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Macedonia – rather than the UN reference, notably three of the five permanent UN Security Council members (the United States, Russia, and the People's Republic of China) and over 100 other UN members; but the constitutional name is never used in relations where a country not recognizing the constitutional name is a party.

Most international organisations adopted the same convention, including the European Union, NATO, the International Monetary Fund, the European Broadcasting Union, and the International Olympic Committee, among others. The EU recognises the country as the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the negotiations with the EU are held using this reference. The same reference is also used in any discussion to which Greece is a party but is inconsistently used by other countries. Bulgaria uses the name ‘Republic of Macedonia’ even if it is seen as interfering with the traditional use of the name ‘Pirin Macedonia’, insisting however that any solution to the naming dispute with Greece should "take account of the historical, cultural, and other realities related to the geographic region of Macedonia".

On the other hand, the government of the Republic of Macedonia never signs any documents with a name different from the constitutional name. However, an increasing number of countries have abandoned the United Nations provisional reference and have recognised the country as the Republic of Macedonia or simply Macedonia instead. These include four of the five permanent UN Security Council members, the United States, Russia, United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China, as well two of its immediate neighbours, Bulgaria and Serbia. Negotiations continue between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia but have yet to reach any settlement of the dispute.

Recently ranked as the fourth 'best reformatory state' out of 178 countries ranked by the World Bank, the Republic of Macedonia has undergone considerable economic reform since independence. The country has developed an open economy with trade accounting for more than 90% of GDP in recent years. Since 1996, the country has witnessed steady, though slow, economic growth with GDP growing by 3% in 2005. This figure is projected to rise to an average of 5% in the 2006-2010 period. The government has proven successful in its efforts to combat inflation, with an inflation rate of only 3% in 2006 and 2% in 2007 and has implemented policies focused on attracting foreign investment and promoting the development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises . The current government introduced a flat tax system with the intention of making the country more attractive to foreign investment. The flat tax rate was 12% in 2007 and will be further lowered to 10% in 2008.

Despite these successes, as of 2005 Macedonia's unemployment rate was 37% and as of 2006 its poverty rate was 22%. Corruption and a relatively ineffective legal system also act as significant restraints on successful economic development. The Republic still has one of the lowest per capita GDPs in Europe. Furthermore, the country's grey market is estimated at close to 20% of GDP.

In terms of structure, as of 2005 the service sector constituted by far the largest part of GDP at 57%, up from 54% in 2000. The industrial sector represents 29% of GDP, down from 33% in 2000 while agriculture represents only 13%, up from 12%. Textiles represent the most significant sector for trade, accounting for more than half of total exports. Other important exports include iron, steel, wine and vegetables.

Macedonia, together with Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, belonged to the less developed region of the former Yugoslavia. It suffered severe economic difficulties after independence, when the Yugoslav internal market collapsed and subsidies from Belgrade ended. In addition, it faced many of the same problems faced by other former socialist East European countries during the transition to a market economy. Its main land and rail exports route, through Serbia, remains unreliable with high transit costs, thereby affecting the export of its formerly highly profitable, early vegetables market to Germany.

The outbreak of the Yugoslav wars and the imposition of sanctions on Serbia and Montenegro caused great damage to the Republic's economy, with Serbia constituting 60% of its markets prior to the disintegration of Yugoslavia. When Greece imposed a trade embargo on the Republic in 1994 to 95, the economy was also affected. Some relief was afforded by the end of the Bosnian war in November 1995 and the lifting of the Greek embargo, but the Kosovo War of 1999 and the 2001 Albanian crisis caused further destabilisation. Since the end of the Greek embargo, Greece has become the most important business partner of the Republic of Macedonia. Many Greek companies have bought former state companies in the country, such as the oil refinery Okta, the baking company Zhito Luks, a marble mine in Prilep, textile facilities in Bitola etc. Other key partners are Germany, Italy and Slovenia.

The Republic of Macedonia has an estimated population of 2 million citizens. The largest ethnic group in the country are the Macedonians. The Jewish community of the Republic of Macedonia, which numbered some 7,200 people on the eve of World War II, was almost entirely destroyed during the War, with only 2% of Macedonian Jews surviving the Holocaust. After their liberation and the end of the War, most opted to emigrate to Israel. Today, the country's Jewish community numbers approximately 200 persons, almost all of whom live in Skopje. Most Macedonian Jews are Sephardic - the descendants of 15th century refugees who had fled the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions.

