Lesotho (2001) | Macedonia (2004) | |
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Administrative divisions | 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka | 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"; new information suggests that the 123 municipalities have been consolidated into 84 municipalities |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
39.28% (male 430,147; female 424,994) 15-64 years: 56.03% (male 588,440; female 631,404) 65 years and over: 4.69% (male 43,033; female 59,044) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 21.5% (male 231,078; female 213,906)
15-64 years: 67.8% (male 707,298; female 696,830) 65 years and over: 10.7% (male 97,437; female 124,661) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock | rice, tobacco, wheat, corn, millet, cotton, sesame, mulberry leaves, citrus, vegetables; beef, pork, poultry, mutton |
Airports | 29 (2000 est.) | 17 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
4 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 10
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 under 914 m: 8 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
25 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 21 (2000 est.) |
total: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 4 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
30,355 sq km land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 25,333 sq km
land: 24,856 sq km water: 477 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | slightly larger than Vermont |
Background | Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in 1966. Constitutional government was restored in 1993 after 23 years of military rule. | International recognition of Macedonia's 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, although differences over Macedonia's name remain. The undetermined status of neighboring Kosovo, implementation of the Framework Agreement - which ended the 2001 ethnic Albanian armed insurgency - and a weak economy continue to be challenges for Macedonia. |
Birth rate | 31.24 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 13.14 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$76 million expenditures: $80 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million (FY99/00 est.) |
revenues: $1.582 billion
expenditures: $1.661 billion, including capital expenditures of $80 million NA (2003 est.) |
Capital | Maseru | Skopje |
Climate | temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers | warm, dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 2 April 1993 | adopted 17 November 1991, effective 20 November 1991
note: in November of 2001, the Macedonian Assembly approved a series of new constitutional amendments strengthening minority rights |
Country name | conventional long form:
Kingdom of Lesotho conventional short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland |
conventional long form: Republic of Macedonia
conventional short form: Macedonia; note - the provisional designation used by the UN, EU, and NATO is Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) local long form: Republika Makedonija local short form: Makedonija former: People's Republic of Macedonia, Socialist Republic of Macedonia |
Currency | loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR) | Macedonian denar (MKD) |
Death rate | 15.7 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 7.83 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $720 million (2000 est.) | $1.929 billion (2003 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Katherine H. PETERSON embassy: 254 Kingsway, Maseru West (Consular Section) mailing address: P. O. Box 333, Maseru 100, Lesotho telephone: [266] 312666 FAX: [266] 310116 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Lawrence Edward BUTLER
embassy: Bul. Ilindenska bb, 1000 Skopje mailing address: American Embassy Skopje, Department of State, 7120 Skopje Place, Washington, DC 20521-7120 (pouch) telephone: [389] 2 311-6180 FAX: [389] 2 311-7103 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Lebohang Kenneth MOLEKO chancery: 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 797-5533 through 5536 FAX: [1] (202) 234-6815 |
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: Southfield, Michigan |
Disputes - international | none | the Albanian government calls for the protection of the rights of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia while continuing to seek regional cooperation; ethnic Albanians in Kosovo resist demarcation of a small section of the Macedonia-Kosovo boundary in accordance with the 2000 delimitation treaty, which transferred a small amount of land to Macedonia; dispute with Greece over country's name persists |
Economic aid - recipient | $123.7 million (1995) | $250 million (2003 est.) |
