Šuto Orizari Municipality
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Šuto Orizari (;
Balkan Romani Balkan Roma, Balkaniko Romanes, or Balkan Gypsy is a specific non- Vlax dialect of the Romani language, spoken by groups within the Balkans, which include countries such as Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, ...
: ''Shuto Orizari''; ), often shortened as ''Šutka'' (Шутка), is one of the ten municipalities that make up the City of Skopje, the capital of the
Republic of North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...
. '' Šuto Orizari'' is also the name of the urban neighbourhood where the municipal seat is located. It consists of a council and mayor. Šuto Orizari covers 7.48 km² and had 17,357 inhabitants in 2002. It is the second smallest municipality of Skopje behind Čair and the least populated. Created ex-nihilo after the 1963 Skopje earthquake to relocate
Romani people in North Macedonia Romani people in North Macedonia () are one of the constitutional peoples of the country. According to the last census from 2021, there were 46,433 people counted as Romani, or 2.53% of the population. The majority are Muslim Romani people. An ...
who had lost their house, Šuto Orizari was the only municipality in North Macedonia with a Muslim Romani people majority. In 2002, they represented 60.6% of the population, and in 2021 they represented 43.8% of the population. Šuto Orizari is the only local administrative unit in the world to have adopted
Balkan Romani Balkan Roma, Balkaniko Romanes, or Balkan Gypsy is a specific non- Vlax dialect of the Romani language, spoken by groups within the Balkans, which include countries such as Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, ...
as an official language.


History

For much of its history, Šuto Orizari was a small village in the country, as were neighbouring Butel and Vizbegovo. Its name derives from ''orizar'' (оризар), the Macedonian word for paddy field. It is only after the 1963 Skopje earthquake that the area became urbanised. Through the 20th century, Skopje had greatly expanded: while it had only 41,000 inhabitants in 1921, it had reached 166,870 in 1961. As a result, the area around Šuto Orizari was slowly becoming part of the city. Before the earthquake, most of Skopje's
Romani people in North Macedonia Romani people in North Macedonia () are one of the constitutional peoples of the country. According to the last census from 2021, there were 46,433 people counted as Romani, or 2.53% of the population. The majority are Muslim Romani people. An ...
community lived in areas close to the Old Bazaar. The largest one is Topaana, located close to the
fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...
and home to Roma people since at least the 14th century. Built in cheap materials, Topaana and the other Roma settlements were severely damaged by the earthquake which destroyed around 80% of the whole city. Thanks to international aid, the reconstruction started quickly after the earthquake. Local authorities took the opportunity to rebuild Skopje as a functional and modern city, privileging large blocks of flats and dividing Skopje into areas dedicated to specific uses. As they also had to build new accommodation for the large Roma minority, they first considered the reconstruction as a way to assimilate them and resolve unemployment and sanitary problems that concerned that population. Most of the Muslim Roma population refused to live in the new buildings and authorities eventually decided to give them a specific neighbourhood where they could build the houses they wished. The first buildings to appear were iron shacks donated by the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. They were planned for temporary use, but some still remain more than 40 years after the earthquake. Most of the Muslim Romani community of Šutka is still facing unemployment and hard living conditions, although some of them manage to build large houses with the money they get as seasonal workers in
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...
. The Roma houses in Šutka are built with solid materials and have fenced gardens. The area does not give the same impression of marginality as do older Romani neighbourhoods such as Topaana. Šuto Orizari became a distinct municipality in 1996.


