[Nic Corelli]

[color=#000000ost_uid0][quoteost_uid0="Sa'ar Chasm"][quoteost_uid0]Too bad you're not American, or I could have bugged you about names like Massachutts, Arkansas and Illinois.[/quoteost_uid0]

There's always Saskatchewan.

Back to the Balkan thing: the southernmost province of Yugoslavia, Macedonia, managed to break free without any bloodshed, the only one to do so. Â However, Greece objects to a bunch of Johnny-come lately Slavs (I'm speaking from a perceived Greek perspective here) using a name they've considered theirs for about 2500 years, so Macedonia has to conduct its international affairs under the cumbersome appellation "Former Yugoslavian Republic Of Macedonia" or FYROM for short. Â Strange but true.[/quoteost_uid0]
Yes, Macedonia broke free out of Yugoslavia in 1991 without any bloodshed, but in 1999 or 2001, I don`t remember the exact year, a civil war erupted between the Macedonians and the Albanian ethnic minority. It lasted for about a year, then it ended.

As for the "Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia" thing, the Greeks are right - Macedonia was one of the ancient Greek kingdoms, and later Alexander The Great`s empire. And when the Slavic tribes that settled in that region after the fall of the Roman Empire took the name Macedonians, well... they`ve stolen it. They even have the symbol of Alexander the Great on their flag now, so I understand why the Greeks are angry.

Still, the "Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia" is [iost_uid0]really[/iost_uid0] complicated...[/colorost_uid0]