Wikijunior:Europe/Macedonia
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Macedonia (officially known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) is a country located in south eastern Europe in the Balkan peninsula. Its neighbours are Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Albania. The capital of Macedonia is Skopje. Other big cities in Macedonia are Bitola and Kumanovo. The currency of Macedonia is the Macedonian denar.
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[edit] Macedonia's History
Macedonia became independent from Yugoslavia on September 8th, 1991. In the following years it faced disputes with Greece which also claims the Macedonia name (it's the name of a historical region which includes much of Greece as well as the Republic of Macedonia). At present the country has agreed to be known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
[edit] Macedonia's Geography
Macedonia is a mountainous country with many lakes and valleys. The tallest mountain is Mount Korab at 2764 metres. Lake Ohrid (see the picture below) is the country's largest lake and the deepest lake in the Balkan peninsula.
[edit] Macedonia's People
People in Macedonia are a mixture of many nationalities. The majority of people in the country are Macedonian but there are also large minorities of Serba, Albanians and Bulgarians. The most widely spoken language is Macedonian which is very closely related to Bulgarian. There are large numbers of Serbian and Albanian speakers in Macedonia.
Over 66% of Macedonians are Orthodox Christians with the rest of the population mostly Muslim.
