About Macedonia

General Facts

 

Official name:

Republic of Macedonia

Area:

25.713 km²

Population:

2.038.059 (census from 2002)

Capital:

Skopje, about 600.000 citizens

The official language:

Macedonian

Alphabet:

Cyrillic

Religions:

Mainly Orthodox Christians, then Muslim, Roman Catholic and others

Political structure:

State with parliamentary democracy

Independence day:

8th of September

Localities under UNESCO protection:

The town of Ohrid and Ohrid Lake

Currency:

Denar: 1 Denar = 100 Deni

Time:

GMT+1

Weights and measurements:

SI

Electricity:

220 volts, 50 Hz

Important telephone numbers:

Police - 192
Emergency medical assistance - 194
Fire brigade - 193

Money

Currency:

DENAR (MKD)

Foreign Currency Exchange:

At the time of writting the exchange rates were:
61,3 MKD = 1 EUR
43,0 MKD = 1 USD
Money can be exchanged at hotels, banks and exchange offices at the current rate of exchange, or almost everywere you can pay in euro and get your change in denars
The only legal tender in Macedonia is the Macedonian "Denar", which ws introduced as a official currency in 1992.

Note bills:

10, 50, 100, 500, 1000 and 5000 MKD.

Coins:

1, 2 & 5 MKD.

Credit cards:

American Express, Visa, Diners club, MasterCard, Maestro and Eurocard are accepted. Travellers cheques can be exchanged in any major bank office.

Major hotels, most restaurant and stores accept Visa, Mastercard, Maestro and Eurocard (check if there is a sighn at the entry). You can find cash machines in the most frequent places in the center of the towns. Exchange offices are the places that you'll not have problems finding, they are everywhere and well marked. Also, if it's a metter of emergency, or it's a non working day, you'll have no problem paying with Euros, but on some places you can be charged less then the real value.

Working hours

Banks open:

7 AM – 3 PM during the week
7 AM – 1 PM Saturdays
Sundays closed

Post Offices open:

7 AM – 19.00 PM during the week
7 AM – 1 PM Saturdays
Sundays closed

Some shops are open between 7 AM. & 21 PM. Other shops and department stores are open between 8 AM & 8 PM. In Sundays some work some not. Restaurants, cafes etc. are open from 8 AM to 1 after midnight. Discos and night clubs from 10 PM to 03 AM.

Prices:

(approximate, in MKD):

Beer

In shop 25-35 (in bars 60 to 120)

Milk

40

Bread

25-30

Wine

80-150

Cigarettes

50-150

Pizza

180-250 (a slice 70)

Hamburger

60-100

Taxi

Approximate 30-50 mkd start (depends from the company) + 25 mkd 1 km.

Telecomunications

In order to place an international telephone call from Macedonia, you have to dial:

1. „00“ to indicate that an international connection is required
2. The telephone code of the target country
3. The city code within the target country, usually omitting the zero (0) that proceeds it
4. The subscriber’s telephone number

Note: Phone calls made between 18:00 and 06:00, are 50% cheaper. Or you can use internet caffes from where you can dial any long distance call worldwide for 10 mkd for 1 minute.

Visa arrangements

First you need a passport for comming to Macedonia. The citizens of the some countries need a visa and they can obtain a visa at our embassies in their countries or in the nearest country where we have one. You can get the visa in one day. Citizens of European Union countries do not need a visa.

For vehicles

The car license, the green of blue insurance card and the power of attorney if another person drives the car.