| Geography and Climate |
Macedonia is located in Southeastern Europe, north of Greece. Area - comparative: slightly larger than Vermont. Total land boundary is total: 748 km, border countries are Albania 151 km, Bulgaria 148 km, Greece 228 km, Serbia and Montenegro 221 km (all with Serbia).
Climate is hot, dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall. Terrain consists of mountainous territory covered with deep basins and valleys; there are three large lakes, each divided by a frontier line; country bisected by the Vardar River. Elevation extreme has the lowest point in Vardar River 50 m and highest point in Korab 2,753 m. Natural resources are chromium, lead, zinc, manganese, tungsten, nickel, low-grade iron ore, asbestos, sulfur, timber. Land use: arable land: 24%, permanent crops: 2%, permanent pastures: 25%,
forests and woodland: 39%, other: 10% (1993 est.). Irrigated land: 830 sq km (1993 est.).
Natural hazards are high seismic risks.
Environment—current issues: air pollution from metallurgical plants.
Geography—note: landlocked; major transportation corridor from Western and Central Europe to Aegean Sea and Southern Europe to Western Europe.
Ref. Anonymous, 1999 |