North Macedonia Passport

[Country Name] The Republic of North Macedonia (Republica Severna Makedonija).

【 Area 】 25700 square kilometers.

[Population] 1.826 million (2023). The main ethnic groups are Macedonian (54.21%), Albanian (29.52%), Türkiye (3.98%), Roma (2.34%) and Serbian (1.18%). The official language is Macedonian. Most residents believe in Eastern Orthodoxy, while a few believe in Islam.

【 Capital 】 Skopje, with a population of 527000 (2021).

【 Head of State 】 President Gordana SILJANOVSKA-DAVKOVA (female), elected in May 2024 for a term of 5 years.

National Day: September 8th.

【 Overview 】 Located in the central part of the Balkan Peninsula in Europe. It borders Albania to the west, Greece to the south, Bulgaria to the east, and Serbia to the north. The climate is mainly temperate continental climate.

In the 7th century, Slavs migrated to the Macedonian region. From the second half of the 10th century to the early 11th century, the Slavic state was established. After the end of the First Balkan War in 1912, Serbian, Bulgarian, and Greek armies occupied the Macedonian region. After the Second Balkan War in 1913, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece redivided the Macedonian region. Geographically, the part belonging to Serbia is called Vardar Macedonia, the part belonging to Bulgaria is called Pirin Macedonia, and the part belonging to Greece is called Aegean Macedonia. After World War I, Valdar Macedonia was incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbs Croats Slovenes (renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929) as part of Serbia. In 1941, German and Italian fascists invaded Yugoslavia. In 1945, the Yugoslav people won the victory in the anti fascist war and declared the establishment of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (renamed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1963) on November 29th. On November 20, 1991, Macedonia declared independence and adopted the constitutional name "Republic of Macedonia". Due to Greece's opposition to the name, on April 7, 1993, Macedonia joined the United Nations under the temporary name of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. On June 12, 2018, the Prime Ministers of Macedonia and Greece announced an agreement on the issue of country names. On February 12, 2019, the government of North Macedonia announced the official change of its name to the "Republic of North Macedonia".

In May 2024, North Macedonia held the second round of presidential elections, and the candidate of the Internal Revolutionary Party, Gordana Silianovska Dovkova, won the election. She was sworn in on May 12th. On June 23rd, a new government was established in North Macedonia, with Hristijan MICKOSKI, the chairman of the Internal Revolutionary Party, serving as the prime minister.

On November 17, 1991, North Macedonia adopted a new constitution, which stipulated that North Macedonia is a sovereign, independent, democratic, and welfare state. The president is elected by universal suffrage through anonymous voting, with a term of five years and no more than two terms. In January 1992, the North Macedonian Parliament amended the constitution, declaring that North Macedonia has no territorial claims against neighboring countries. In November 2001, the North Macedonian Parliament amended the constitution to expand the autonomy of the Albanian ethnic group. In January 2019, the North Macedonian Parliament amended the constitution, mainly changing the name of the country from "Republic of Macedonia" to "Republic of North Macedonia".

[Parliament] North Macedonian citizen representative body, exercising national legislative power. Implement a unicameral system, elected through a single constituency and proportional representation system, which divides the country into six constituencies. Each constituency directly elects a portion of its members, and seats are allocated based on the proportion of votes received by each party. The parliament also reserves three seats for North Macedonian overseas residents. There are a total of 120 legislators with a term of 4 years. In May 2024, North Macedonia held parliamentary elections, and the "Your Macedonia" coalition led by the Internal Revolutionary Party became the largest political party alliance in the parliament. Current Speaker Afrim GASHI.

