Macedonia s.toseva

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 Macedonia is a country located in the central 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 a dispute with Greece over its name, it was admitted
under the provisional reference of the former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia, sometimes abbreviated as FYROM.
 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 half of the larger
geographical region of Macedonia, which also comprises parts of
Greece and Bulgaria. The country's capital is Skopje, other cities
include Bitola, Kumanovo, Prilep, Tetovo, Ohrid, Veles, Stip,
Kocani, Gostivar, Kavadarci and Strumica. It has more than 50
lakes and sixteen mountains higher than 2,000 m. Macedonia is a
member of the UN and the Council of Europe. Since December
2005 it has also been a candidate for joining the European Union
and has applied for NATO membership.

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In antiquity, most of what is now the Republic of Macedonia was inhabited by Paeonians, a
Thracian people, whilst the northwest was inhabited by the Dardani and the southwest by
tribes known historically as the Enchelae, Pelagones and Lyncestae; the latter two are generally
regarded as Molossian tribes of the northwestern Greek group, whilst the former two are
considered Illyrian. In 356 BC Philip II of Macedon absorbed the regions of Upper Macedonia
into the Kingdom of Macedon, including Lynkestis, Pelagonia, and the southern part of
Paeonia. Philip's son Alexander the Great conquered the remainder of the region, reaching as
far north as the Danube, and incorporated it in his empire. The Romans established the
Province of Macedonia in 146 BC. By the time of Diocletian, the province had been subdivided
between Macedonia Prima and Macedonia Salutaris; most of country's modern boundaries fell
within the latter, with the city of Stobi as the capital of Macedonia Salutaris. Cities to the
extreme north such as Scupi fell within the Province of Moesia. Whilst Greek remained the
dominant language in the south, Latin made significant inroads in Macedonia.

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 Macedonia has a rich cultural heritage in art, architecture, poetry, and
music. It has many ancient, protected religious sites. Poetry, cinema, and
music festivals are held annually. Macedonian music styles developed
under the strong influence of Byzantine church music. Macedonia has a
significant number of preserved Byzantine fresco paintings, mainly from
the period between the 11th and 16th centuries. There are several
thousands square metres of fresco painting preserved, the major part of
which is in very good condition and represent masterworks of the
Macedonian School of ecclesiastical painting.

 The most important cultural events in the country are the Ohrid Summer
festival of classical music and drama, the Struga Poetry Evenings which
gather poets from more than 50 countries in the world, International
Camera Festival in Bitola, Open Youth Theatre and Skopje Jazz Festival in
Skopje etc. The Macedonian Opera opened in 1947 with a performance of
Cavalleria rusticana under the direction of Branko Pomorisac. Every year,
the May Opera Evenings are held in Skopje for around 20 nights. The first
May Opera performance was that of Kiril Makedonski's Tsar Samuil in
May 1972.

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Macedonia has a total area of 25,713. It lies between latitudes
40° and 43° N, and mostly between longitudes 20° and 23° E (a
small area lies east of 23°). Macedonia has some 748 km of
boundaries, shared with Serbia (62 km or 39 mi) to the North,
Kosovo (159 km or 99 mi) to the northwest, Bulgaria (148 km or
92 mi) to the east, Greece (228 km or 142 mi) to the south, and
Albania (151 km or 94 mi) to the west. It is a transit way for
shipment of goods from Greece, through the Balkans, towards
Eastern, Western and Central Europe and through Bulgaria to
the East. It is part of a larger region also known as Macedonia,
which also includes a region of northern Greece known by the
same name; and the Blagoevgrad province in southwestern
Bulgaria.

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 Football is the most popular sport in Macedonia. Macedonia national football team is the
national football team of Macedonia and is controlled by the Football Federation of
Macedonia. The home stadium of the National team is the Philip II Arena. The most
popular Macedonian footballer is Goran Pandev, which currently plays for
Internazionale.
 Apart from football, handball is the most important team sport in the country. 2002
Kometal Skopje won the European Cup EHF Women's Champions League. The European
Women's Handball Championship took place in 2008 in Macedonia. The venues in which
the tournament took place were located in Skopje and Ohrid. The Macedonian women's
national handball team arrived here a seventh place.
 The Macedonian national basketball team represents the Republic of Macedonia in
international basketball. The Macedonian national basketball team is run by the
Basketball Federation of Macedonia, the governing body of basketball in Macedonia
which was created in 1992 and joined FIBA in 1993. Macedonia has participated in three
Eurobaskets since then with its best finish at 4th place in 2011. It plays its home games at
the Boris Trajkovski Arena in Skopje.
 In the summer months The Ohrid Swimming Marathon is an annual event on Lake Ohrid
and during the winter months there is skiing in Macedonia's winter sports centres.
Macedonia also takes part in the Olympic Games. Participation in the Games is organized
by the Macedonian Olympic Committee.

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 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sgu-
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 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROZT
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Macedonia s.toseva

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