Physical framework The Republic of Macedonia is a small country but is very diverse by relief and climate. From the aspect of relief, Macedonia is mountainous country. Mountains cover 79% of the total area, participation of plains is 19,1% and to the water surfaces belong 1,9%. Total geographic area of our country is 25.713 km 2 . The territorial borders are: 264 km in north with Serbia and Monte Negro, 177,7 km in east with Bulgaria, 262 km in south with Greece and 192 km in west with Albania. The terrain is mostly hilly-mountain with average elevation of 829 m. The hydrographical territory belongs to the following river basins: Vardar river basin gravitates towards Aegean Sea, Crn Drim river basin, comprising also the Prespa and Ohrid lake basins, gravitates to Adriatic Sea, and Strumica river basin gravitates to Aegean Sea. Negligible part of the hydrographical territory drain to Danube river basin. Hydrographical characteristics of the main river basins in the Republic of Macedonia are shown in Table 1. Table 1 Hydrographical characteristic of the main river basins River А [km 2 ] H av [m] L r [km] J [‰] Q [m 3 /s] V [m 3 ]10 6 Vardar 22.: Hydrometeorological Service of the Republic of Macedonia The longest and the most significant river in Macedonia is Vardar. Its total length is 388 km, of which 302,6 km belongs to our country. The basin area is 22.456 km 2 that is 87% of the country territory. The average rainfalls in the basin are 660 mm.

Transboundary River and Lake Basins in the Republic of Macedonia. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263441819_Transboundary_River_and_Lake_Basins_in_the_Republic_of_Macedonia [accessed Oct 19 2017].