马其顿(Macedonia)
正式名称马其顿共和国（Republic of Macedonia）
欧洲东南部国家，位於巴尔干地区南部。面积25,713平方公里。人口约2,046,000（2001）。首都︰斯科普里。2/3的人口是斯拉夫马其顿人，而有约1/5属阿尔巴尼亚人。语言︰马其顿语（官方语）。宗教︰塞尔维亚东正教和伊斯兰教。货币︰第纳尔（denar）。马其顿位於一块高原上，其间散布着一些山脉。矿物资源匮乏，是欧洲最贫穷的国家之一。经济以农业为主，生产烟草、稻米、水果、蔬菜和葡萄酒；绵羊放牧和乳品业也很重要。政府形式为共和国，一院制。国家元首是总统，政府首脑为总理。
早在西元前7000年前就有人居住在马其顿。在罗马统治下，於西元29年部分地区并入莫西亚行省。6世纪中叶斯拉夫人来此定居，9世纪期间开始基督教化。1185年为保加利亚人占据，1371～1912年为鄂图曼帝国统治。1913年马其顿的北部和中部地区被塞尔维亚吞并，1918年成为塞尔维亚－克罗埃西亚－斯洛维尼亚王国（後来的南斯拉夫）。1941年当南斯拉夫被轴心国瓜分时，南斯拉夫马其顿主要是由保加利亚占领。1946年马其顿再度成为南斯拉夫的一个共和国。後来在克罗埃西亚和斯洛维尼亚相继退出南斯拉夫後，马其顿担忧塞尔维亚会占优势而在1991年也宣布独立。为了平抚希腊人的情绪（它也有一个地区传统称作马其顿），马其顿乃沿用以前南斯拉夫时期的名称为正式国号，即马其顿共和国以示区别，并在1995年与希腊恢复正常外交关系。2001年种族斗争危害了国家安定，当时亲阿尔巴尼亚的叛军在北方（靠近科索沃边界）带领游击队攻击政府军。
English version：
Macedonia
Country, southeastern Europe, southern Balkans region. Area: 9,928 sq mi (25,713 sq km). Population (2000 est.): 2,041,000. Capital: Skopje. Two-thirds of the population are Slavic Macedonians and about one-fifth are Albanians. Languages: Macedonian (official). Religions: Serbian Orthodoxy, Islam. Currency: denar. Located on a high plateau studded with mountains, Macedonia has few mineral resources and is one of the poorest countries in Europe. Agriculture is central to its economy, and includes the production of tobacco, rice, fruit, vegetables, and wine; sheep herding and dairy farming are also important. It is a republic with one legislative house; its head of state is the president, and the head of government, the prime minister. Macedonia has been inhabited since before 7000 BC. Under Roman rule, part of the region was incorporated into the province of Moesia in AD 29. It was settled by Slavic tribes by the mid-6th century AD and was Christianized during the 9th century. Seized by the Bulgarians in 1185, it was ruled by the Ottoman empire 1371-1912. The north and center of the region were annexed by Serbia in 1913 and became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia) in 1918. When Yugoslavia was partitioned by the Axis powers in 1941, Yugoslav Macedonia was occupied principally by Bulgaria. Macedonia once again became a republic of Yugoslavia in 1946. After Croatia and Slovenia seceded from Yugoslavia, fear of Serbian dominance drove Macedonia to declare its independence in 1991. In order to appease Greece, which has an area traditionally known as Macedonia, it adopted as its formal title Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and normalized relations with Greece in 1995. In 2001 ethnic strife endangered national stability as pro-Albanian rebel forces in the north, near the Kosovo border, led guerilla attacks on government forces.