Location:
Southeastern Europe, north of Greece

Geographic coordinates:
41 50 N, 22 00 E

Map references:
Europe

Area:
total: 25,333 sq km
land: 24,856 sq km
water: 477 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly larger than Vermont

Land boundaries:
total: 766 km
border countries: Albania 151 km, Bulgaria 148 km, Greece 246 km, Kosovo 159 km, Serbia 62 km

Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)

Climate:
warm, dry summers and autumns; relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall

Terrain:
mountainous territory covered with deep basins and valleys; three large lakes, each divided by a frontier line; country bisected by the Vardar River

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Vardar River 50 m
highest point: Golem Korab (Maja e Korabit) 2,764 m

Natural resources:
low-grade iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromite, manganese, nickel, tungsten, gold, silver, asbestos, gypsum, timber, arable land

Land use:
arable land: 22.01%
permanent crops: 1.79%
other: 76.2% (2005)

Irrigated land:
550 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:
6.4 cu km (2001)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 2.27
per capita: 1,118 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:
high seismic risks

Environment - current issues:
air pollution from metallurgical plants

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
landlocked; major transportation corridor from Western and Central Europe to Aegean Sea and Southern Europe to Western Europe