North Macedonia

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

agricultural land:

44.3%;

• arable land 16.4%;
• permanent crops 1.4%;
• permanent pasture 26.5%

forest:

39.8%

other:

15.9% (2011 est.)

party to:

Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

noun:

Macedonian(s)

adjective:

Macedonian

at birth:

1.08 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.07 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.07 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.96 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.75 male(s)/female

total population:

0.99 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

name:

Skopje

geographic coordinates:

42 00 N, 21 26 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

history:

several previous; latest adopted 17 November 1991, effective 20 November 1991

amendments:

• proposed by the president of the republic, by the government, by at least 30 members of the Assembly, or by petition of at least 150,000 citizens;
• draft amendments require approval by majority vote of Assembly members, followed by public debate;
• final passage requires two-thirds majority vote of the Assembly;
• amended several times, last in 2015 (2016)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Macedonia

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

8 years

chief of state:

President Gjorge IVANOV (since 12 May 2009)

head of government:

Prime Minister Zoran ZAEV (since 31 May 2017)

cabinet:

• Council of Ministers elected by the Assembly by simple majority vote;
• note - the 2014 cabinet formed by the government coalition parties VMRO-DPMNE, DUI, and several small parties;
• as a result of an agreement reached in July 2015 between the largest parties to resolve a 16-month opposition boycott of the Assembly, several minister and deputy minister positions were also given to the opposition SDSM from November 2015 through May 2016 in preparation for parliamentary elections originally scheduled for 24 April 2016, and pushed back to 5 June 2016, and again from September to December 2016

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 13 and 27 April 2014 (next to be held in 2019);
• following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition is usually elected prime minister by the Assembly

election results:

Gjorge IVANOV reelected president in second round; percent of vote - Gjorge IVANOV (independent) 55.3%, Stevo PENDAROVSKI (SDSM) 41.1%, other 3.6%

description:

unicameral Assembly or Sobranie (123 seats; 120 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote and 3 directly elected in diaspora constituencies worldwide by simple majority vote, provided candidates meet a specified minimum vote count; members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 11 December 2016, with a second round held in one polling station on 25 December 2016 (next to be held in 2020)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - VMRO-DPMNE 38.1%, SDSM coalition 36.7%, BDI 7.3%, Besa Movement 4.9%, Alliance for Albanians 3.1%, PDSh 2.7%, other 7.2%;
• seats by party - VMRO-DPMNE 51, SDSM coalition 49, BDI 10, Besa Movement 5, Alliance for Albanians 3, PDSh 2

highest court(s):

Supreme Court (consists of 22 judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 judges)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court judges nominated by the Judicial Council, a 7-member body of legal professionals, and appointed by the Assembly;
• judge tenure NA;
• Constitutional Court judges appointed by the Assembly for nonrenewable, 9-year terms

subordinate courts:

Courts of Appeal; Basic Courts

• Alliance for Albanians [Ziadin SELA]
• Besa Movement [Bilal KASAMI]
• Democratic Party of Albanians or PDSh [Menduh THACI]
• Democratic Union for Integration or BDI [Ali AHMETI]
• Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity or VMRO-DPMNE [Nikola GRUEVSKI]
• Social Democratic Union of Macedonia or SDSM [Zoran ZAEV]

note: during the 2016 parliamentary elections VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM each led coalitions

• Confederation of Free Trade Unions or KSS [Blagoja RALPOVSKI]
• Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia or SSM [Zivko MITREVSKI]
• Trade Union of Education, Science and Culture or SONK [Jakim NEDELKOV]
• Student Plenum
• Eco Guerilla [Arianit XHAFERI]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Vasko NAUMOVSKI (since 18 November 2014)

chancery:

2129 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 667-0501

FAX:

[1] (202) 667-2131

consulate(s) general:

Chicago, Detroit, New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador Jess L. BAILY (since 12 February 2015)

embassy:

Str. Samolilova, Nr. 21, 1000 Skopje

mailing address:

American Embassy Skopje, US Department of State, 7120 Skopje Place, Washington, DC 20521-7120 (pouch)

telephone:

[389] (2) 310-2000

FAX:

[389] (2) 310-2499

• a yellow sun (the Sun of Liberty) with eight broadening rays extending to the edges of the red field;
• the red and yellow colors have long been associated with Macedonia

name:

"Denes nad Makedonija" (Today Over Macedonia)

lyrics/music:

Vlado MALESKI/Todor SKALOVSKI

note: written in 1943 and adopted in 1991 , the song previously served as the anthem of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia while part of Yugoslavia

agriculture:

16.6%

industry:

29.6%

services:

53.8% (2016 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.2%

highest 10%:

34.5% (2009 est.)

• foodstuffs, beverages, tobacco;
• textiles, miscellaneous manufactures, iron, steel;
• automotive parts

general assessment:

competition from the mobile-cellular segment of the telecommunications market has led to a drop in fixed-line telephone subscriptions

domestic:

combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular telephone subscribership about 120 per 100 persons

international:

country code - 389 (2017)

• public service TV broadcaster Macedonian Radio and Television operates 3 national terrestrial TV channels and 2 satellite TV channels;
• additionally, there are 5 privately owned TV channels that broadcast nationally using terrestrial transmitters, 4 TV channels with concession for cable TV, 5 satellite TV channels broadcasting on a national level, 47 local commercial TV channels, and a large number of cable operators that offer domestic and international programming;
• the public radio broadcaster operates over multiple stations;
• there are 3 privately owned radio stations that broadcast nationally and about 75 local commercial radio stations (2017)

total:

699 km

standard gauge:

699 km 1.435-m gauge (223 km electrified) (2017)

country comparison to the world: 100

total:

14,182 km (includes 242 km of expressways)

paved:

9,633 km

unpaved:

4,549 km (2014)

country comparison to the world: 126

• Kosovo and Macedonia completed demarcation of their boundary in September 2008;
• Greece continues to reject the use of the name Macedonia or Republic of Macedonia

• major transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and hashish;
• minor transit point for South American cocaine destined for Europe;
• although not a financial center and most criminal activity is thought to be domestic, money laundering is a problem due to a mostly cash-based economy and weak enforcement