North Macedonia

North Macedonia, 1991 to today. Draft, not yet reviewed

North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Europe. In 1945 it was established as a constituent state of communist Yugoslavia, which it remained until its peaceful secession in 1991. The country became a member of the United Nations (UN) in 1993. Since 2005, it has been a candidate for joining the European Union.

Seat of power: Skopje

Rulers

Kiro Gligorov

President of North Macedonia, 1991–1999

Kiro Gligorov served as the first president of the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) from 1991 to 1999. Gligorov later played a pivotal role in Macedonia's peaceful secession from Yugoslavia and its international recognition. In 1995, he survived an assassination attempt, of which the perpetrators have not been found.

Portrait of Kiro Gligorov: European Commission, CC BY 4.0, file

Stojan Andov

Head of state, 1995–1995

Stojan Andov was the first president of Assembly of the independent Republic of Macedonia from 8 January 1991 to 6 March 1996. In this capacity, he was serving as interim president of the Republic of Macedonia from 4 October 1995 to 10 January 1996 in the sick absence of Kiro Gligorov after the assassination attempt on him.

Portrait of Stojan Andov: Тиверополник, CC BY-SA 4.0, file

Boris Trajkovski

President of North Macedonia, 1999–2004

Boris Trajkovski served as the president of Macedonia from 1999 until his death in 2004 in a plane crash. Trajkovski's tenure was marked by tensions between ethnic Macedonians and the republic's large ethnic Albanian minority. Although his powers were limited and his role largely ceremonial, he presided over the NATO-brokered Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA) in 2001 that ended the violence and prevented a full-blown civil war in the Republic of Macedonia.

Portrait of Boris Trajkovski: Christian Lambiotte / European Communities, CC BY 4.0, file

Savo Klimovski

Head of state, 1999–1999

Savo Klimovski was a Macedonian lawyer and politician who served as interim President of Macedonia from 19 November to 15 December 1999. He was Speaker of the Assembly from 1998 to 2000, and as such was interim President at the end of 1999, when the results of presidential elections were questioned.

Portrait of Savo Klimovski: Academia Historica, OGDL-Taiwan-1.0, file

Branko Crvenkovski

President of North Macedonia, 2004–2009

Branko Crvenkovski served as the President of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) from 2004 to 2009. He previously served as Prime Minister of Macedonia from 1992 to 1998 and from 2002 to 2004. Crvenkovski won the April 2004 presidential election against Saško Kedev and took office on 12 May 2004.

Portrait of Branko Crvenkovski: European Commission, CC BY 4.0, file

Ljupčo Jordanovski

President of North Macedonia, 2004–2004

Ljupčo Jordanovski was acting president of the Republic of Macedonia from 26 February 2004 to 12 May 2004. When President Boris Trajkovski was killed in a plane crash on 26 February 2004, Jordanovski was sworn in as president. As Speaker of the Assembly, according to the Republic of Macedonia's constitution he was the successor to the president in the event of the president's inability to serve.

Gjorge Ivanov

President of North Macedonia, 2009–2019

Gjorge Ivanov served as the President of (North) Macedonia from 2009 to 2019. On 25 January 2009, VMRO-DPMNE appointed Ivanov as the party's presidential candidate for the presidential election. Ivanov won the second round of the presidential election on 5 April with 453,616 votes.

Portrait of Gjorge Ivanov: Пресс-служба Президента Российской Федерации, CC BY 4.0, file

Stevo Pendarovski

President of North Macedonia, 2019–2024

Stevo Pendarovski served as the President of North Macedonia from 2019 to 2024. Pendarovski ran in the 2019 election as a presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Union and the Democratic Union for Integration. He went on to win 436,212 votes in the second round of the presidential election, 51.66% of the votes cast.

Portrait of Stevo Pendarovski: Toshe Ognjanov (VOA), Public domain, file

Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova

President of North Macedonia, 2024 to today

Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova has served as the president of North Macedonia since May 2024. She ran again in the 2024 presidential elections and defeated Pendarovski by a landslide in a rematch election. She is North Macedonia's first female president.

Portrait of Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova: European Union, Attribution, file

Culture

North Macedonia's side of Lake Ohrid was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979, with the site being extended to also include the cultural and historic area of Ohrid in 1980.
The majority of the residents are ethnic Macedonians, a South Slavic people. Albanians form a significant minority at around 25%, followed by Turks, Roma, Serbs, Bosniaks, Aromanians and a few other minorities.
North Macedonia is a member of NATO, the Council of Europe, the World Bank, OSCE, CEFTA, BSEC and the WTO.

Picture

Lake Ohrid is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania.

Image: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team, Public domain, file

Sources

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.