsequent erosion; the Rodopska range is younger offering rugged, alpine scenery. The ten highest mountains in the Republic of Macedonia are:
| Name |
Height (m) |
Height (ft) |
| Mount Korab |
2,764 |
9,396 |
| Šar Mountain |
2,747 |
9,012 |
| Baba Mountain |
2,601 |
8,533 |
| Jakupica |
2,540 |
8,333 |
| Nidže |
2,521 |
8,271 |
| Deshat |
2,373 |
7,785 |
| Galičica |
2,288 |
7,507 |
| Stogovo |
2,273 |
7,457 |
| Jablanica |
2,257 |
7,405 |
| Osogovo |
2,251 |
7,383 |
| Mount Bistra |
2,163 |
7,096 |
| Plačkovica |
1,754 |
5,754 |
Climate
The Republic of Macedonia has transitional climate from Mediterranean to continental. The summers are hot and dry and the winters are moderately cold. Average annual precipitation varies from 1,700 mm (67 inches) in the western mountainous area to 500 mm (20 inches) in the eastern area. There are three main climatic zones in the country: temperate Mediterranean, mountainous and mildly Continental. Along the valleys of the
Vardar and
Strumica rivers, in the regions of
Gevgelija,
Valandovo,
Dojran,
Strumica and
Radovish the climate is temperate Mediterranean. The warmest region is the
Demir Kapija and
Gevgelija region, where the temperature in July and August frequently exceeds 40 C. The mountainous climate is present in the mountainous regions of the country and it's characterised by long and snowy winters and short and cold summers. The spring is colder than the fall. The majority of the country has a moderate continental climate with warm and dry summers and relatively cold and wet winters. There are 30 main and regular weather stations in the country.
Administrative regions
Regions
Macedonia's statistical regions exist solely for legal and statistical purposes.
The regions are:
Municipalities and cities
In August 2004, the Republic of Macedonia was reorganised into 85 municipalities (; sing. ), 10 of which comprise
Greater Skopje. This is reduced from the previous 123 municipalities established in September, 1996. Prior to this, local government was organised into 34 administrative districts.
Politics
The Republic of Macedonia is a
parliamentary democracy with an executive government composed of a coalition of parties from the unicameral legislature and an independent judicial branch with a constitutional court. The Assembly is made up of 120 seats and the members are elected every four years. The role of the President of the Republic is mostly ceremonial, with the real power resting in the hands of the President of the Government. The President is the commander-in-chief of the state armed forces and a president of the state Security Council. The President of the Republic is elected every five years and he or she can be elected twice at most. The current President is
Branko Crvenkovski.
With the passage of a new law and elections held in 2005, local government functions are divided between 78 municipalities (;
singular: ). The capital,
Skopje, is governed as a group of ten municipalities collectively referred to as the "City of Skopje". Municipalities in the Republic of Macedonia are units of local self-government. Neighbouring municipalities may establish co-operative arrangements. The country's main political divergence is between the largely ethnically-based political parties representing the country's ethnic Macedonian majority and Albanian minority. The issue of the power balance between the two communities led to a brief war in 2001, following which a power-sharing agreement was reached. In August 2004, the Republic's parliament passed legislation redrawing local boundaries and giving greater local autonomy to ethnic Albanians in areas where they predominate.
After a troublesome pre-election campaign, the country saw a relatively calm and democratic
change of government in the elections held on
5 July 2006. The elections were marked by a decisive victory of the centre-right party
VMRO-DPMNE led by
Nikola Gruevski. Gruevski's decision to include the
Democratic Party of Albanians in the new government, instead of the
Democratic Union for Integration -
Party for Democratic Prosperity coalition which won the majority of the Albanian votes, triggered protests throughout the parts of the country with a respective number of Albanian population. However, recently a dialogue was established between the Democratic Union for Integration and the ruling VMRO-DMPNE party as an effort to talk about the disputes between the two parties and to support European and NATO aspirations of the country.
Parliament
Government and e-Government
Law and courts
Judiciary power is exercised by courts, with the court system being headed by the Judicial Supreme Court, Constitutional Court and the Republican Judicial Council. The assembly appoints the judges.
Foreign relations
The
Republic of Macedonia became a member state of the
United Nations on
April 8,
1993, eighteen months after its independence from the former
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is referred within the UN as "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", pending a resolution to the long-running dispute about the country's name. Other international bodies, such as the
European Union,
European Broadcasting Union, and the
International Olympic Committee have adopted similar conventions.
NATO also uses the reference in official documents but adds an explanation on which member countries recognize the constitutional name.
The
UN's member states all recognise the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia but are
divided over what to call it. A number of countries recognise the country by its constitutional name – the
Republic of Macedonia – rather than the UN reference, notably three of the five permanent
UN Security Council members (the
United States,
Russia, and the
People's Republic of China) and over 100 other UN members; but the constitutional name is never used in relations where a country not recognizing the constitutional name is a party.
