Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidze and Kajmakcalan mountain ranges, 14 kilometres north of the Medzitlija-Niki border crossing with Greece. The city stands at an important junction connecting the south of the Adriatic Sea region with the Aegean Sea and Central Europe, and is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It has been known since the Ottoman period as "the city of the consuls", since many European countries had consulates in Bitola.