Macedonia (region)

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Macedonia Expand for local names Maqedonia (Albanian) Македония (Bulgarian) Μακεδονία (Greek) Македонија (Macedonian) Македонија (Serbian)/Makedonija Machedonia (Aromanian) Machedonia (Megleno Romanian)
2009 topographical map of the geographical region of Macedonia
Country	Greece  North Macedonia  Bulgaria  Albania  Serbia  Kosovo
Area
• Total	67,000 km2 (26,000 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate	over 4,760,000

Macedonia (/ˌmæsɪˈdoʊniə/ ^ⓘ MASS-ih-DOH-nee-ə) is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time; however, it came to be defined as the modern geographical region by the mid-19th century. Today the region is considered to include parts of six Balkan countries: all of North Macedonia, large parts of Greece and Bulgaria, and smaller parts of Albania, Serbia, and Kosovo. It covers approximately 67,000 square kilometres (25,869 sq mi) and has a population of around five million. Greek Macedonia comprises about half of Macedonia's area and population.

Its oldest known settlements date back approximately to 7,000 BC. From the middle of the 4th century BC, the Kingdom of Macedon became the dominant power on the Balkan Peninsula; since then Macedonia has had a diverse history.