Practical details
North Macedonia (Severna Makedonija) is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe on the Balkan Peninsula. It borders Kosovo and Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south and Albania to the west. The land is defined by the central valley of the Vardar river and framed by mountain ranges such as the Šar and Osogovo; the lakes Ohrid, Prespa and Dojran lie along its southern border. Lake Ohrid is one of the oldest lakes in the world and, at about 288 m, the deepest lake in the Balkans. Over the centuries the territory belonged to the Roman, Byzantine, Bulgarian, Serbian and Ottoman empires; it was one of the six republics of Yugoslavia and became independent in 1991. A long naming dispute with Greece was resolved by the 2018 Prespa Agreement, producing the official name North Macedonia. The capital and largest city is Skopje, home to about a quarter of the population and heavily damaged by a major earthquake in 1963. A key destination is the 2,400-year-old town of Ohrid and its lake, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, including the Church of St. John at Kaneo; Bitola is another historic centre. The cuisine reflects Balkan and Ottoman influences, with dishes such as tavče gravče and ajvar. The official language is Macedonian and the currency is the Macedonian denar (MKD). The climate is temperate-continental; summers are hot and springs cool and rainy, so spring and autumn are generally comfortable for travel. Current opening hours, prices, visa and transport details are not written without source-based verification, and for missing details we say we don't know. (Source: Wikipedia, Wikivoyage)
