Macedonia, is a former Yugoslav republic that gained independence in 1991. Macedonia is a country with many ethnic minorities. Macedonians are descendants of the Slavic tribes that invaded the Balkan Peninsula before the Macedonian Peninsula in the 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries CE, settling in the Danube river basin and in the region of Macedonia, encountering the Byzantine population who lived in the region. There is still some ethnic tension between Albanians (who form the majority in the northwest) and Macedonians, so this is a subject best avoided.