Macedonia bears the name given in antiquity to the region which was the heart of the empire of Alexander the Great and has survived in various shapes and sizes, and under various sovereignties, until in 1992 it left the Yugoslav Federation to become an independent state. Here, living side by side, are Turks, Greeks, Gypsies, Albanians, Jews, Vlachs, Serbs, as well as the Macedonians who form the greater part of the population. The ethnic mix has given rise to the French culinary term macedoine.
The long hot summers of the region herald the Mediterranean climate found further south; the early mild springs boost the production of early fruit and vegetables—some of the earliest in the Balkans.
