North Macedonia is a country situated in southeastern Europe with geographic coordinates , bordering Kosovo and Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south and Albania to the west. The country is part of the wider region of Macedonia and makes up most of Vardar Macedonia. The country is a major transportation corridor from Western and Central Europe to Southern Europe and the Aegean Sea. North Macedonia is a landlocked country but has three major natural lakes: Lake Ohrid, Lake Prespa and Lake Dojran. It has a water area of 857 km2, while its land area is 24,856 km2.

Phytogeographically, Macedonia belongs to the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the WWF and Digital Map of European Ecological Regions by the European Environment Agency, North Macedonia's territory can be subdivided into four ecoregions: the Pindus Mountains mixed forests, Balkan mixed forests, Rhodopes mixed forests and Aegean sclerophyllous and mixed forests.

Climate

North Macedonia has a unique climate explained by its location and topography. The climate of the plains is a Mediterranean climate combined with the influence of the Black Sea.Georges Castellan, op. cit., p. 13 The country also holds continental characteristics, which are accentuated by the mountains in the south which prevent hot air from the south from moving to the north. Conversely, the Šar Mountains, which are located in the northwestern part, block cold northern winds. In whole, the northern and western parts of the country are relatively close to a Continental climate and the southern and eastern to a Mediterranean climate.Dominique Auzias et Jean-Paul Labourdette, op. cit., p. 25

North Macedonia has four seasons, but the lengths of the seasons varies based on geography. The spring is often very short. Summers are subtropical and it is not uncommon to see temperatures of above during this season, especially in the plains along the valley of the Vardar river. Winters, although moderate, can be quite cold. Snowfalls during winter are common and occasionally heavy. The average annual temperature of the air is , but the plains experience higher temperatures, . The warmest month is July, which has an average temperature of and the coldest is January, with a temperature of . The maximum and minimum temperatures recorded in North Macedonia to date are and , respectively.

The rainfall is abundant in the western and eastern parts of the country, but the temperature decreases significantly in the Vardar region. This region sees warmer winters through the Vardarec wind. This wind comes up from the mouth of the Vardar river and brings warm air. Skopje, considered a low-lying city, has an average of 64 rainy days per year. The month of October is the wettest with 61 mm; the driest is August with 28 mm. Rains are most common in the spring and fall.

Place Region Latitude Longitude Altitude (m) Rainfall (mm) Temperature (°C)SkopjeNorth of the valley of the Vardar42° 00’21° 26’245940 13,5KočaniEastern North Macedonia41° 50’22° 00’400538 12,9Lake OhridSouthwest North Macedonia41° 03’20° 42’693759 11,4

Physical Geography

Boundaries The country has some 766 km of boundaries, shared with Kosovo (159 km or 99 mi) to the northwest, Serbia (102 km or 63 mi) to the North, Bulgaria (156 km) to the east, Greece (234 km) to the south, and Albania (186 km) to the west.

The north border with Serbia and Kosovo is 221 kilometers in length. The border was made after World War II, between SR Macedonia and SR Serbia. But in 2008 when Kosovo declared independence the border with it was remarked again. Rather more than half of the boundary separates North Macedonia from Kosovo. From the tripoint with Albania, the boundary trends north-eastwards along the watershed of Šar Mountain. It describes a curve to the south across the River Lepenec and then turns to north-east to traverse Mount Crna before taking a course slightly to the north of east across the landscape features to the tripoint with Bulgaria.

The east border with Bulgaria has length of approximately 148 km. The settled boundary from Yugoslavia and the People's Republic of Bulgaria was accepted after the independence in 1992. The boundary starts from the tripoint with Greece, the boundary runs north, crossing the River of Strumica and then rising to the watershed which it follows northwards and then north-westwards to the tripoint with Serbia.

The south border that splits North Macedonia from Greece is 228 km long and it is the longest border. It was marked with the Treaty of Bucharest on 10 August 1913. The border starts from the tripoint with Albania, in Lake Prespa, the boundary runs in a straight line eastwards across the lake and then continues in the north of east trend across the relief to the Voras Oros (Nidže), where it turns north-eastwards. It traverses the watershed of the Voras Oros and then continues eastwards along the watershed before dropping to the valley of Vardar river. The boundary continues eastwards and then turns north across the Dojran lake, before, on the latitude of Valandovo, turning east to the tripoint with Bulgaria on Mount Tumba.

The boundary with Albania was marked first in 1926 and then remarked with the Treaty of Paris in 1947. The boundary starts from the tripoint with Kosovo and follows a watershed before crossing, and for a short distance, following the Black Drin river and continuing along a crest line to Ohrid Lake. It crosses the lake, leaving approximately one-third in Albania, traverses a high ridge and meets the tripoint with Greece in Lake Prespa.

Topography

North Macedonia is a landlocked country that is geographically clearly defined by a central valley formed by the Vardar river and framed along its borders by mountain ranges. The terrain is mostly rugged, located between the Šar Mountains and Osogovo, which frame the valley of the Vardar river. Three large lakes — Lake Ohrid, Lake Prespa and Dojran Lake — lie on the southern borders, bisected by the frontiers with Albania and Greece. Ohrid is considered to be one of the oldest lakes and biotopes in the world. The region is seismically active and has been the site of destructive earthquakes in the past, most recently in 1963 when Skopje was heavily damaged by a major earthquake, killing over 1,000.

