Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with a population of 668,518 (2006).Skopje is located on the upper course of the Vardar River and is located on a major north-south Balkan route between Belgrade and Athens. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre as well as is a center for metal-processing, chemical, timber, textile, leather, and printing industries.

The territory of modern Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC and it was known in the Roman period under the name Scupi. Subsequently, Skopje has been part of the the Byzantines, the Bulgarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Serbia. In 1944 it became the capital city of Democratic Macedonia , which was a federal state, part of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia. The city developed rapidly after World War II, but this trend was interrupted in 1963 when it was hit by a disastrous earthquake. In 1991 it became the capital centre of independent Macedonia.