Macedonia
POPULATION 2,054,800
MACEDONIAN ORTHODOX 66.3 percent
MUSLIM 30 percent
SERBIAN ORTHODOX 1.9 percent
ROMAN CATHOLIC 0.5 percent
GREEK CATHOLIC 0.3 percent
PROTESTANT 0.3 percent
ATHEIST 0.3 percent
OTHER 0.4 percent
Country Overview
Introduction
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia lies in the southern portion of Europe's Balkan Peninsula. A landlocked, mountainous country, Macedonia is bordered to the north by Serbia and Montenegro, to the east by Bulgaria, to the south by Greece, and to the west by Albania.
Christianity of the Byzantine rite prevailed in the region that includes modern Macedonia from the fourth century C.E. onward. Christian missions were successful among the Slavs who settled in the area in the sixth century. In the following centuries regional and imperial powers competed for control of Macedonia, which lay on the main route connecting Central Europe with the Aegean Sea. This contributed to the religious diversity of the region.
Besides the Orthodox Christians, a small, mainly Albanian, Roman Catholic minority has lived in Macedonia at least since the thirteenth century. When the Ottomans conquered Macedonia at the end of the fourteenth century, some Muslim colonists settled there. A significant number of Christians converted to Islam, and Islamic culture and customs permeated the whole society. Even so, the Christian majority continues to regard Islam as the religion of foreign rulers.
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