Economy - overview | Small, landlocked, and mountainous, Lesotho's primary natural resource is water. Its economy is based on subsistence agriculture, livestock, and remittances from miners employed in South Africa. The number of such mineworkers has declined steadily over the past several years. A small manufacturing base depends largely on farm products that support the milling, canning, leather, and jute industries. Agricultural products are exported primarily to South Africa. Proceeds from membership in a common customs union with South Africa form the majority of government revenue. Although drought has decreased agricultural activity over the past few years, completion of a major hydropower facility in January 1998 now permits the sale of water to South Africa, generating royalties for Lesotho. The pace of substantial privatization has increased in recent years. In December 1999, the government embarked on a nine-month IMF staff-monitored program aimed at structural adjustment and stabilization of macroeconomic fundamentals. The government is in the process of applying for a three-year successor program with the IMF under its Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility. | At independence in September 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 0.9%, then rose to 2.8% in 2003. Unemployment at one-third of the workforce remains the most critical economic problem. The gray economy is estimated at around 40% of GDP. Politically, the country is more stable than in 2002. |
Electricity - consumption | 55 million kWh (1999) | 6.112 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 55 million kWh
note: electricity supplied by South Africa (1999) |
100 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 0 kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (1999) | 6.465 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
0% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m |
lowest point: Vardar River 50 m
highest point: Golem Korab (Maja e Korabit) 2,764 m |
Environment - current issues | population pressure forcing settlement in marginal areas results in overgrazing, severe soil erosion, and soil exhaustion; desertification; Highlands Water Project controls, stores, and redirects water to South Africa | air pollution from metallurgical plants |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping |
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 | Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, | Macedonian 64.2%, Albanian 25.2%, Turkish 3.8%, Roma 2.7%, Serb 1.8%, other 2.3% (2002) |
Exchange rates | maloti per US dollar - 7.78307 (January 2001), 6.93983 (2000), 6.10948 (1999), 5.52828 (1998), 4.60796 (1997), 4.29935 (1996); note - the Lesotho loti is at par with the South African rand which is also legal tender; maloti is the plural form of loti | Macedonian denars per US dollar - NA (2003), 64.3498 (2002), 68.0371 (2001), 65.9039 (2000), 56.9018 (1999) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
King LETSIE III (since 7 February 1996); note - King LETSIE III formerly occupied the throne from November 1990 to February 1995, while his father was in exile head of government: Prime Minister Pakalitha MOSISILI (since 23 May 1998) cabinet: Cabinet elections: none; according to the constitution, the leader of the majority party in the assembly automatically becomes prime minister; the monarch is hereditary, but, under the terms of the constitution which came into effect after the March 1993 election, the monarch is a "living symbol of national unity" with no executive or legislative powers; under traditional law the college of chiefs has the power to determine who is next in the line of succession, who shall serve as regent in the event that the successor is not of mature age, and may even depose the monarch |
chief of state: President Branko CRVENKOVSKI (since 12 May 2004)
head of government: Prime Minister Vlado BUCKOVSKI (since 17 December 2004) 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 BDI elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; two-round election last held 14 April and 28 April 2004 (next to be held April 2009); prime minister elected by the Assembly; election last held 1 November 2002 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: Branko CRVENKOVSKI elected president on second-round ballot; percent of vote - Branko CRVENKOVSKI 62.7%, Sasko KEDEV 37.3%; Vlado BUCKOVSKI elected prime minister by the Assembly |
Exports | $175 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals (1998) | food, beverages, tobacco; miscellaneous manufactures, iron and steel |
Exports - partners | South African Customs Union 65%, North America 34% (1998) | Serbia and Montenegro 37.8%, Germany 27%, Italy 14.7%, Greece 9.7%, Croatia 6.9%, US 6.1%, Netherlands 4.8% (2003) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | divided diagonally from the lower hoist side corner; the upper half is white, bearing the brown silhouette of a large shield with crossed spear and club; the lower half is a diagonal blue band with a green triangle in the corner | a yellow sun with eight broadening rays extending to the edges of the red field |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $5.1 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $13.81 billion (2003 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
18% industry: 38% services: 44% (1999) |
agriculture: 11.3%