The government is the executive body of state power. The current government was established on June 23, 2024, with Prime Minister Hristian Mitzkowski. The government members include: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning Izet MEXHITI, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar NIKOLOSKI, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Political Institutions Ljubco DIMOVSKI, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of Good Governance Arben FETAI, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of Inter Ethnic Relations Ivan STOILJKOVIC, Minister of Internal Affairs Panche TOSHOVSKI, and Minister of Defense Vlado MISAJLOVSKI. Timco MUCUNSKI, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Gordana KOCHOSKA DIMITRIESKA, Minister of Finance, Female), Minister of Information Society and Digital Transformation Stefan AndroVSKI, Minister of Local Autonomy Zlatko PERINSKI, Minister of Energy, Mines and Mineral Resources Sanja BOZINOVSKA, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Resources Cvetan TRIPUNOVSKI, Minister of Education and Science Vesna JANEVSKA, Minister of Culture and Tourism Zoran LJUTKOV, Minister of Sports Borko RISTOVSKI, in charge of Roma people The Minister of Integration and Implementation Affairs, Shaban SALIU, and the Minister of Health, Arben TARAVARI, European Affairs Minister Orhan MURTEZANI, Social Policy, Population and Youth Minister Fatmir LIMANI, Economic Minister Besar DURMishI, Justice Minister Igor FILKOV, and Public Administration Minister Goran MINCHEV.

【 Main website 】

President Office: www.pretsedatel.mk

Government: www.vlada.mk

Parliament: www.sobranie.mk

Ministry of Foreign Affairs: www.mfa.gov.mk

Ministry of Economy: www.economy.gov.mk

In August 2004, the North Macedonian Parliament passed the "New Administrative Division Law", which established a total of 84 local administrative units.

The judicial institutions include the Constitutional Court, ordinary courts, and procuratorates. Dobrila KACARSKA, the President of the Constitutional Court, took office in June 2021. Ordinary courts are divided into three levels: primary courts (district courts), intermediate courts (regional courts), and the Supreme Court. Besa ADEMI, female, the President of the Supreme Court, took office in February 2021. Prosecutor General Ljubomir JOVESKI took office in 2017. In addition, there are economic courts and military courts.

Political parties implement a multi-party system. The main political parties are:

(1) The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity, also known as the "Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Party". Established in June 1990. Chairman Hristian Mitzkowski.

(2) Social Democratic Union of Macedonia: abbreviated as "Social Democratic Union". Formerly known as the Communist League of Macedonia, it was renamed to its current name in 1993. Chairman Venko FILIPCHE.

(3) The Democratic Union for Integration, also known as the "Albanian Democratic Union". Established in June 2002. Chairman Ali AHMETI.

(4) Alliance for the Albanians: Established in June 2015. Chairman Arben TARAVARI.

(5) Alternative Party: Established in March 2019. Chairman Afrim Gashi.

(6) Besa Movement Party: Established in November 2014. Chairman Bilal KASAMI.

[Important Figures]

Gordana Silyanovska Dovkova: President. Born in May 1953. Legal expert, university professor, former member of the parliamentary constitutional committee, and government minister. In May 2024, he will be sworn in as the President.

Khristian Mitzkowski: Prime Minister. Born in September 1977. PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Saint Cyril Methodius University. Former energy advisor to the Prime Minister. Appointed as Prime Minister in June 2024.

Afrim Gahi: Speaker. Born in November 1977, of Albanian ethnicity. Master's degree in Political Science from Saint Cyril Methodi University. Formerly served as the chairman of the "Bessa Movement" party. Appointed as Speaker in May 2024.

In recent years, with the improvement of domestic and international environment and the promotion of various reform measures, the economy of North Macedonia has maintained stable growth. The main economic data for 2023 are as follows:

Gross Domestic Product: 14.52 billion euros.

Per capita Gross Domestic Product: 6947.4 euros.

Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate: 2.3%.

Currency name: Denar.

Exchange rate: 1 US dollar ≈ 57 dinars; 1 euro is approximately 61.5 dinars.

Inflation rate: 9.4%.

Unemployment rate: 13.1%.