Macedonia naming dispute
After the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, Macedonia's name and history became the object of a dispute between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia (see also
Vergina Sun). From 1992 to 1995, the two countries also engaged in a dispute over the Republic's first flag, which incorporated the
Vergina Sun symbol, a presumed symbol of the ancient Kingdom of
Macedon. Its adoption by the Republic, on
3 July 1992, was seen as a reaction by Skopje to Athens' pressure to change the name. This aspect of the dispute was resolved when the flag was changed under the terms of an interim accord agreed between the two states in October 1995.
Even when the European Union-nominated Arbitration Commission (consisting of the five presidents of constitutional courts - German, French, Italian, Spanish and Belgian) has handed down its opinion that "that the use of the name `Macedonia' can't therefore imply any territorial claim against another State", Greece objected the use of the term Macedonia in the newly sovereign state and resorted to disputing its use.
Due to the dispute over the name, the
United Nations agreed to a provisional reference — "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" — when it became a member state in 1993
(External Link
). Most international organisations adopted the same convention, including the
European Union,
NATO, the
International Monetary Fund, the
European Broadcasting Union, and the
International Olympic Committee, among others. The
EU recognises the country as the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the negotiations with the EU are held using this reference, EC report]. The same reference is also used in any discussion to which Greece is a party but is inconsistently used by other countries. Bulgaria uses the name ‘Republic of Macedonia’ even if it's seen as interfering with the traditional use of the name ‘
Pirin Macedonia’, insisting however that any solution to the naming dispute with
Greece should "take account of the historical, cultural, and other realities related to the geographic region of
Macedonia".
On the other hand, the government of the Republic of Macedonia never signs any documents with a name different than the constitutional name. However, an increasing number of countries have abandoned the
United Nations provisional reference and have recognised the country as the
Republic of Macedonia or simply
Macedonia instead. These include four of the five permanent
UN Security Council members, the
United States,
Russia,
United Kingdom and the
People's Republic of China, as well two of its immediate neighbours,
Bulgaria and
Serbia. Negotiations continue between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia but have yet to reach any settlement of the dispute.
Military
Macedonian military - the
Macedonian Armed Forces - is the name of the unified armed forces of the Republic of Macedonia with
Macedonian Army,
Macedonian Air Force. The national defence policy aims to guarantee the
preservation of the
independence and
sovereignty of the state, the
integrity of its land area and airspace and its constitutional order. Its main goals remain the development and maintenance of a credible
capability to defend the nation's vital interests and development of the
Armed Forces in a way that ensures their
interoperability with the armed forces of
NATO and
European Union member states and their capability to participate in the full range of
Alliance missions.
The Ministry of Defence develops the defence strategy and works out the assessment of the possible threats and risks. The MOD is also responsible for the defence system, training, readiness of the Armed Forces, the equipment and the development and it proposes the defence budget.
Economy
Recently ranked as the fourth 'best reformatory state' out of 178 countries ranked by the
World Bank, the Republic of Macedonia has undergone considerable economic reform since independence. The country has developed an open economy with trade accounting for more than 90% of GDP in recent years. Since 1996, the country has witnessed steady, though slow, economic growth with GDP growing by 3.1% in 2005. This figure is projected to rise to an average of 5.2% in the 2006-2010 period. The government has proven successful in its efforts to combat inflation, with an inflation rate of only 3% in 2006 and 2% in 2007
Despite these successes, as of 2005 Macedonia's unemployment rate was 37.2%and as of 2006 its poverty rate was 22%.
In terms of structure, as of 2005 the service sector constituted by far the largest part of GDP at 57.1%, up from 54.2% in 2000. The industrial sector represents 29.3% of GDP, down from 33.7% in 2000 while agriculture represents only 12.9%, up from 12%. Textiles represent the most significant sector for trade, accounting for more than half of total exports. Other important exports include iron, steel, wine and vegetables.
Resources
Infrastructure and e-Infrastructure
Macedonia, together with
Montenegro,
Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Kosovo, belonged to the less developed region of the former Yugoslavia. It suffered severe economic difficulties after independence, when the Yugoslav internal market collapsed and subsidies from Belgrade ended. In addition, it faced many of the same problems faced by other former socialist East European countries during the transition to a market economy. Its main land and rail exports route, through
Serbia, remains unreliable with high transit costs, thereby affecting the export of its formerly highly profitable, early vegetables market to Germany.
