POPULATION 2,054,800
MACEDONIAN ORTHODOX 66.3 percent
MUSLIM 30 percent
SERBIAN ORTHODOX 1.9 percent
ROMAN CATHOLIC 0.5 percent
GREEK CATHOLIC 0.3 percent
PROTESTANT 0.3 percent
ATHEIST 0.3 percent
OTHER 0.4 percent

Country Overview

Introduction

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia lies in the southern portion of Europe's Balkan Peninsula. A landlocked, mountainous country, Macedonia is bordered to the north by Serbia and Montenegro, to the east by Bulgaria, to the south by Greece, and to the west by Albania.

Christianity of the Byzantine rite prevailed in the region that includes modern Macedonia from the fourth century C.E. onward. Christian missions were successful among the Slavs who settled in the area in the sixth century. In the following centuries regional and imperial powers competed for control of Macedonia, which lay on the main route connecting Central Europe with the Aegean Sea. This contributed to the religious diversity of the region.

Besides the Orthodox Christians, a small, mainly Albanian...