What should every foreigner know about Macedonia

• Official Name: Republic of Macedonia
• Official Language: Macedonian (based on the Cyrillic script)
• Territory Coverage: 25,713 sq km
• Population: 2,038,000 (2003)
• Ethnic Groups: Macedonians (65%), Albanians (25%), Turks (2%), Serbs (2%), Vlachs (1%) & other
• Religion: Macedonian Orthodox (70%), Muslim, Roman Catholic
• Position: South-eastern Europe, at the heart of the Balkan Peninsula. The climate is predominately continental (hot, dry summers & cold winters). In higher regions summers are cool & winters are cold, with a lot of snow.
• Time Zone: Central European Time (GMT +1). Daylight saving time (one hour ahead) is used in spring and autumn

National holidays

• 1st & 2nd of January - New Year
• 7th January - Christmas Eve
• April - Easter
• 1st & 2nd of May - Labor Days
• 2nd of August - National Holiday of Ilinden (in honor if the Ilinden's Uprising in 1903)
• 8th of September - Independence Day of the Republic of Macedonia
• 11th of October - Celebration of the Rebellion of the Macedonian people (in honor of the Antifacshist uprising from the Second World War)

Working hours

The abovementioned days and each Sunday in the week, are holidays. Nevertheless, as well as most of the restaurants of bars, work even during the holidays. In all working days, the shops are opened from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Only in Saturdays they work from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm (there are usually extended working hours in tourist areas during the season.
Institutions and offices: Monday to Friday 8:00 am, Saturday 9 am to 5 pm.
Banks: Monday to Friday 8am to 7 pm, Saturday 8 am to 12 am (you can expect extended working hours at the airports).

Currency and banking

The monetary unit in the Republic of Macedonia is the denar, since April 26th, 1992. Foreign visitors may convert foreign funds into local currency in all banks or private exchange offices, which abide by the exchanges rates recommended by the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia. Upon entering Macedonia you should declare the amount of money you are carrying if you intend to take all or part of it out of the country. EUROs, Franks, Pounds and other foreign currencies are exchanged in all exchange offices.

Credit cards

You can use all established international credit cards (American Express, Visa, Dinners, MasterCard/EuroCard) as well as Eurocheques in most hotels, shops and restaurants.