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: 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 (Maja e Korabit) 2,753 m

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

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, 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

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Population: 2,041,467 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 23% (male 248,400; female 230,091)
15-64 years: 67% (male 684,025; female 678,014)
65 years and over: 10% (male 89,539; female 111,398) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.04% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 13.73 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 7.69 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: -5.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 13.35 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 73.79 years
male: 71.58 years
female: 76.19 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.82 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Macedonian(s)
adjective: Macedonian

Ethnic groups: Macedonian 66.6%, Albanian 22.7%, Turkish 4%, Roma 2.2%, Serb 2.1%, other 2.4% (1994)

Religions: Macedonian Orthodox 67%, Muslim 30%, other 3%

Languages: Macedonian 70%, Albanian 21%, Turkish 3%, Serbo-Croatian 3%, other 3%

Literacy:
definition: NA
total population: NA%
male: NA%
female: NA%

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Telephones - main lines in use: 407,000 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: NA

Telephone system:
domestic: NA
international: NA

Radio broadcast stations: AM 29, FM 20, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios: 410,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 136 (1997)

Televisions: 510,000 (1997)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 6 (1999)

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Railways:
total: 699 km
standard gauge: 699 km 1.435-m gauge (233 km electrified)
note: a new 56-km line is under construction to the Bulgarian border (1999)

Highways:
total: 8,684 km
paved: 5,540 km (including 133 km of expressways)
unpaved: 3,144 km (1997 est.)

Waterways: none, lake transport only

Pipelines: 10 km

Ports and harbors: none

Airports: 16 (1999 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 10
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
under 914 m: 8 (1999 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 6 s
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 3 (1999 est.)

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