North Macedonia

Skopje serves as the political, cultural and economic heart of North Macedonia, positioned in Southeast Europe. As the seat of government and often the most populous city, it concentrates the country's main institutions, universities and cultural landmarks. Beyond the capital, major cities include Bitola, Kumanovo, Tetovo — each a hub of regional culture, economy and history. Skopje was devastated by a 1963 earthquake that killed 1,000 people and destroyed 80% of the city — rebuilt with international donations including a Japanese-designed memorial park and prefabricated housing, and then controversially transformed between 2010 and 2014 by the Skopje 2014 project that added neoclassical facades, bronze statues, and triumphant arches to a city that critics called the world's most artificial capital renewal.

With a population of approximately 2.1M, North Macedonia is a vibrant society with a rich mix of traditions and communities. The principal languages spoken are Macedonian, Albanian, which reflect the country's cultural heritage and open doors to a wide international community. Internationally, North Macedonia is reached via the dialling code +389. Macedonians (officially North Macedonians since the 2019 Prespa Agreement with Greece that resolved the 27-year naming dispute) built national identity around a history both contested and real — the claim to Alexander the Great's heritage disputed with Greece while the Slavic-speaking Orthodox Christian majority maintains a distinct culture, and an Albanian minority comprising 25% of the population with its own cultural institutions.

North Macedonia spans 25,713 km², in the Southeast Europe subregion of Europe. Geographically centred around 41.8°N, 22.0°E, the country offers a diverse range of landscapes shaped by its location, climate and geology. Road traffic follows the right-hand rule, in line with surrounding Europe convention.

The official currency is the denar (den), used for everyday transactions and commerce throughout the country. North Macedonia's economy is shaped by its geography, natural resources and trade relationships. Business and daily life operate under UTC+01:00, aligning the country with its regional neighbours.

Football / Basketball holds a special place in the heart of North Macedonia's national identity. Football is North Macedonia's primary sport, but boxing produced Olympic medallists and the martial arts tradition of the Macedonian highlands — particularly in areas with Albanian communities — generates competition results disproportionate to the country's size, while the Ohrid Marathon run along the shores of one of Europe's oldest lakes is increasingly attracting international participants.

The highest point in North Macedonia is Golem Korab, rising to 2,764 metres above sea level. Lake Ohrid is one of Europe's oldest and deepest lakes at 288 metres deep and an estimated 2-5 million years old — a UNESCO World Heritage Site whose endemic species (including the Ohrid trout found nowhere else on Earth) evolved in geographic isolation so complete that the lake's ecosystem is studied as one of Europe's most important freshwater biodiversity hotspots.