September 8 – Independence Day in Macedonia

Posted on September 8, 2014

A lot of countries are about as old as my daughter—in their current versions of nationhood, that is! That is because the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics pretty much broke up in 1991—the same year my daughter was born—and Soviet “satellites” and other communist nations such as Yugoslavia also broke apart or went through a democratization revolution in or around 1991.

One of the countries that emerged from the Yugoslavian split-up was Macedonia. Today this eastern-European nation celebrates its 1991 declaration of independence from Yugoslavia...

Did you know...?

Macedonia's capital, Skopje, has been going through a very expensive makeover to make it more attractive to tourists. Check out Macedonia Square, where a huge statue of a warrior on a horse may or may not represent Alexander the Great (it's controversial!). The statue is accompanied by “dancing fountains” with music and lights!


Suto Orizari (Shutka), in Macedonia, is one of the largest Roma communities (that is, communities of gypsies) in the world. Romani is one of its official languages there, and the mayor is Romani.


Vrelo Cave features a spring and natural rock formations (lit up here in a most unnatural - but gorgeous! - way).


I read that Lake Ohrid is the oldest lake in Europe and one of the oldest in the world. Apparently most of the lakes of the world came into being after the latest Ice Age. Glaciers ground down through valleys and carved into rocks, making depressions that filled with water when the glaciers retreated. But Lake Ohrid and a few other lakes in the world existed before the last Ice Age. This lake is considered a tectonic lake—which is the group of lakes that are formed by uplift, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, or landslides.

Learn more about Macedonia in this earlier post.


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