Macedonia – Education
The educational situation is characterized by national minorities, which are guaranteed by the Constitution to teach in their mother tongue. In addition to the Macedonian schools, there are Albanian- and Serbian-language schools.
The public school system is free and compulsory for 7-15 year olds. It includes voluntary children’s institutions that are only applied for by a few, and an eight-year primary school. approximately 80% (1995) continue their education partly in four-year general theoretical, vocational and artistic educations, partly in shorter vocational educations.
There are two public universities in resp. Skopje and Bitola, where only Macedonian is taught. The Albanian minority established an Albanian-language university in Tetovo in 1994, but it has not been recognized by the authorities.
OFFICIAL NAME: Severna Makedonija
CAPITAL CITY: Skopje
POPULATION: 2,050,000 (Source: COUNTRYaah)
AREA: 25,713 km²
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S): Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, Romani, others
RELIGION: Macedonian Orthodox 67%, Muslims 30%, others 3%
COIN: denar
CURRENCY CODE: MKD
ENGLISH NAME: North Macedonia, Republic of North Macedonia
INDEPENDENCE: 1991
POPULATION COMPOSITION: Macedonians 67%, Albanians 23%, Turks 4%, Gypsies 2%, Serbs 2%, others 2%
GDP PER residents: 1889 $ (2007)
LIFE EXPECTANCY: men 71 years, women 76 years (2007)
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, HDI: 0.796
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, POSITION: 66
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME: .mk
Macedonia is Republic of the Balkans, established in 1992 after the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and recognized by the United Nations in 1993 under the name Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), a term dictated by neighboring Greece. The poor, mountainous inland state also shares borders with Albania, Kosovo, Serbia and Bulgaria. The population is extremely composed of Macedonian majority and a large Albanian minority. In addition to other minorities, there are e.g. refugees from the former Serbian province of Kosovo. Traffic between Central Europe and the Aegean Sea has passed through the area for centuries. Check youremailverifier for Macedonia social condition facts.
Macedonia – Mass media
The media in Macedonia is relatively free and there is no state censorship, but state influence still characterizes the newspaper market. The Republic’s largest and most influential daily newspaper is Dnevnik, grdl 1996 as an independent newspaper, circulation approximately 50,000 (2005), while Macedonia’s oldest newspaper, the state-subsidized Nova Makedonija, is only published in a very small circulation.
In the field of radio and television, developments since 1991 have been marked by a number of initiatives. The state-run Makedonska Radio-Televizija (MRT) has three radio and three television channels as well as satellite channels. In addition, there are several private stations, of which the main TV station is A1.
Macedonia – literature
A Macedonian national literature first appeared during World War II, but all the way back in the 800’s. St. Clement (d. 916) founded a religious and literary tradition in Ohrid that can be seen as the starting point for both Bulgarian and Macedonian literature. During the 500-year-long Turkish occupation of the Balkans, cultural activity was largely ruled out, and only during the Romantic period were individual attempts at a national and cultural Macedonian rebirth seen, which were naturally based on folk poetry. Thus, in 1861, the brothers Konstantin (1830-62) and Dimitar Miladinov (1810-62) published in Zagreb a collection of folk songs from Macedonia. In interwar Yugoslavia, Macedonia was completely dominated by Serbia, and Macedonian language and literature had no means of subsistence.
Kočo Racin’s party poem from 1939 became the beginning of modern Macedonian literature. In 1944, a standard Macedonian language was codified, primarily thanks to the linguist and poet Blaže Koneski. The first years were dominated by poetry. Slavko Janevski’s Village Behind the Seven Ashes (1952) is considered the first Macedonian novel. Later in the 1950’s, the drama also came into being. With the opening to the West, Macedonian literature also received important impulses, so that virtually all the genres we know in the West are represented. In Danish there are Macedonian folk songs (1983), The petrified Orpheus : three Macedonian poets (1985).
Macedonia – music
In the Middle Ages, music life was dominated by Byzantine church singing, from around 900 with center in Ohrid. Ottoman invasion of the Balkans in the late 1300’s. paralyzed Macedonian culture until around 1900, when a new development began with the emphasis on choral music, after 1945 also with other forms of composition of European accent. Skopje got an opera stage in 1947 and a philharmonic orchestra in 1949. Folk music is richly composed; ancient village traditions still thrive with ritual songs and chain dances. The predominantly lyrical songs are performed solo or polyphonic. Characteristic of dance music are irregularly composed rhythms, eg 5/8, 7/8 and 9/8. In the cities arose under Turkish influence in the 1700’s. a special style with oriental instruments and ensembles.
