Macedonia

"La República de Macedonia (en macedonio: , romanización: Repúblika Makedónija) es un país independiente sin litoral, situado en la península balcánica, en el sureste de Europa. Limita al norte con Serbia y Kosovo, al este con Bulgaria, al sur con Grecia y al oeste con Albania. Su nombre proviene de la región histórica homónima y que incluye la zona noroeste de la provincia del mismo nombre, cuna de Filipo II y Alejandro Magno. Su capital es Skopie, con más de 700.000 habitantes. En 1991, la antigua República Socialista de Macedonia, que era parte de la República Federal Socialista de Yugoslavia, proclamó su independencia bajo el nombre oficial de República de Macedonia. El uso del término "Macedonia" fue rechazado por Grecia surgiendo una disputa sobre la denominación de este país que perdura en la actualidad. El país es denominado a veces de forma simple como Macedonia, mientras que tras un compromiso entre Grecia y la República de Macedonia en 1993 es utilizada la referencia provisional Antigua República Yugoslava de Macedonia ( , Poranena Jugoslovenska Republika Makedonija en macedonio) para designar a dicho estado en diversas organizaciones internacionales, como en las Naciones Unidas. Actualmente Macedonia es un candidato oficial para el acceso a la Unión Europea."

"Macedonia (/mæsdoni/ mas-i-DOH-nee-; Macedonian: , tr. Makedonija, IPA: [makdnija]), officially the Republic of Macedonia (Macedonian: , tr. Republika Makedonija), is a country in the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991. It became a member of the United Nations in 1993, but, as a result of an ongoing dispute with Greece over the use of the name Macedonia, was admitted under the provisional description the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (sometimes unofficially abbreviated as FYROM), a term that is also used by international organizations such as the European Union, the Council of Europe and NATO. A landlocked country, the Republic of Macedonia is bordered by Kosovo to the northwest, Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south, and Albania to the west. It constitutes approximately the northwestern third of the larger geographical region of Macedonia, which also comprises the neighbouring parts of northern Greece and smaller portions of southwestern Bulgaria and southeastern Albania. The country's geography is defined primarily by mountains, valleys, and rivers. The capital and largest city is Skopje, which is home to roughly a quarter of the nation's 2.06 million inhabitants. The majority of the residents are ethnic Macedonians, a South Slavic people. Albanians form a significant minority at around 25 percent, followed by Turks, Romani, Serbs, and others. Macedonia's history dates back to antiquity, beginning with the kingdom of Paeonia, a Thracian polity. In the late sixth century BCE, it was incorporated into the Persian Achaemenid Empire, then annexed by the Greek kingdom of Macedon in the fourth century BCE. The Romans conquered the region in the second century BCE and made it part of the much larger province of Macedonia. Macedonia remained part of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire, and was often raided and settled by Slavic peoples beginning in the sixth century CE. Following centuries of contestation between the Bulgarian and Byzantine empires, it gradually came under Ottoman dominion. Beginning in the late 19th to early 20th century, a distinct Macedonian identity emerged, although following the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, the modern territory of Macedonia came under the Serbian rule. In the aftermath of the First World War, it was the incorporated into the Serb-dominated Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which after the Second World War was re-established as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Macedonia remained a constituent socialist republic within Yugoslavia until its peaceful secession in 1991. Macedonia is a member of the UN and of the Council of Europe. Since 2005 it has also been a candidate for joining the European Union and has applied for NATO membership. Although it is one of the poorest countries in Europe, Macedonia has made significant progress in developing an open, market based economy."