It is probable that if the Republic of Macedonia did not exist it would not be necessary to invent it. Its four neighbours have had - or want - some part of it. In this century alone it has been divided between Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece, while Albania continues to covet much of its western area.
Even its name is claimed by the Greeks, who say the country is just a portion of the "real" Macedonia, which is mostly in Greece. The Republic of Macedonia makes up just 25,713 square kilometres (about the size of Ulster) of what it itself acknowledges as Macedonia the "geographic expression". That latter Macedonia covers 66,600 square metres of territory with a population of 4.5 million. The Republic has just 1.9 million people, 66.5 per cent of them Macedonian. It has 26 ethnic minorities.
The largest, at 22.9 per cent, is Albanian. Others include Turks (4.79 per cent), Romany gypsies (2.73 per cent) and Serbs (2.17 per cent). Macedonians therefore tread softly, lest they tread on someone's schemes.
Macedonia was proclaimed a sovereign, independent, democratic Republic only in 1991, though it had existed as an autonomous country within the Yugoslav federation since 1944. That followed a three-year fight for independence against Axis (primarily Germany and Bulgarian) forces by local Communist partisans.
"Awkward geography"
Poor Macedonia (and it is poor) is cursed by those three essentials: location, location, and location. It has, in the words of the commander of NATO troops there, Lt-Gen Sir Mike Jackson, "an awkward geography". For which you can read "awkward neighbours".
It is a mountainous country, with only 20 per cent lowland, and has a predominantly continental climate with severe winters and severe summers. Located at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula, it is something of a crossroads between East and West.
Just about everyone has been there, including the Celts (in about the second century BC), the Romans, the Slavs, and the Turks - who stayed for 500 years until the last century. Then that romantic nationalism sweeping Europe began to assert itself in Macedonia too.
The Macedonians had their failed (Krushevo) Rising in 1903 and, as with other such failures elsewhere, it has been celebrated as a triumph ever since. The Balkan Wars began in 1912 and Macedonia was divided between Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece at the Bucharest Treaty of 1913. That partition was sanctioned at Verseilles in 1919.
Like all small nations, Macedonia it takes great pride in what sets it apart - in its case language and church, which are linked. The Macedonian Orthodox Church traces its existence to the 10th century, when it also adopted Macedonian as its ecclesiastical language.
In 1944 Macedonian was proclaimed as an official language of the state - an important psychological moment the language had survived frequent attempts at suppression by "guests" down the centuries.
Multi-ethnic society
Macedonia is alone among the six republics of the former Yugoslavia in not having experienced violence since the break-up. Last November its new Government, under premier Ljubco Georgievski, set about building a multi-ethnic society that would "go beyond Balkan standards so that we can be the creators of stability in the region."
He brought the Democratic Party of the Albanians into his coalition, though not needing their support, and gave them five Cabinet seats. That history should so suddenly have taken the turn it did is his and Macedonia's misfortune.
Macedonia traces its history back almost beyond reason. It begins in 825 BC when, it is claimed, a Macedonian state was first established but also when, it is safe to say, the notion of a nation was not noticeable. This account also ignores the fact that the glue which forms the foundation of its current identity, Church and language, were both absent. But who are we to comment?
Yet it has to be said that in the retrospective reading of history, the Macedonians leave us breathless. They claim that the "Poenia" referred to in Homer's Iliad is that part of the Balkans "the central region of which the Republic of Macedonia occupies today". From there they move on to the poet Hesiod, who in his epic Deeds and Days, written in the 7th century BC, "narrated the myth about the origin of the Macedonians". (He wrote: "And she, Deucalion's daughter, of Zeus, the thunderer, bore two sons, Magnet and Macedon . . .")
They refer to the statement by the Greek historian Thucydi- des that "They, the Macedonians, conquered other tribes too . . ." By which it is time to bring on the Old Testament to introduce Alaxander the Great and his father Phillip of Macedon. The First Book of Maccabees begins: "Alexander of Macedon, son of Phillip, came from the land of Hatayans and defeated Darius, king of Persia and India and got himself affirmed in his place in Hellas."
Alexander, they tell us, was not merely a Macedonian king, he was also Macedonian by birth and spoke Macedonian. For some reason they don't mention Aristotle, who taught Alexander and was also Macedonian. They quote Plutarch's Comparative Biograpies to prove Alexander spoke Macedonian.
Paul's vision
Then it is on to the New Testament Acts of the Apostles: "And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed to him saying, `Come to Macedonia, and help us.' And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them."
One person not mentioned much in Macedonia today is Gonga Bojagiu. Her house was situated on what is now a roadway next to a shopping centre beside Macedonia Square in Scopje, the country's capital.
The site has a plaque and four markings for each corner of the house. The plaque tells us she was born there on August 26th, 1910 and quotes her as saying, on a visit to Scopje in 1997: "It's not hunger only for bread, but more for love." She was Mother Teresa, a Macedonian and also an ethnic Albanian Catholic.