Akrotiri (2006) | Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of (2003) | |
Administrative divisions | - | 123 municipalities (opstini, singular - opstina); Aracinovo, Bac, Belcista, Berovo, Bistrica, Bitola, Blatec, Bogdanci, Bogomila, Bogovinje, Bosilovo, Brvenica, Cair (Skopje), Capari, Caska, Cegrane, Centar (Skopje), Centar Zupa, Cesinovo, Cucer-Sandevo, Debar, Delcevo, Delogozdi, Demir Hisar, Demir Kapija, Dobrusevo, Dolna Banjica, Dolneni, Dorce Petrov (Skopje), Drugovo, Dzepciste, Gazi Baba (Skopje), Gevgelija, Gostivar, Gradsko, Ilinden, Izvor, Jegunovce, Kamenjane, Karbinci, Karpos (Skopje), Kavadarci, Kicevo, Kisela Voda (Skopje), Klecevce, Kocani, Konce, Kondovo, Konopiste, Kosel, Kratovo, Kriva Palanka, Krivogastani, Krusevo, Kuklis, Kukurecani, Kumanovo, Labunista, Lipkovo, Lozovo, Lukovo, Makedonska Kamenica, Makedonski Brod, Mavrovi Anovi, Meseista, Miravci, Mogila, Murtino, Negotino, Negotino-Polosko, Novaci, Novo Selo, Oblesevo, Ohrid, Orasac, Orizari, Oslomej, Pehcevo, Petrovec, Plasnica, Podares, Prilep, Probistip, Radovis, Rankovce, Resen, Rosoman, Rostusa, Samokov, Saraj, Sipkovica, Sopiste, Sopotnica, Srbinovo, Star Dojran, Staravina, Staro Nagoricane, Stip, Struga, Strumica, Studenicani, Suto Orizari (Skopje), Sveti Nikole, Tearce, Tetovo, Topolcani, Valandovo, Vasilevo, Velesta, Veles, Vevcani, Vinica, Vitoliste, Vranestica, Vrapciste, Vratnica, Vrutok, Zajas, Zelenikovo, Zeleno, Zitose, Zletovo, Zrnovci
note: the seven municipalities followed by Skopje in parentheses collectively constitute "greater Skopje" |
Age structure | - | 0-14 years: 21.9% (male 235,102; female 217,574)
15-64 years: 67.5% (male 700,929; female 691,552) 65 years and over: 10.6% (male 96,039; female 121,926) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | - | rice, tobacco, wheat, corn, millet, cotton, sesame, mulberry leaves, citrus, vegetables; beef, pork, poultry, mutton |
Airports | - | 18 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | - | total: 10
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 under 914 m: 8 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 8
914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 4 (2002) |
Area | total: 123 sq km
note: includes a salt lake and wetlands |
total: 25,333 sq km
land: 24,856 sq km water: 477 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 0.7 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly larger than Vermont |
Background | By terms of the 1960 Treaty of Establishment that created the independent Republic of Cyprus, the UK retained full sovereignty and jurisdiction over two areas of almost 254 square kilometers - Akrotiri and Dhekelia. The southernmost and smallest of these is the Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area, which is also referred to as the Western Sovereign Base Area. | International recognition of The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's (F.Y.R.O.M.) independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 was delayed by Greece's objection to the new state's use of what it considered a Hellenic name and symbols. Greece finally lifted its trade blockade in 1995, and the two countries agreed to normalize relations, despite continued disagreement over F.Y.R.O.M.'s use of "Macedonia." F.Y.R.O.M.'s large Albanian minority, an ethnic Albanian armed insurgency in F.Y.R.O.M. in 2001, and the status of neighboring Kosovo continue to be sources of ethnic tension. |
Birth rate | - | 13.2 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | - | revenues: $1.13 billion
expenditures: $1.02 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
Capital | name: Episkopi Cantonment; also serves as capital of Dhekelia
geographic coordinates: 34 40 N, 32 51 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Skopje |
Climate | temperate; Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and cool winters | warm, dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall |
Coastline | 56.3 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia Order in Council 1960, effective 16 August 1960 | adopted 17 November 1991, effective 20 November 1991
note: in November of 2001, the Macedonian Parliament approved a series of new constitutional amendments strengthening minority rights |
Country name | conventional long form: Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area
conventional short form: Akrotiri |
conventional long form: The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
conventional short form: none local long form: Republika Makedonija local short form: Makedonija abbreviation: F.Y.R.O.M. |
Currency | - | Macedonian denar (MKD) |
Death rate | - | 7.78 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $1.3 billion (2001 est.) |
Dependency status | overseas territory of UK; administered by an administrator who is also the Commander, British Forces Cyprus | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission: Ambassador Laurence Edward BUTLER
embassy: Bul. Ilinden bb, 91000 Skopje mailing address: American Embassy Skopje, Department of State, 7120 Skopje Place, Washington, DC 20521-7120 (pouch) telephone: [389] 116-180 FAX: [389] 117-103 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission: Ambassador Nikola DIMITROV
chancery: Suite 302, 1101 30th Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 337-3063 FAX: [1] (202) 337-3093 consulate(s) general: New York |
Disputes - international | - | the Albanian government calls for the protection of the rights of ethnic Albanians in F.Y.R.O.M. while continuing to seek regional cooperation; ethnic Albanians in Kosovo continue to protest 2000 F.Y.R.O.M.-Serbia and Montenegro boundary treaty, which transfers small tracts of land to F.Y.R.O.M.; dispute with Greece over country's name persists |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $150 million (2001 est.) |