industry: 32.1% services: 56.6% (2003 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,400 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $6,700 (2003 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.5% (2000 est.) | 2.8% (2003 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 29 30 S, 28 30 E | 41 50 N, 22 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; surrounded by South Africa | landlocked; major transportation corridor from Western and Central Europe to Aegean Sea and Southern Europe to Western Europe |
Highways | total:
4,955 km paved: 887 km unpaved: 4,068 km (1996) |
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%:
0.9% highest 10%: 43.4% (1986-87) |
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; although most criminal activity is thought to be domestic and not a financial center, money laundering is a problem due to a mostly cash-based economy and weak enforcement (no arrests or prosecutions for money laundering to date) |
Imports | $700 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products (1995) | machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels; food products |
Imports - partners | South African Customs Union 90%, Asia 7% (1998) | Greece 17.3%, Germany 12.6%, Serbia and Montenegro 9.2%, Slovenia 7.9%, Bulgaria 7.4%, Italy 6.2%, Turkey 6% (2003) |
Independence | 4 October 1966 (from UK) | 8 September 1991 (referendum by registered voters endorsing independence from Yugoslavia) |
Industrial production growth rate | 15.5% (1999 est.) | 4.5% (2003 est.) |
Industries | food, beverages, textiles, handicrafts; construction; tourism | coal, metallic chromium, lead, zinc, ferronickel, textiles, wood products, tobacco, food processing, buses, steel |
Infant mortality rate | 82.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 11.74 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 12.67 deaths/1,000 live births female: 10.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6% (2000 est.) | 1.2% (2003 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ACCT, BIS, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MIGA, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 30 sq km (1993 est.) | 550 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court | Supreme Court - the Assembly appoints the judges; Constitutional Court - the Assembly appoints the judges; Republican Judicial Council - the Assembly appoints the judges |
Labor force | 700,000 economically active | 860,000 (2003 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | 86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa | agriculture NA, industry NA, services NA |
Land boundaries | total:
909 km border countries: South Africa 909 km |
total: 766 km
border countries: Albania 151 km, Bulgaria 148 km, Greece 246 km, Serbia and Montenegro 221 km |
Land use | arable land:
11% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 66% forests and woodland: 0% other: 23% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 22.26%
permanent crops: 1.81% other: 75.93% (2001) |
Languages | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa | Macedonian 68%, Albanian 25%, Turkish 3%, Serbo-Croatian 2%, other 2% |
Legal system | based on English common law and Roman-Dutch law; judicial review of legislative acts in High Court and Court of Appeal; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (33 members - 22 principal chiefs and 11 other members appointed by the ruling party) and the Assembly (80 seats; members elected by popular vote for five-year terms); note - number of seats in the Assembly rose from 65 to 80 in the May 1998 election; on 28 February 2001, the Senate approved expansion of the Assembly by a further 50 seats in the next election, which may be held as early as January 2002
elections: last held 23 May 1998 (next to be held NA March 2001) election results: percent of vote by party - LCD 60.7%, BNP 24.5%, other 14.8%; seats by party - LCD 79, BNP 1 note: results contested; opposition parties claimed the election was fraudulent and staged a coup; Southern African Development Community (SADC) forces intervened in September 1998 and restored order; the Interim Political Authority (IPA) was set up in December 1998 to create a new electoral system and conduct new elections. |
unicameral Assembly or Sobranie (120 seats - members elected by popular vote from party lists based on the percentage of the overall vote the parties gain in each of six electoral districts; 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 60 (SDSM 43, LDP 12, others 5), VMRO-DPMNE 33 (VMRO 28 and LDT 5), 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:
48.84 years male: 47.97 years female: 49.74 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 74.73 years
male: 72.45 years female: 77.2 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 83% male: 72% female: 93% (1999 est.) |
definition: NA
total population: NA male: NA female: NA |
Location | Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa | Southeastern Europe, north of Greece |
Map references | Africa | Europe |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | none (landlocked) |
Military - note | The Lesotho Government in 1999 began an open debate on the future structure, size, and role of the armed forces, especially considering the Lesotho Defense Force's (LDF) history of intervening in political affairs. | - |
