Macedonia: Geography

The World Factbook 1993: Macedonia Geography

Location: Southern Europe, between Serbia and Montenegro and Greece

Area: total area: 25,333 km2 land area: 24,856 km2 comparative area: slightly larger than Vermont

Land boundaries: total 748 km, Albania 151 km, Bulgaria 148 km, Greece 228 km, Serbia and Montenegro 221 km (all with Serbia)

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none; landlocked

International disputes: Greece claims republic's name implies territorial claims against Aegean Macedonia

Climate: hot, dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall

Terrain: mountainous territory covered with deep basins and valleys; there are three large lakes, each divided by a frontier line

Natural resources: chromium, lead, zinc, manganese, tungsten, nickel, low-grade iron ore, asbestos, sulphur, timber

Land use: arable land: 5% permanent crops: 5% meadows and pastures: 20% forest and woodland: 30% other: 40%

Irrigated land: NA km2

Environment: Macedonia suffers from high seismic hazard; air pollution from metallurgical plants

Note: landlocked; major transportation corridor from Western and Central Europe to Aegean Sea and Southern Europe to Western Europe