Trade and investment
The outbreak of the
Yugoslav wars and the imposition of sanctions on
Serbia and
Montenegro caused great damage to the Republic's economy, with Serbia constituting 60% of its markets prior to the disintegration of Yugoslavia. When Greece imposed a trade embargo on the Republic in 1994–95, the economy was also affected. Some relief was afforded by the end of the Bosnian war in November 1995 and the lifting of the Greek embargo, but the
Kosovo War of 1999 and the 2001 Albanian crisis caused further destabilisation. Since the end of the Greek embargo,
Greece has become the most important business partner of the Republic of Macedonia. Many Greek companies have bought former state companies in the country, such as the oil refinery Okta, the baking company Zhito Luks, a marble mine in
Prilep, textile facilities in
Bitola etc. Other key partners are
Germany,
Italy and
Slovenia.
Tourism
Demographics
The Republic of Macedonia has an estimated population of 2,061,315 citizens. Following is a list of the largest Macedonian cities according to the 1994 census data (as the 2002 census data
does not list both city populations and municipality populations):
|
| Largest cities in the Republic of Macedonia
|
| Largest Macedonian cities and municipalities |
| City |
City
Population |
Coat
of arms |
Administrative
division |
Division
Population |
| Skopje |
444,000 |
|
Greater Skopje |
506,926 |
| Bitola |
80,000 |
|
Bitola municipality |
95,385 |
| Kumanovo |
71,000 |
|
Kumanovo municipality |
105,484 |
| Prilep |
68,000 |
|
Prilep municipality |
76,768 |
| Tetovo |
60,000 |
|
Tetovo municipality |
86,580 |
| Ohrid |
51,000 |
|
Ohrid municipality |
55,749 |
| Veles |
48,000 |
|
Veles municipality |
55,108 |
| Gostivar |
46,000 |
|
Gostivar municipality |
81,042 |
| Štip |
42,000 |
|
Štip municipality |
47,796 |
| Strumica |
40,000 |
|
Strumica municipality |
54,676 |
| Kočani |
27,000 |
|
Kočani municipality |
38,092 |
| Radoviš |
16,223 |
|
Radoviš municipality |
28,244 |
|
Number |
% |
| TOTAL |
2,022,547 |
100 |
| Macedonians |
1,297,981 |
64.18 |
| Albanians |
509,083 |
25.17 |
| Turks |
77,959 |
3.85 |
| Roma people |
53,879 |
2.66 |
| Serbs |
35,939 |
1.78 |
| Vlachs |
9,695 |
0.48 |
| others |
38,011 |
1.88 |
The largest ethnic group in the country are the
Macedonians. The following table shows ethic affiliation of the population according to the 2002 census:
The Jewish community
The
Jewish community of the Republic of Macedonia, which numbered some 7,200 people on the eve of
World War II, was almost entirely destroyed during the War, with only 2%
of Macedonian Jews surviving the
Holocaust. After their liberation and the end of the War, most opted to emigrate to
Israel. Today, the country's Jewish community numbers approximately 200 persons, almost all of whom live in
Skopje. Most Macedonian Jews are
Sephardic - the descendants of 15th century refugees who had fled the
Spanish and
Portuguese Inquisitions.
Ethnic and cultural diversity
A wide variety of languages are spoken in the Republic of Macedonia, reflecting its ethnic diversity. The official and most widely spoken language is
Macedonian, which belongs to the Eastern branch of the
South Slavic language group. Structurally, it's closer to Bulgarian than any other
Slavonic language. Its current form was codified after
World War II and has accumulated a thriving literary tradition.
Other languages including
Albanian,
Bulgarian,
Romani,
Turkish,
Serbian, Vlach (
Aromanian and
Megleno-Romanian),
Circassian,
Greek and others are spoken roughly in proportion with their associated ethnic groups.
Macedonian is the only language explicitly designated as an official national language in the constitution. It also provides however that languages spoken by over 20% of the total population are also official - at present, only Albanian fulfills this requirement. Additionally, in municipalities where at least 20% of the population is from other ethnic minorities, their individual languages are used for official purposes in local government.
Science
Education
The Macedonian education system consists of:
pre-school education
primary education
secondary education
higher education
The higher levels of education can be obtained at one of the four state universities: Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, St. Clement of Ohrid University of Bitola, State University of Tetovo and Goce Delchev University of Shtip. There are a number of private university institutions, such as the European University, Slavic University in Sveti Nikole, the South East European University and others.
The United States Agency for International Development has underwritten a project called "Macedonia Connects" which has made the Republic of Macedonia the first all-broadband wireless country in the world. The Ministry of Education and Sciences reports that 461 schools (primary and secondary) are now connected to the internet. In addition, an Internet Service Provider (On.net), has created a MESH Network to provide WIFI services in the 11 largest cities/towns in the country.
