| Macedon | prop. n. 1. The ancient kingdom of Phillip II and Alexander the Great in the Southeastern Balkans that is now part of Greece, Bulgaria and the independent republic of Macedonia that was part of the former Yugoslavia.
Syn. -- Macedonia. [ WordNet 1.5 ] 2. The modern republic of Macedonia, population 2, 033, 964, which was formerly one of the constituent republics of Yugoslavia. It became independent on November 17, 1991, after a referendum held on September 9, 1991. Its capital city is Skopje. The currency is the Denar. The ethnic composition is approximately 65% Macedonians, 21.73% Albanians, 3.79 Turks, 2.56% Romanians, 2.10% Serbs, and 0.38% Vlachs. Its language is Macedonian, which uses the Cyrillic alphabet. Its second largest city is Bitola (pop. 84, 002).
At independence in 1991 a new Constitution was adopted, which proclaimed the Republic of Macedonia a sovereign and independent state. On april 8, 1993, the Republic of Macedonia became a member of the United Nations Organization. Due to the pressure of Greece, which was concerned about possible claims on part of its territory, it was admitted under the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
The Republic of Macedonia is situated in the center of the the Balkan Peninsula and has a unique strategic position at the junction of the main routes which have for millenia linked the West to the Orient. It covers an area of 25, 713 square killometres and borders with Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south, Albania to the west and Serbia to the north. With the 1913 treaty of Bucharest, the territory of Macedonia, mainly populated with macedonians, was divided between Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria. Vardar Macedonia (the territory of today's Republic of Macedonia) became part of the newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes - later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia - which existed until 1941. The larger part of Macedonia, geographically known as Aegean Macedonia, covering an area of 34, 356 sqare kilometres, was incorporated into Greece. The territory of Pirin Macedonia (6, 798 sqare kilometres) was assigned to Bulgaria.
In World War II Macedonians started to struggle against the fascist occupiers on October 11, 1941. The First Session of ASNOM (The Anti-Fascist Assembly of the National Liberation of Macedonia) was held on August 2, 1944. It finally crowned the process of the historical establishment of the Macedonian state and was the basis for its soveregnity, and integrity. Macedonia (Socialistic Republic of Macedonia) became part of Tito's Yugoslavia and remained part until independence in 1991. Goce Vasilevski [ PJC ] 3. A region in northern Greece with its capital at Thessalonica. [ PJC ] |
