The Republic of Macedonia is situated in the Balkans. Macedonia borders with Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece and is completely surrounded by land. The Republic of Macedonia was formed on September 8, 1991 from former Yugoslavia. Skopje is the capital. The city is already 2500 years old. At that time it has been part of the Byzantine, Roman, Ottoman and Yugoslav empire. Sightseeing in Skopje: the stone bridge over the Vardar river, the old town (Stara Carsia) from the Ottoman period, the bazar and hamam, the Fort Kale (with splendid views over the city), the old train station where the clock stopped on 5.17 by the earthquake of 1963 and the museum National Art Gallery. Near Skopje is the 12th century Panteleimon Monastery in Nerezi of 1164, which is equipped with frescoes. Sightseeing outside the capital are: the monastery St. Andreas on the edge of the lake Matka, the city of Ohrid which a large number of Byzantine monuments on the World Heritage List of UNESCO, the monastery St. Naum, Struga, Bitola, Prilep (with the Monastery of the Archangel Michael). The landscape of Macedonia has many mountain forests with a lot of beeches, oaks and pines. In the southwest are two large underground lakes that are interlinked: the Prespa lake and Lake Ohrid. The brown bear is one of the eight protected species that live in Macedonia.