Society
Cinema and media
Culture
The Republic of Macedonia has a rich cultural heritage in art, architecture, poetry, and music. It has many ancient, protected religious sites. Poetry, cinema, and music festivals are held annually. Macedonian music styles developed under the strong influence of Byzantine church music. The Republic of Macedonia is amongst one of the countries with the most beautiful preserved Byzantine fresco paintings, mainly from the period between the 11th and 16th centuries. There are several thousands square metres of fresco painting preserved, the major part of which is in very good condition and represent masterworks of the Macedonian School of ecclesiastical painting.
In the Republic of Macedonia the past meets the present. Its age-old architecture and monasteries and churches of exquisite beauty make an interesting contrast to the super modern new architecture.
Most of the Macedonian monasteries, built in various periods, and particularly those built between the 11th and 15th–16th centuries, have been completely preserved until today.
The Macedonian collection of icons, and in particular the Ohrid ones, are among the most valuable collections in the world today. After the Sinai and the Moscow collection of icons, it's third in importance in Orthodoxy. From a Byzantological aspect, it's unique.
The most important cultural events in the country are the Ohrid Summer festival of classical music and drama, the Struga Poetry Evenings which gather poets from more than 50 countries in the world, Skopje May Opera Evenings, International Camera Festival in Bitola, Open Youth Theatre and Skopje Jazz Festival in Skopje etc.
Religion
The majority (64.7%) of the population belongs to the Macedonian Orthodox Church (which declared autocephaly in 1968, that's still not recognised by the Serbian and other Eastern Orthodox Churches, although the Archbishop's Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church, with Decision No. 06/1959, has recognised the autonomy of the Macedonian Orthodox Church Muslims comprise 33.3% of the population and other Christian denominations comprise 0.37%. The remainder (1.63%) is recorded as "unspecified" in the 2002 national census. Most of the native Albanians, Turks and Bosniaks are Muslims, as are a minority of the country's ethnic Macedonian population, known as Macedonian Muslims.
Altogether, there are more than 1200 churches and 400 mosques in the country. The Orthodox and Islamic religious communities have secondary religion schools in Skopje. There is an Orthodox theological college in the capital. Macedonia has the largest proportion of Muslims of any country in Europe after Turkey, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Orthodox
The Macedonian Orthodox Church is the dominant church in the country. It has 10 provinces (seven in the country and three abroad), 10 bishops, and about 350 priests. Macedonians, who are the majority of the population, are generally Orthodox Christians. A total of 30,000 people are baptised in all the provinces every year. The church has issues with the Serbian Orthodox Church after the separation and self-declaration of autocephaly (not recognised by any other Orthodox church) in 1967. However, the Archbishop's Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church, with Decision No. 06/1959, has recognised the autonomy (self-dependence) of the Macedonian Orthodox Church). After the negotiations between the two churches were suspended, the Serbian Orthodox Church recognised a group led by Zoran Vraniškovski (also known as Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid, a former Macedonian church bishop, as the Archbishop of Ohrid. The reaction of the Macedonian Orthodox Church was to cut off all relations with the clergy of the Ohrid Archbishopric and to prevent bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church from entering the Republic of Macedonia. Bishop Jovan was jailed for 18 months for "defaming the Macedonian Orthodox church and harming the religious feelings of local citizens" by distributing Serbian Orthodox church calendars and pamphlets.
Catholicism
The Macedonian Byzantine Catholic Church has approximately 11,000 adherents in the Republic. The Church was established in 1918, and is made up mostly of converts to Catholicism and their descendants. The Church is of the Byzantine Rite and is in communion with the Roman and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its liturgical worship is performed in Macedonian.
Protestant Christianity
There is a small Protestant community. The most famous Protestant in the country is the former president Boris Trajkovski. He was from the Methodist Community, which is the largest and oldest Protestant Church in the Republic, dating back to the late nineteenth century. Since the 1980s the small Protestant community has grown, partly through new confidence and partly with outside missionary help.
Gallery
Image:25092005(025).jpg|Lake Ohrid viewed from the Church of St. John at Kaneo
Image:Bogorodica.jpg|Saint Bogorodica Precista Monastery near Kičevo
Image:Mount Pelister MK.jpg|National park Pelister
Image:BitolaWinter.jpg|The city of Bitola
Image:Panair Korab.jpg|Mount Korab – The highest mountain in the country
Image:MountShara.jpg|Šar mountain
Image:Meister von Nerezi 001.jpg|St. Panteleimon church near Skopje
Image:Architecture.jpg|The city of Bitola
Image:OhridCity.jpg|The city of Ohrid located on the shores of Lake Ohrid
Image:Scupi aqueduct.jpg|Ancient aqueduct near Skopje
Image:Morodvis.jpg| Morodvis (Crkvište - Morobisdon) archaeological site near Kocani
Image:Sv trojca.jpg| Holy Trinity Orthodox church in Radoviš
Further Information
Get more info on 'The Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia'.
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