GLOBALSHIFT - North Macedonia

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North Macedonia (the Republic of North Macedonia) is a land-locked country in the central Balkan peninsula bordered by Kosovo to the northwest, Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south and Albania to the west. It is a candidate for EU membership.

Corresponding to Paeonia and part of Dardania, north of ancient Macedonia (now in Greece), it was was first settled by Thracians. Romans then established the Province of Macedonia in 146 BC. Later settled by Slavs it changed hands many times until the 14th century when it became part of the Serbian Empire and then the Ottoman Empire.

Led by Bulgarians, independence movements arose in the 1890s. An uprising in 1903 failed but in 1913, after the Balkan Wars, it was taken over by Serbia. Temporarily occupied by Bulgaria in World War 1, it was retaken by Serbia in 1918 before, in 1929, becoming part of Yugoslavia (called Vardar Banovina).

In World War 2 all the Balkan states were occupied by Germany. Bulgarians, supported by the Soviets, drove the Germans out of Macedonia in 1944. It joined Yugoslavia once again, as the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, until declaring independence in 1991 in a peaceful transition. Some disruption later occurred during the Kosovo War as a result of its Albanian minority.

It has reformed its industrial economy but remains relatively poor. It finally agreed with Greece to adopt the name North Macedonia in 2018.

North Macedonia has a central valley formed by the Vardar river bordered by rugged mountain ranges. Three large lakes (Ohrid, Prespa and Dojran) lie on the southern border with Albania and Greece.

The region is seismically active between the Dinarides and the Hellenides tectonic zones and its sediments are highly disrupted. The geology is thus unfavourable for the accumulation of commercial volumes of oil and gas and Globalshift believes it is unlikely to achieve any production in the future.