Macedonia (officially called the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) is a mountainous country situated on the Balkan Peninsula of Europe. Macedonia borders Serbia and Montenegro, Bulgaria, Albania, and Greece and is home to just over 2 million people. Like several other Balkan countries, Macedonia has a substantial Muslim population (approximately 30%) with a remaining 70 percent identifying as Christian. Macedonia is ethnically diverse; Macedonians and Albanians are the two largest ethnic groups (64% and 25% of the population, respectively) and Macedonian and Albanian are the most widely spoken languages.

The 1913 Treaty of Bucharest partitioned the territory known as Macedonia among Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania, and Greece. The Serbian-controlled area of Macedonia became part of the newly formed state of Yugoslavia in 1919. Macedonia proclaimed independence on September 8, 1991, following the disintegration of Yugoslavia. International recognition of Macedonia's independence was delayed because of objections from Greece, due to the new country's use of what Greece considered a...