A wide variety of languages are spoken in the Republic of Macedonia, reflecting its ethnic diversity. The official and most widely spoken language is Macedonian, which belongs to the Eastern branch of the South Slavic language group. Structurally, it is closer to Bulgarian than any other Slavonic language. Its current form was codified after World War II and has accumulated a thriving literary tradition.
Other languages including Albanian, Bulgarian, Romani, Turkish, Serbian, Vlach (Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian), Circassian, Greek and others are spoken roughly in proportion with their associated ethnic groups.
Macedonian is the only language explicitly designated as an official national language in the constitution. It also provides however for those languages spoken by over 20% of the total population to be regarded as so official - at present, only Albanian fulfils this requirement. Additionally, in municipalities where at least 20% of the population is from other ethnic minorities, their individual languages are used for official purposes in local government.

The Macedonian education system consists of:

• pre-school education
• primary education
• secondary education
• higher education

The higher levels of education can be obtained at one of the four state universities: Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, St. Clement of Ohrid University of Bitola, State University of Tetovo and Goce Delchev University of Shtip. There are a number of private university institutions, such as the European University, Slavic University in Svelte Nicole, the South East European University and others.

The United States Agency for International Development has underwritten a project called "Macedonia Connects" which has made the Republic of Macedonia the first all-broadband wireless country in the world. The Ministry of Education and Sciences reports that 461 schools (primary and secondary) are now connected to the internet. In addition, an Internet Service Provider (On.net), has created a MESH Network to provide WIFI services in the 11 largest cities/towns in the country.

The Republic of Macedonia has a rich cultural heritage in art, architecture, poetry, and music. It has many ancient, protected religious sites. Poetry, cinema, and music festivals are held annually. Macedonian music styles developed under the strong influence of Byzantine church music. The Republic of Macedonia is one of the few countries with the most beautiful preserved Byzantine fresco paintings, mainly from the period between the 11th and 16th centuries. There are several thousand square metres of fresco painting preserved, the major part of which is in very good condition and represent masterworks of the Macedonian School of ecclesiastical painting.

In the Republic of Macedonia the past meets the present. Its age-old architecture and monasteries and churches of exquisite beauty make an interesting contrast to the super modern new architecture. Most of the Macedonian monasteries, built in various periods, and particularly those built between the 11th and 15th–16th centuries, have been completely preserved until today. The Macedonian collection of icons, and in particular the Ohrid ones, are among the most valuable collections in the world today. After the Sinai and the Moscow collection of icons, it is third in importance in Orthodoxy.

The most important cultural events in the country are the Ohrid Summer festival of classical music and drama, the Struga Poetry Evenings which gather poets from more than 50 countries, Skopje May Opera Evenings, the International Camera Festival in Bitola, Open Youth Theatre and Skopje Jazz Festival in Skopje etc.

A majority (65%) of the population belongs to the Macedonian Orthodox Church and Muslims comprise 33% of the population. Most of the native Albanians, Turks and Bosniaks are Muslims, as are a minority of the country's ethnic Macedonian population, known as Macedonian Muslims. Altogether, there are more than 1,200 churches and 400 mosques in the country. The Orthodox and Islamic religious communities have secondary schools in Skopje. There is an Orthodox theological college in the capital. Macedonia has the largest proportion of Muslims of any country in Europe after Turkey, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Macedonian Orthodox Church is the dominant church in the country. The church has issues with the Serbian Orthodox Church after the separation and self-declaration of autocephaly (not recognised by any other Orthodox church) in 1967.

The Macedonian Byzantine Catholic Church has approximately 11,000 adherents in the Republic. The Church was established in 1918, and is made up mostly of converts to Catholicism and their descendants. The Church is of the Byzantine Rite and is in communion with the Roman and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its liturgical worship is performed in Macedonian. There is a small Protestant community. The most famous Protestant in the country is the former president Boris Trajkovski. He was from the Methodist Community, which is the largest and oldest Protestant Church in the Republic, dating back to the late nineteenth century. Since the 1980s the small Protestant community has grown, partly through new confidence and partly with outside missionary help.

Total Language Solutions translates all types of material in all types of software into or out of Macedonian.

Translation projects undertaken include web site content, sales and marketing material, documentation requirements for engineering and manufacturing into and out of Macedonian.

Total Language Solutions are translation specialists in DTP, print ready and electronic forms of material, integrating text and diagrams and more besides into and out of Macedonian.

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