

In the late sixth century BC, the area was subjugated by the Persian Achaemenid Empire, then incorporated into the Kingdom of Macedonia in the fourth century BC. The history of the region begins with the kingdom of Paeonia, a mixed Thraco- Illyrian polity.

Albanians form a significant minority at around 25%, followed by Turks, Romani, Serbs, Bosniaks, Aromanians and a few other minorities. The majority of the residents are ethnic Macedonians, a South Slavic people. Skopje, the capital and largest city, is home to a quarter of the country's 1.83 million population. It constitutes approximately the northern third of the larger geographical region of Macedonia. North Macedonia is a landlocked country bordering with Kosovo to the northwest, Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south, and Albania to the west. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. North Macedonia (formerly Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a country in Southeast Europe.