Geography

Šuto Orizari is located to the North of central
Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...
, at approximately 5 km of Macedonia Square. The municipality is at the northern edge of the
urban unit In France, an urban unit () is a statistical area defined by INSEE, the French national statistics office, for the measurement of contiguously built-up areas. According to the INSEE definition , an "unité urbaine" is a commune alone or a grou ...
"Skopje encompasses ten municipalities (Aerodrom, Butel, Čair, Centar, Gazi Baba, Gjorče Petrov, Karpoš, Kisela Voda, Saraj, Šuto Orizari), which all have a mayor, a municipal council and the same prerogatives as other municipalities in the country." and comprises some agricultural land. To the south, Šuto Orizari is bordered by Butel, another municipality of Skopje. To the north, it is bordered by Čučer-Sandevo, a rural municipality. The municipality comprises three distinct settlements: Šuto Orizari proper, Dolno Orizari and Gorno Orizari. The first is an urban neighbourhood forming part of the urban unit and located inside the Skopje bypass. The second is a small village which comprised only 454 inhabitants in 2002. It is located north of the bypass. Gorno Orizari is located between Šuto Orizari proper and the rest of the city. The municipality is separated from the rest of Skopje by the Serava, a small river tributary to the
Vardar The Vardar (; , , ) or Axios (, ) is the longest river in North Macedonia and a major river in Greece, where it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . The maximum depth of ...
, by Slovenia boulevard and by the Skopje-Pristina railway. The nearest train station is Skopje-Sever ("Skopje-North"), located in Butel. To the west Šuto Orizari is bordered by the village of Vizbegovo, and to the east by the Butel cemetery, the largest in Skopje.


Demographics

Šuto Orizari is the only municipality in the country where Arlije, a subgroup of Muslim Romani people, make up a majority of the population. Out of a total population of 17,357 in the 2002 census, 13,311 people (76.6%) were of Arlije ethnicity. Other significant ethnic groups include
Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...
(2,594 or 14.9%) and Macedonians (962 or 5.5%). During the recent conflict in
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
many Romani refugees found shelter here. The overwhelming majority of the inhabitants are
Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
. Most of the Arlije Muslim Romani population originates from the relocation of families after the 1963 Skopje earthquake. They were later followed by many other families coming from Skopje and other towns in North Macedonia. Romani language is spoken in a large number of dialects and several ones coexist in Skopje. They usually correspond to a single area (Topaanli, Barutči, Gilanska, Prištivačija, etc.) but as the Romani population in Šutka came in recent times and from many neighbourhoods, several dialects are used there and tend to assemble. According to the 2021 North Macedonia census, the exact number of the population was 25,726. *


Inhabited places

Šuto Orizari settlement: Gorno Orizari village:


Politics

The municipality of Šuto Orizari was founded in 1996 following a law on local administration. The creation of a Romani municipality was a move to further emancipate and empower Romani people in the Republic of North Macedonia. At first, many of its inhabitants were skeptical of the project, as they feared the local budget would be too low to run the municipality properly. The first mayor, Nezdet Mustafa, was elected together with his council in autumn 1996 and the municipality became effective in January 1997. As anywhere in the Republic of North Macedonia, Macedonian is the official language. As an ethnic minority forms more than 20% of the population, its language is also official in the municipality, thus both
Balkan Romani Balkan Roma, Balkaniko Romanes, or Balkan Gypsy is a specific non- Vlax dialect of the Romani language, spoken by groups within the Balkans, which include countries such as Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, ...
and Macedonian are official languages in Šuto Orizari. Albanian is also spoken, but is not an official language. The mayor of the municipality, Kurto Dudush, is
Muslim Roma Muslim Romani people or Muslim Roma are people who are ethnically Romani and profess Islam. They may also be known as Muslim Gypsies, with some Roma preferring to use the term, not perceiving it as derogatory. They primarily live in the Balkan ...
. In 2009, the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia took further measures to enlarge inclusion of Romani in the education process. The cornerstone of a government-funded secondary school for Šuto Orizari was laid on 10 February 2009, an investment worth 1.6 million euros.


Culture

As it is the largest Romani settlement in North Macedonia, Šuto Orizari is home to several cultural institutions dedicated to Muslim Roma people. There are for instance a cinema and an amateur theatre company, Theater Roma. It was also home to the Phralipe theatre company, founded in 1970 and a pioneer in Romani theatre, before it moved to Germany in 1990. Šuto Orizari is the set of three films: '' Time of the Gypsies'' by
Emir Kusturica Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица, ; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, film producer and musician. Kusturica has been an active filmmaker since the 1980s. He has competed at the Cannes ...
(1988), '' Gypsy Magic'' (1997), and ''The Shutka Book of Records'' by Aleksandar Manic (2005).


References


External links


Official website
sup> {{DEFAULTSORT:Suto Orizari municipality Municipalities of North Macedonia Romani communities in North Macedonia Municipalities of Skopje