[Resources] The mineral resources are relatively rich, including coal, iron, lead, zinc, copper, nickel, etc., of which the coal reserves are about 940 million tons. There are also non-metallic minerals such as carbon, bentonite, refractory clay, gypsum, quartz, opal, feldspar, etc. The forest coverage rate is 38.9%.

In 2023, the industrial output value will account for approximately 21.4% of the gross domestic product. The main industrial sectors include ore mining, metallurgy, chemical industry, electricity, wood processing, food processing, etc.

In 2023, the agricultural output value will account for approximately 7% of the gross domestic product. The agricultural land area is 1.256 million hectares, including 514000 hectares for cultivation and 735000 hectares for animal husbandry.

There are over 1000 churches and monasteries, as well as more than 4200 archaeological sites in the tourism industry. The main tourist facilities include hotels, bathhouses, family inns, and car campsites. The main tourist areas are Ohrid Lake, Struga Lake, Doilan Lake, Lysen, Mount Mavrovo, and Prespa Lake. In 2019, there were 20000 direct employees in the tourism industry, driving employment for 100000 people. In 2023, the total number of tourists was 1.1687 million, including 434600 domestic tourists and 734100 foreign tourists.

Transportation: Passenger transportation is mainly by road, while freight transportation is mainly by road (about 97%) and railway (about 3%).

Railway: The total length of railways in 2020 was 907 kilometers. In 2023, the passenger volume will be 280000 and the freight volume will be 817000 tons.

Highway: In 2020, the total length of the highway was 18179 kilometers. In 2023, the passenger volume was 3.83 million and the freight volume was 68.109 million tons.

Air freight: The main airports are Skopje Airport and Ohrid Airport. In 2023, the air passenger volume was 3.143 million.

【 Finance and Administration 】

By the end of 2023, foreign exchange reserves amounted to 4.124 billion euros. External debt of 11.462 billion euros in 2023.

Main bank: Commercial Bank, established in 1955.

In 2023, the total foreign trade volume was 21.05 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 2%. Among them, the export volume was 9 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 3.1%, and the import volume was 12.05 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 5.5%.

The main trading partners are Germany, the United Kingdom, Greece, China, Serbia, etc.

Foreign capital: In 2021, the stock of foreign direct investment was 6.3 billion US dollars. Foreign direct investment was 600 million US dollars in 2021, 790 million US dollars in 2022, and 667 million US dollars in 2023.

On March 28, 1992, North Macedonia established a military force. The President is the supreme commander of the armed forces. The main task of national defense policy is to maintain the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the country, and to fulfill the obligations of NATO member states. Implement the military service system for professional soldiers. 8133 active duty military personnel (full complement). The total defense budget for 2023 is 270 million euros. The current Chief of General Staff, Major General Metodija VelichKOVSKI.

【 Education 】 Promote nine-year compulsory education. In 2019, education funding accounted for 11% of fiscal expenditure and approximately 3.7% of GDP. In the 2021/2022 academic year, there were a total of 186649 students enrolled in primary schools (elementary and junior high schools), 71018 students enrolled in secondary schools (high schools, vocational schools), and 51582 students enrolled in higher education institutions. The main universities include Skopje University, Bitola University, Tetovo University, etc., with 4556 faculty members.

In 2020, 21 newspapers were published with a total circulation of 5.747 million copies.

The main newspapers include: New Macedonia Daily, Daily News, Evening News, Messenger News, etc. There are 7 publications with a total circulation of 720000 copies. The main publications include: Forum, East, Macedonian Sun, Macedonian Sports, etc.

News Agency: The National News Agency (MIA), as well as the Macedonian News Agency (MAKPRESS) and the Macedonian News Center (MIC).

Television stations: There are 43 television stations nationwide, including 1 public television station and 42 commercial television stations. Play in 7 languages including Macedonian and Albanian.

Radio stations: There are a total of 62 radio stations, including 1 public radio station, 57 commercial radio stations, and 4 non-profit radio stations. The radio station broadcasts in Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, Roma, Frasi, Serbian, Bulgarian and Greek.