Economy - overview | Economic activity is limited to providing services to the military and their families located in Akrotiri. All food and manufactured goods must be imported. | At independence in November 1991, Macedonia was the least developed of the Yugoslav republics, producing a mere 5% of the total federal output of goods and services. The collapse of Yugoslavia ended transfer payments from the center and eliminated advantages from inclusion in a de facto free trade area. An absence of infrastructure, UN sanctions on Yugoslavia, one of its largest markets, and a Greek economic embargo over a dispute about the country's constitutional name and flag hindered economic growth until 1996. GDP subsequently rose each year through 2000. However, the leadership's commitment to economic reform, free trade, and regional integration was undermined by the ethnic Albanian insurgency of 2001. The economy shrank 4.5% because of decreased trade, intermittent border closures, increased deficit spending on security needs, and investor uncertainty. Growth barely recovered in 2002 to 0.3%, then rose to 2.8% in 2003. Unemployment at one-third of the workforce remains the most critical economic problem. But even this issue is overshadowed by the fragile political situation. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 6.112 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | - | 100 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | - | 6.465 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 83.7%
hydro: 16.3% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | - | lowest point: Vardar River 50 m
highest point: Golem Korab (Maja e Korabit) 2,753 m |
Environment - current issues | shooting around the salt lake; note - breeding place for loggerhead and green turtles; only remaining colony of griffon vultures is on the base | air pollution from metallurgical plants |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | - | Macedonian 64.2%, Albanian 25.2%, Turkish 3.8%, Roma 2.7%, Serb 1.8%, other 2.3% (1994) |
Exchange rates | - | Macedonian denars per US dollar - 64.35 (2002), 68.04 (2001), 65.9 (2000), 56.9 (1999), 54.46 (1998) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government: Administrator Air Vice-Marshal Richard LACEY (since 26 April 2006); note - reports to the British Ministry of Defence elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the administrator is appointed by the monarch |
chief of state: President Boris TRAJKOVSKI (since 15 December 1999)
head of government: Prime Minister Branko CRVENKOVSKI (since 1 November 2002) cabinet: Council of Ministers elected by the majority vote of all the deputies in the Assembly; note - current cabinet formed by the government coalition parties SDSM, LDP, and DUI (or BDI) elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 14 November 1999 (next to be held NA October 2004); prime minister elected by the Assembly; election last held 1 November 2002 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: Boris TRAJKOVSKI elected president on second-round ballot; percent of vote - Boris TRAJKOVSKI 52.4%, Tito PETKOVSKI 46.2%; Branko CRVENKOVSKI elected prime minister by Parliament with 72% of the vote |
Exports | - | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | - | food, beverages, tobacco; miscellaneous manufactures, iron and steel |
Exports - partners | - | Germany 19.2%, Italy 9.2%, US 6.7%, Croatia 5.5%, Greece 4.6% (2002) |
Fiscal year | - | calendar year |
Flag description | the flag of the UK is used | a yellow sun with eight broadening rays extending to the edges of the red field |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $10.57 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: 11%
industry: 31% services: 58% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $5,100 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 0.7% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 34 37 N, 32 58 E | 41 50 N, 22 00 E |
Geography - note | British extraterritorial rights also extended to several small off-post sites scattered across Cyprus | landlocked; major transportation corridor from Western and Central Europe to Aegean Sea and Southern Europe to Western Europe |
Highways | - | total: 8,684 km
paved: 5,540 km (including 133 km of expressways) unpaved: 3,144 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | - | major transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and hashish; minor transit point for South American cocaine destined for Europe; while money laundering is a problem on a local level due to organized crime activities, the lack of a well-developed financial infrastructure limits the country's utility as a money-laundering center |
Imports | - | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | - | machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels; food products |
Imports - partners | - | Greece 19.4%, Germany 14.4%, Bulgaria 7.5%, Slovenia 6.9%, Italy 6.9%, Turkey 5.9%, Ukraine 5%, Austria 4.1% (2002) |
Independence | - | 8 September 1991 referendum by registered voters endorsing independence (from Yugoslavia) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | -5% (2002 est.) |
Industries | - | coal, metallic chromium, lead, zinc, ferronickel, textiles, wood products, tobacco, food processing, buses |
Infant mortality rate | - | total: 12.14 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 13.08 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 1.1% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | - | ACCT, BIS, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 6 (2000) |
