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Digital nomadism is on the rise now that border restrictions have been lifted, and a rising number of destinations are opening their doors to remote workers. Despite facing some strong competition in the field, a hugely underrated European country has been named one of the fastest-growing hubs for Digital Nomads worldwide.
Last year, several countries in Europe launched their own Digital Nomad Visa (DNV), allowing Americans to remain in the continent for longer than the usual 90 days as a tourist, from the beautiful Portuguese Atlantic coast, as far East as the Greek islands. Interestingly, none of them has gained more traction than this lesser-known Balkan gem.
Everyone, meet North Macedonia (or Macedonia, as you like):
What Is North Macedonia Known For?
The Republic of North Macedonia (formerly named Macedonia) is a small nation in the heart of the Balkans, the same peninsula where other far more famous tourist hotspots like Croatia, Montenegro, and Greece are located. Overall, it is the third-least visited country in Europe, behind the micro-state of Liechtenstein and Moldova.
So why is North Macedonia ignored by tourists, you may be wondering? It is certainly not due to a lack of monumental sights or world wonders, but the fact it borders some of the Mediterranean’s most sought-after spots while not enjoying direct access to the sea itself, as well as limited flight options, may be a possible explanation:
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It may not have an opening to the ocean, but it is home to one of Europe’s largest freshwater lakes – Lake Ohrid – and a plethora of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the charming lakeside town of Ohrid, distinguished for its whitewashed Ottoman-era houses and Romanesque churches dating back to the 9th century or earlier.
The region can also trace its origins back to the reign of Alexander the Great, who ruled over the cross-national Macedonia region (which encompasses North Macedonia and parts of at least three other Balkan countries) in the 4th century BC. A giant commemorative statue of the legendary warrior riding a majestic horse stands in central Skopje.
Lastly, a little-known fact about North Macedonia: it is the birthplace of Mother Teresa, the beatified nun who rose to prominence as a carer for the poor and sick in the slums of Calcutta, India. Nene Tereza was, in fact, ethnically Albanian, though born and raised in Skopje, where she lived until her coming of age.
Digital Nomads Are Going Off The Beaten Path In 2023
It may have taken a global pandemic for North Macedonia to step into the spotlight, but its potential is finally being acknowledged. Early on in the crisis, when all countries in Europe banned Americans from entering, enacting a series of draconian measures to halt tourism, North Macedonia was one of a handful that remained accessible to foreigners.
Even prior to vaccines being introduced, it welcomed nomads restriction-free. Alongside other Balkan partners lying outside the Brussels sphere of influence, it was for a long time their only gateway into Europe at a time when Italy, France, Portugal, and the like were unceremoniously turning visitors away at the border.
According to the latest data shared by Nomad List, Skopje, the North Macedonian capital, is the second fastest-growing digital nomad hub of the past five years, with an impressive 417% year-on-year growth since 2018. For better or for worse, the Covid crisis helped highlight Macedonia’s strengths: in 2021 alone, the first post-pandemic year, it grew 114%.
In 2022, check-ins by long-term travelers increased again by 173%, and 21 days into 2023, a further 27%. North Macedonia is no longer a forgotten, post-Communist state tucked away in Southeastern Europe, sandwiched between Greece and Serbia: its tourism sector is booming, and it’s been rediscovered by a new generation of globetrotters – at last.
Why Is North Macedonia Popular Among Nomads?
We can definitely see how North Macedonia would appeal to nomads: it is less crowded, a lot cheaper, and just as culturally rich as anywhere else in Europe. Based on updated Numbeo figures, a single person’s monthly costs in North Macedonia total only $461.20, or 26.222,70 Macedonian denar without rent.
On average, it is 56.2% cheaper to live in North Macedonia (Skopje) than in the United States or a majority of Western European countries. In other words, in order to maintain the same living standards they would have while earning €3.600 in Madrid, the capital of Spain, nomads would only require €1.932,80, or 119.539,40 Macedonian denar.