Military branches | Lesotho Defense Force (LDF; includes Army and Air Wing), Royal Lesotho Mounted Police (RLMP) | Army of the Republic of Macedonia (ARM; including Air and Air Defense Command) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $34 million (1999) | $200 million (FY01/02 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 6% (FY01/02 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
515,464 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 555,611 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
277,369 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 448,095 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 17,595 (2004 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 4 October (1966) | Uprising Day, 2 August (1903); note - also known as Saint Elijah's Day and Ilinden |
Nationality | noun:
Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural) adjective: Basotho |
noun: Macedonian(s)
adjective: Macedonian |
Natural hazards | periodic droughts | high seismic risks |
Natural resources | water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals | low-grade iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromite, manganese, nickel, tungsten, gold, silver, asbestos, gypsum, timber, arable land |
Net migration rate | -0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -1.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 268 km; oil 120 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | Basotho Congress Party or BCP [Tseliso MAKHAKHE]; Basotho National Party or BNP [Maj. Gen. Justine Metsing LEKHANYA]; Lesotho Congress for Democracy or LCD [Phebe MOTEBANO, chairwoman; Dr. Pakalitha MOSISILI, leader] - the governing party; United Democratic Party or UDP [Charles MOFELI]; Marematlou Freedom Party or MFP and Setlamo Alliance [Vincent MALEBO]; Progressive National Party or PNP [Chief Peete Nkoebe PEETE]; Sefate Democratic Party or SDP [Bofihla NKUEBE] | Democratic Alliance [Pavle TRAJANOV]; Democratic Alternative or DA [Vasil TUPURKOVSKI, president]; Democratic League of the Bosniaks [Rafet MUMINOVIC]; Democratic Party of Albanians or PDSH/DPA [Arben XHAFERI, president]; Democratic Party of Serbs [Ivan STOILJKOVIC]; Democratic Party of Turks [Kenan HASIPI]; Democratic Republican Union of Macedonia or DRUM [Dosta DIMOVSKA]; Democratic Union of Vlachs for Macedonia [leader NA]; Democratic Union for Integration or BDI/DUI [Ali AHMETI]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Agrarian Party or VMRO-Agrarian Party [Marjan GJORCEV]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity or VMRO-DPMNE (including VMRO and LDT) [Nikola GRUEVSKI]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-True Macedonian Option or VMRO-Vistinska [Boris ZMEJKOVSKI]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Macedonian [Boris STOJMENOV]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-People's Party or VMRO-Narodna [Vesna JANEVSKA]; League for Democracy [Gjorgi MARJANOVIC]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Risto PENOV]; Liberal Party [Stojan ANDOV]; National Democratic Party or PDK [Basri HALITI]; National Farmers' Party [VejljoTANTAROV]; Party for Democratic Prosperity or PPD/PDP [Abduljhadi VEJSELI]; Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia or SDSM [Vlado BUCKOVSKI, president]; Socialist Party of Macedonia or SP [Ljubisav IVANOV, president]; Together for Macedonia coalition (including the SDSM and LDP) [Vlado BUCKOVSI]; United Party for Emancipation or OPE [Nezdet MUSTAFA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Civic Movement of Macedonia [Gordana SILJANOVSKA]; Movement for Macedonia's Euro-Atlantic Integration [Dosta DIMOVSKA] |
Population | 2,177,062
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.) |
2,071,210 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 49.2% (1999 est.) | 30.2% (2002 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.49% (2001 est.) | 0.39% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | none |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 29, FM 20, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | 104,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
2.6 km; note - owned by, operated by, and included in the statistics of South Africa narrow gauge: 2.6 km 1.067-m gauge (1995) |
total: 699 km
standard gauge: 699 km 1.435-m gauge (233 km electrified) (2003) |
Religions | Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% | Macedonian Orthodox 70%, Muslim 29%, other 1% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
rudimentary system domestic: consists of a few landlines, a small microwave radio relay system, and a minor radiotelephone communication system international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: country code - 389 |
Telephones - main lines in use | 20,000 (1997) | 560,000 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 1,262 (1996) | 365,300 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2000) | 31 (plus 166 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains | 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 | 4.08 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.74 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 45% (2000 est.) | 36.7% (2003 est.) |
Waterways | none | - |