Albania–North Macedonia border

After the Balkan Wars

Under Ottoman rule the Albanian lands were split among several provinces, and after the Balkan Wars their borders were left to the Great Powers. The Conference of Ambassadors in London agreed Albania’s frontiers in principle in 1913; the First World War delayed demarcation, and in 1921 the ambassadors confirmed the line with some changes. An International Boundary Commission of France, Britain and Italy marked it in 1922–25, and the final act was signed in Paris on 30 July 1926.^[1]

In the east the line runs south along the Korab ridge, loops west to leave the town of Debar outside Albania, follows the Drin for a few miles and climbs the Jablanica ridge. Above Lin it turns east across Lake Ohrid to its southeastern shore, leaving the monastery of Sveti Naum on the Yugoslav side, and then crosses Lake Prespa to meet Greece in the lake. The St Naum area and the district of Vermosh further north were awarded to Yugoslavia in 1925, after years of dispute.^[1]

“crosses it to its southeast shore, leaving the Sveti Naum Monastery in Yugoslavia”^[1]

Lake Ohrid

Ohrid and Prespa lie in basins formed by faulting and collapse.^[1] Lake Ohrid shelters many endemic freshwater species dating back to the Tertiary. On its shores the town of Ohrid is one of the oldest human settlements in Europe, while on the small Lin Peninsula lie the remains of an early Christian church from the mid-6th century. UNESCO lists the lake and its surroundings as a World Heritage site.^[2]