Should voters approve the name change to North Macedonia in Sunday's referendum, it could pave the way for the country to join NATO and the European Union. Previous talks stalled due to a veto by the Greek government in 2009.

Over the years, ethnic conflicts have been rife in Macedonia as a large part if its population consists of Albanian and Turkish minorities. The name deal would end one of the country's long-running conflicts with Greece.

Macedonia's previous government rebuilt the main square of its capital, Skopje, with an emphasis on history. It claimed its population were direct descendants of Alexander the Great. Greece has accused its neighboring country of trying to steal its history and identity.

The proposed name change has triggered protests in both countries, with Macedonian nationalists calling it an assault on the country's identity.

The protests were often led by far-right organizations both in Macedonia and Greece. The Macedonian far-right group MHRMI (Macedonian Human Rights Movement International) put up billboards along a central street in Gevgelija, a town near the border with Greece.

Macedonia's new archaeological museum was part of Skopje 2014, a project aimed at lending a more classical appeal to the country's capital. Former populist leader Nikola Gruevski and his government oversaw Skopje 2014, which saw hundreds of pseudo-historical monuments and baroque buildings erected throughout the capital.

Widespread protests took place in Greece before, during and after the negotiations to change Macedonia's name. They were often led by the far right but there were also protesters from across the political and social spectrum.

Extreme right-wing protesters clashed with riot police in the Greek city of Thessaloniki during protests against the deal on September 8, 2018.

As well as Greece and North Macedonia, the geographic region of Macedonia extends into Albania, Bulgaria and Serbia as well as small areas of Kosovo (which you can't quite see here).

The ancient kingdom of Macedonia – or Macedon – was a relatively small part of the present day Greek province of Macedonia. It first expanded under King Perdiccas I, then widened to take in other areas.

After the fall of the Greek Empire, the Romans – who admired Alexander – used the old name Macedonia for the province encompassing much of northern Greece and the area north of it – including much of the modern-day North Macedonia.

With the breakup of the Roman Empire into East and West, this region was overrun by the Slavic invasions. An entirely new province far to the east, including part of Thrace in modern-day Turkey, was named Macedonia by the Byzantine Empress Irene of Athens.

The geographic region known as Macedonia today roughly equates to the part of the Ottoman Empire known as Ottoman Vardar Macedonia. It included Greek and Slavic areas and was split into three administrative units, but the concept of Macedonia persisted. This remained the case for centuries and so this concept – of what Macedonia is – has stuck.

...and there's certainly a fair bit of overlap — and room for confusion.

Of course, Macedonia's King Alexander the Great's realm stretched all the way to India — but it would be a bit of a stretch to call that Macedonia

As if it weren’t complicated enough, there’s another meaning of the word Macedonia. In Greece and many Latin-language-speaking countries, it’s also a fruit salad. The name is thought to have ben popularized at the end of the 18th century, referring to either the ethnic diversity of Alexander's vast empire or the ethnic mix of Ottoman Macedonia.