Affordability is not the only reason why nomads are heading there en masse: North Macedonia is simply fascinating. Whether it’s hiking trails amid spectacular mountainous scenery, perfectly-preserved medieval castles and cobblestone towns, ski stations, or crystal clear lakes they’re after, it really does have something for every traveler profile.
Here are the pros of using North Macedonia as a hub for remote work:
- It is not in the European Union nor the Schengen Area, so any time spent in North Macedonia does not count towards your 90-day Schengen limit
- Your dollars will stretch further: rent and consumer goods are roughly half the price compared to Western Europe
- Being one of the least-visited countries in Europe, it is not suffering from overtourism like neighboring Greece
- It is bureaucracy-free: you may be able to obtain a long-term residency permit by applying as a qualified worker (learn more here)
Is There A Macedonian DNV?
Authorities first announced plans to introduce a DNV as early as January 2021, though it is not clear they have indeed materialized as of January 2023. The project is supported by The Fund of Innovation and Technology Development, and once officially launched, it will permit remote workers to remain in the territory for up to a year (with potential extensions).
The lack of a formal visa category for nomads is not an impediment. If anything, it’s an opportunity: they are still granted a 3-month stay arriving as tourists, and due to the relaxed border policies of the Balkan Peninsula, they can split their time between different countries in the Eastern bloc and extend their time in Europe indefinitely, as long as they plan it wisely.
The complete list of fastest-growing digital nomad hubs and their growth in the last half-decade can be seen below:
- Palermo, Italy – 500%
- Skopje, North Macedonia – 417%
- Azores, Portugal – 361%
- Yerevan, Armenia – 308%
- Mallorca, Spain – 292%
- Lima, Peru – 261%
- Puebla, Mexico – 250%
- Tbilisi, Georgia – 239%
- Sofia, Bulgaria – 237%
- Cairo, Egypt – 231%
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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com
Greek
Friday 11th of August 2023
Correction. Skopje was known as Paeonia during the time of Alexander. To see Alexander's birthplace and homeland one has to travel south to Macedonia... Greece.
Greek
Sunday 2nd of July 2023
Right censor. real credible comeback to hide your mistake of recognizing these obvious frauds as Athenians... no way you all ridiculously claim they are "Macedonians".
In other news... everyone should visit the homeland of George Washington in Mexico city.
Greek
Friday 11th of August 2023
@BekaR
In the 1990s,Macedonians speak a language codified in 1946,spoken by less than two million people, and with a very slender literature. They are members of an Orthodox Church whose authority was established by a socialist political regime in 1968.They are heirs to a 1903 revolution that until the 1940s was described by almost all sources as being Bulgarian.
- "The history of the Balkan Peninsula" Ferdinand Schevill page 432
Greek
Friday 11th of August 2023
@Bekar
Thanks for proving my point that your patronizing foreign apologists are unethically trying to hide their mistake of recognizing you as "Macedonians" by whitewashing your bizarre attempts to frame yourselves as ancient Macedonians.
For those interested in reality....
"after WWII in Macedonia the past was systematically falsified to conceal the fact that many prominent ‘Macedonians’ had supposed themselves to be Bulgarians, and generations of students were taught the pseudo-history of the Macedonian nation. The mass media and education were the key to this process of national acculturation, speaking to people in a language that they came to regard as their Macedonian mother tongue, even if it was perfectly understood in Sofia."
- Michael L. Benson, Yugoslavia: A Concise History, Edition 2, Springer, 2003, ISBN 1403997209, p. 89.
Greek
Friday 11th of August 2023
@Bekar,
Your narrative is ridiculous nationalist propaganda. Most of yo used to self-identify as Bulgarians prior to Yugoslav communists wiping out your identity. You have nothing to do with ancient Macedonians... founders of the HELLENISTIC period.. and self-identifying Greeks.