North Macedonia also has scenic mountains. They belong to two different mountain ranges: the first is the Šar Mountains that continues to the West Vardar/Pelagonia group of mountains (Baba Mountain, Nidže, Kozuf and Jakupica), also known as the Dinaric range. The second range is the Osogovo–Belasica mountain chain, also known as the Rhodope range. The mountains belonging to the Šar Mountains and the West Vardar/Pelagonia range are younger and higher than the older mountains that are part of the Osogovo-Belasica mountain group.

+ 10 tallest mountains in North Macedonia Name Rank Height (m) Height (ft)Mount Korab 1 2,764 9,396Titov Vrv 2 2,748 9,016Baba Mountain 3 2,601 8,533Jakupica 4 2,540 8,333Nidže 5 2,521 8,271Dešat 6 2,373 7,785Galičica 7 2,288 7,507Stogovo 8 2,273 7,457Jablanica 9 2,257 7,405Osogovo 10 2,251 7,383

Hydrography

In North Macedonia there are 1,100 large sources of water. The rivers flow into three different basins: the Aegean, the Adriatic and the Black Sea basin.

The Aegean basin is the largest. It covers 87% of the country's territory, which is 22,075 km2 . Vardar, the largest river in this basin, drains 80% of the territory or 20,459 km2. Its valley plays an important part in the economy and the communication system of the country. The project named The Vardar Valley is considered to be crucial for the strategic development of the country.

The river Black Drim forms the Adriatic basin, which covers an area of about 3,320 km2, i.e., 13% of the territory. It issues from Lakes Prespa and Ohrid.

The Black Sea basin is the smallest with only 37 km2. It covers the northern side of Mount Skopska Crna Gora. Here is the source of the river Binačka Morava which joins the South Morava and later the Danube, which eventually flows into the Black Sea.

Despite being a landlocked country, North Macedonia has three large lakes (Ohrid, Prespa, and Dojran), three artificial lakes and roughly 50 ponds.

There are nine spa resorts in North Macedonia: Banište, Banja Bansko, Istibanja, Katlanovo, Kežovica, Kosovrasti, Banja Kočani, Kumanovski Banji and Negorci.

River Vardar

The Vardar is the longest and most important river in North Macedonia. It is long, and drains an area of around . There are proposals to construct a Morava-Vardar Canal, connecting to the Morava river, and hence connecting the Adriatic to central Europe, although this would require extensive work.

The river rises at Vrutok, a few kilometers north of Gostivar in the Republic of North Macedonia. It passes through Gostivar, Skopje and into Veles, crosses the Greek border near Gevgelija, Polykastro and Axioupoli, before emptying into the Aegean Sea in Central Macedonia west of Thessaloniki in northern Greece.

The Vardar basin includes two-thirds of the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia. For that the area is called "Vardar Macedonia" after the river, to distinguish it from "Aegean Macedonia" (in Greece) and "Pirin Macedonia" (in Bulgaria). The valley comprises fertile lands in Polog, Gevgelija and other parts. The river is surrounded by mountains elsewhere. The M1 / E75, connecting with Greek National Road 1, runs through the valley along the river's entire length to near Skopje.

The river is depicted on the coat of arms of Skopje, which in turn is incorporated in the city's flag.Official portal of the city of Skopje: City symbols . – Retrieved on 13 May 2009.

Lake Ohrid

Lake Ohrid (Macedonian: Охридско Езеро, Ohridsko Ezero) straddles the mountainous border between southwestern North Macedonia and eastern Albania. Lake Ohrid is the deepest lake of the Balkans, with a maximum depth of 288 m (940 ft) and a mean depth of 155 m (508 ft). It covers an area of , containing an estimated 55.4 km3 of water. It is 30.4 km long by 14.8 km wide at its maximum extent with a shoreline length of 87.53 km, shared between North Macedonia (56.02 km) and Albania (31.51 km). The lake drains an area of around 2600 km2 and is fed primarily by underground springs on the eastern shore (about 50% of total inflow), with roughly 25% shares from rivers and direct precipitation. Over 20% of the lake's water comes from nearby Lake Prespa, about to the southeast and at 150 m higher altitude than Lake Ohrid.

Similar to Lake Baikal and Lake Tanganyika, Lake Ohrid harbors endemic species covering the whole food-chain, from phytoplankton and sestile algae (20 species; e.g., Cyclotella fottii), plant species (2 species; e.g., Chara ohridana), zooplankton (5 species; e.g., Cyclops ochridanus), cyprinid fish (8 species; e.g., Pachychilon pictus), to predatory fish (2 trout species; Ohrid trout Salmo letnica and "Belvica" Acantholingua ohridana) and finally its diverse endemic bottom fauna (176 species; e.g. Ochridagammarus solidus), with particularly large endemism among crustaceans, molluscs, sponges and planarians.

There are three cities on the lake's shores: Ohrid and Struga in North Macedonia; Pogradec in Albania. There are also several fishing villages, although tourism is now a more significant part of their income. The catchment area of the lake has a population of around 170,000 people, with 131,000 people living directly at the lake shore (43,000 in Albania and 88,000 in North Macedonia).

Lake Prespa

The Great Prespa Lake (Macedonian: Преспанско Езеро, Prespansko Ezero) is divided between Albania, Greece and North Macedonia. The largest island in the Great Prespa Lake, called Golem Grad ("Large Fortress"), or Snake Island (Змиски Остров), lies within North Macedonia.