Čair Municipality
Municipality of Čair
Општина Чаир Komuna e Çairit | |
---|---|
City municipality (Urban) | |
UTC+1 (CET) | |
Website | Official Website |
Čair (Macedonian: ⓘ, Albanian: Komuna e Çairit) is one of the ten municipalities that make up Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia.[1] The municipal administration consists of a council and mayor.[1] Skopje's old town is located in Čair.[2][3] The municipality has a predominantly Albanian population.[2][4]
Geography
Čair is located along the northern (left) bank of the
History
The name "Čair" is derived from the Turkish word for "meadow" or "pasture", çayır. The municipality is still called Çayır Belediyesi in modern Turkish and amongst the small ethnic Turkish minority that resides there.
Skopje's old town, or
Čair is historically a multi-ethnic area.
In the Macedonian elections of March 2005, Izet Mexhiti, a member of the Albanian political party Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) became the mayor of Čair municipality.[9] A coalition between DUI and the Macedonian Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) was formed in the municipal council while other smaller Albanian and Macedonian parties were also represented.[10] In 2006 the municipal council adopted a new flag and coat of arms that displayed Skanderbeg, the Old Bazaar and the Ottoman clock tower (Saat kula) that did not have the support of Macedonian counselors.[10]
Skanderbeg Square is located in Čair. In the late 2000s a statue of Skanderbeg commemorating the medieval Albanian warrior was installed in an open space at the front entrance to the Old Bazaar by Čair municipality.[11] During the 2010s, Čair Municipality and ethnic Albanians living in the Macedonian capital refurbished the space into a second city square as part of a rival project to the government's “Skopje 2014” revamp scheme which excluded investments for the area.[12][13][14] Political negotiation between Albanian and Macedonian elites resulted in the Macedonian Government funding most of the refurbishment of Skanderbeg Square.[15]
On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck Albania and Čair Municipality held 3 days of mourning in solidarity with the earthquake victims.[16]
Demographics
Čair has a mixed population that includes minorities of Romani and Turks, yet the neighborhood is associated with Albanians in North Macedonia.[6] In the modern era relations between ethnic groups in Čair Municipality remain cordial.[8]
According to the last national census from 2021, Čair has 62,586 inhabitants.[8][17] Ethnic groups in the municipality include:
2002 | 2021 | |||
Number | % | Number | % | |
TOTAL | 64,773 | 100 | 62,586 | 100 |
Albanians | 36,921 | 57 | 42,180 | 67.4 |
Macedonians | 15,628 | 24,13 | 5,357 | 8.56 |
Turks | 4,500 | 6.95 | 4,182 | 6.68 |
Roma | 3,083 | 4.75 | 1,337 | 2.14 |
Bosniaks | 2,950 | 4.55 | 2,531 | 4.04 |
others | 1,691 | 2.61 | 773 | 1.24 |
Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources | n/a | n/a | 6,226 | 9.95 |
External links
Sports
Macedonian football's top tier side KF Shkupi plays its home games at Čair Stadium..
Notes
- ^ a b Ragaru 2008, pp. 542–543.
- ^ ISBN 9781137439550.
- ^ a b Véron 2017, p. 118.
- ISBN 9781782380412.
- ^ Véron 2017, pp. 130, 133–134.
- ^ a b c Ragaru 2008, p. 536.
- ^ a b Ragaru 2008, pp. 536–537.
- ^ a b c Ragaru 2008, p. 537.
- ^ Ragaru 2008, pp. 537–538.
- ^ a b Ragaru 2008, p. 538.
- ^ Ragaru, Nadege (2008). "The Political Uses and Social Lives of "National Heroes": Controversies over Skanderbeg's Statue in Skopje". Südosteuropa. 56 (4): 528–529, 531–532, 539–540, 545–549, 540–542, 549–550.
- ^ Sinisa Jakov Marusic (27 September 2010). "Skopje's Albanians Plan 'Alternative' City Square". Skopje: Balkan Insight. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ISBN 9789004275089.
- ISBN 9781317372042.
- ISBN 9781137586322.
- ^ "Komunat shqiptare në Maqedoni anulojnë kremtimet për festat e nëntorit" (in Albanian). Gazeta Express. 27 November 2019. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ 2002 census results in English and Macedonian (PDF)