Bekar
Sunday 23rd of July 2023
@Greek, you are so afraid of Macedonians even after 2500 years...Up to 1990 words "Macedonia" and Macedonian were prohibited in Greece. You were so afraid because you have stolen this part of Macedonin and what is stolen once must be given back. My family is from Aegean Macedonia (Egejska Makedonija), now renamed as Central Macedonia region in Greece. Greeks do not exist, were invented by romantics in western Europe (mainly Germans)….they even establish for you kingdom with GERMAN king 😊)))). No ancient map is shwing Greek as a state, Macedonia was always there.
Tina
Sunday 29th of January 2023
At the risk of becoming cruisified here l. Hello from Macedonia 🇲🇰 and thank you for the beautiful words. It is indeed an amazing place to visit and it's too bad that the jealousy of people is trying to destroy her. Everyone is welcome here.
Greek
Sunday 2nd of July 2023
@Tina,
the jealousy is of you frauds that shamelessly steal Greek history. Even here you violate the prespa agreement by calling the former Yugoslav region of vardar "Macedonia".
I suggest you learn you history as Bulgarians rather than shamelessly pretend to be "Macedonians".
Georgina Kouti
Friday 27th of January 2023
Reflecting on our ongoing issues with our neighboring newly independent country of Scopia or Fyrom - Former Yugoslavian Republic - indulging in borrowing from our ancient history in reference to our Macedonia and trying hard to assimilate I become certain that contemporary politic tactics ignore history because people do not bother to search. Thus, Scopians by identifying with our ancient Macedonians rely on the fact that nobody checks on their Slavic identity accepted so till last century. Scupi as I have posted previously was founded as a Roman city by Roman militarists due to its strategic position in 1st century BC. The glory of our Macedonia with Alexander the Great that they have borrowed as their national hero, although Greek in origin, while they are Slavs, who lived 3 centuries earlier in the southern part of the area it is impossible to having been shared. I am so surprised that no one looks at maps or searches in history. The problem for me it is not political it is ignorance of history and lack of will to google the foundation of their main city and the maps of 18th century when the powerful countries of Europe then created the Balkan issues, and they are nowhere to be seen. Even in Treaty of Berlin 1878, hosted by Bismarck, the German Chancellor, they are not mentioned as a nation. Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria are referred to as territories becoming independent of the Ottoman Empire. This can lead us to view that Greek and people of Slavic origin formed the map of the time in the area under the supervision of the Germans, Austrians, British, French and Russian who evidently dealt with these two nationalities. Concluding, the solution to this confusion is simple as our Scopian neighbors have to decide if they are Greek or Slavic. Claiming to be Macedonians they have to learn Greek and accept to unite with Greece by application forgetting their claim to independence.
Further reading for all of us who are tired of googling.....with selected authors who are not Greek in order to cite some objectivity on the matter.
LINK Scupi Archaeological Site
LINK Skopje's Strange Quest to Rewrite Its History ... Through Public Sculpture ARMIN ROSEN AUG 13, 2013 The city's latest urban planning program is a heavy-handed attempt to impose unity where there is none.
LINKHow to Build a Fake Ancient City in Just 5 Years BY RACHEL B. DOYLE MAY 18, 2015
LINK Authentic Reconstruction: Authenticity, Architecture and the Built Heritage John Bold,Peter Larkham,Robert Pickard Bloomsbury Publishing.
LINK Op-Ed: Europe isn’t the bastion of racial harmony some may think SOFREP Original Content BY VASILIS CHRONOPOULOS 08.29.2017#FEATURED LINK
LINKTWO CENTURIES OF REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE
Nick
Monday 23rd of January 2023
“Everyone, meet North Macedonia (or Macedonia, as you like)”
Is this proposal from the author to the readers, to change the name of they country and say it as they like???
For decades there was a fight between two countries for the name and you propose to people to call it as they like???
Wow!!! I am speechless…
Greek
Thursday 26th of January 2023
@Nick,
The bigotted evaders are trying to hide their mistake of recognizing them as "Macedonians".