Irrigated land | - | 550 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court - Parliament appoints the judges; Constitutional Court - Parliament appoints the judges; Republican Judicial Council - Parliament appoints the judges |
Labor force | - | 1.1 million (2000 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | total: 47.4 km
border countries: Cyprus 47.4 km |
total: 766 km
border countries: Albania 151 km, Bulgaria 148 km, Greece 246 km, Serbia and Montenegro 221 km |
Land use | - | arable land: 23.59%
permanent crops: 1.85% other: 74.56% (1998 est.) |
Languages | English, Greek | Macedonian 70%, Albanian 21%, Turkish 3%, Serbo-Croatian 3%, other 3% |
Legal system | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply | based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts |
Legislative branch | - | unicameral Assembly or Sobranie (120 seats - 85 members are elected by popular vote, 35 members come from lists of candidates submitted by parties based on the percentage that a party gains from the overall vote; all serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 15 September 2002 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Together for Macedonia coalition (SDSM and LDP) 60, VMRO-DPMNE 33, Democratic Union for Integration 16, Democratic Party of Albanians 7, Party for Democratic Prosperity 2, National Democratic Party 1, Socialist Party of Macedonia 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population: 74.49 years
male: 72.23 years female: 76.94 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | - | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | peninsula on the southwest coast of Cyprus | Southeastern Europe, north of Greece |
Map references | Middle East | Europe |
Maritime claims | - | none (landlocked) |
Military - note | Akrotiri has a full RAF base, Headquarters for British Forces on Cyprus, and Episkopi Support Unit | - |
Military branches | - | Army (ARM), Air and Air Defense Forces, Police Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $200 million (FY01/02 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 6% (FY01/02 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 553,988 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 446,726 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 19 years of age (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 17,909 (2003 est.) |
National holiday | - | Uprising Day, 2 August (1903); note - also known as Saint Elijah's Day and Ilinden |
Nationality | - | noun: Macedonian(s)
adjective: Macedonian |
Natural hazards | - | high seismic risks |
Natural resources | - | chromium, lead, zinc, manganese, tungsten, nickel, low-grade iron ore, asbestos, sulfur, timber, arable land |
Net migration rate | - | -1.46 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 268 km; oil 120 km (2003) |
Political parties and leaders | - | Democratic Alternative or DA [Vasil TUPURKOVSKI, president]; Democratic Union for Integration or DUI (also BDI) [Ali AHMETI]; Democratic Party of Albanians or PDSH [Arben XHAFERI, president]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity or VMRO-DPMNE [Ljubco GEORGIEVSKI, president]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-True Macedonian Reform Option or VMRO-VMRO [Boris ZMEJKOVSKI]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Macedonian [Boris STOJMENOV]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Risto PENOV]; Liberal Party [Stojan ANDOV]; National Democratic Party or PDK [Kastriot HAXHIREXHA]; Party for Democratic Prosperity or PPD [Abdurrahman HALITI]; Social-Democratic Alliance of Macedonia or SDSM [Branko CRVENKOVSKI, president]; Socialist Party of Macedonia or SP [Ljubisav IVANOV, president]; Together for Macedonia coalition (including the SDSM and LDP) [Branko CRVENKOVSKI]; Union of Romanies of Macedonia or SRM [leader NA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | NA |
Population | no indigenous inhabitants
note: approximately 1,300 military personnel are on the base; there are another 5,000 British citizens who are families of military personnel or civilian staff on both Akrotiri and Dhekelia; Cyprus citizens work on the base, but do not live there |
2,063,122
note: a census was taken 1-15 November 2002, but results are not yet available (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | 24% (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | - | 0.4% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | none |
Radio broadcast stations | FM 1
note: British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides Radio 1 and Radio 2 service to Akrotiri, Dhekelia, and Nicosia (2006) |
AM 29, FM 20, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Railways | - | total: 699 km
standard gauge: 699 km 1.435-m gauge (233 km electrified) (2002) |
Religions | - | Macedonian Orthodox 67%, Muslim 30%, other 3% |
Sex ratio | - | at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | - | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | - | 408,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 12,362 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides multi-channel satellite service to Akrotiri, Dhekelia, and Nicosia (2006) | 31 (plus 166 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | - | mountainous territory covered with deep basins and valleys; three large lakes, each divided by a frontier line; country bisected by the Vardar River |
Total fertility rate | - | 1.75 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | - | 37% (2002 est.) |
Waterways | - | note: lake transport only, on the Greek and Albanian borders |