The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Macedonia, officially the Republic of Macedonia, is a country in the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991. It became a member of the United Nations in 1993, but, as a result of an ongoing dispute with Greece over the use of the name "Macedonia", was admitted under the provisional description the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (sometimes abbreviated as FYROM and FYR Macedonia), a term that is also used by international organizations such as the European Union, the Council of Europe, and NATO. On 17 June 2018, Macedonia and Greece signed the Prespa agreement which would see the country change its name to "Republic of North Macedonia", pending a national referendum on the matter and legislation passing through parliament.

This region's history dates back to antiquity, beginning with the kingdom of Paeonia. In the late 6th century BC, the area was incorporated into the Persian Achaemenid Empire, then annexed by the Kingdom of Macedonia in the 4th century BC. The Romans conquered the region in the 2nd century BC and made it part of the much larger province of Macedonia. Τhe area remained part of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire, and was often raided and settled by Slavic peoples beginning in the 6th century. Following centuries of contention between the Bulgarian, Byzantine and Serbian empires, it gradually came under Ottoman dominion from the 14th century. Between the late 19th and early 20th century, a distinct Macedonian identity emerged, although following the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, the modern territory of Macedonia came under Serbian rule. In the aftermath of the First World War (1914‑1918), it became incorporated into the Serb-dominated Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which after the Second World War was re-established as a republic (1945) and which became the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1963. Macedonia remained a constituent socialist republic within Yugoslavia until its peaceful secession in 1991.

The first Macedonian stamps were issued on 28 October 1944 on behalf of the German occupation of the territory. After the war, Macedonia used the stamps from Yugoslavia. Since the end of 1992 the republic issues its own stamps with the country name Macedonia.

During the Briefmarken-Messe in Essen in May 2017 I left stamped envelopes at almost every foreign postal administration hoping they would send them back when they arrived home. The stamp is one of two stamps issued on 24 March 2004 featuring carpets. According to the catalogue, this design is called Sofra. The stamp was postmarked with the datestamp of Skopje, the capital of Macedonia.

This and other stamps can be found on the website of Macedonia Post: posta.com.mk/postage-stamps.

Date sent: 12 May 2017

Date postmark: 18 May 2017

Date received: 23 May 2017

Number of days: 11

Envelope in collection: 105