Demir Hisar ( mk, Демир Хисар ) (formerly Murgaševo until 1946) is a small town in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

. It is the seat of

Demir Hisar Municipality Demir Hisar ( mk, Демир Хисар ) is a municipality in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. '' Demir Hisar'', which means "iron fortress" in Turkish, is also the name of the town where the municipal seat is found. Demir Hisar munici ...

. This small settlement has an absolute Macedonian ethnic majority. The name of the town translates to "Iron Castle" in

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

, and dates back to the time when Macedonia was ruled by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

Etymology

Due to the richness of these mountains with iron ore, the area was named either ''Železnik'' or ''Železnec'', depending on the ruler. This area is also known as "Demir Hisar" a name that the Ottoman Turks gave this area which means "Iron Castle". That name remained till today.

Region

The settlement is situated along the main road between the important Macedonian cities of

Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...

and Kičevo. It is made up of smaller villages, including Barakovo.

Demographics

The Yugoslav census of 1953 recorded 902 people in Demir Hisar of whom 449 were Macedonians, 412 Turks, 27 Albanians and 14 others. The 1961 Yugoslav census recorded 1129 people of whom 1047 were Macedonians, 39 Albanians, 24 Turks, and 19 others. The 1971 Yugoslav census recorded 1828 people of whom 1731 were Macedonians, 34 Turks, 30 Albanians, 4 Romani, 1 Bosniak and 28 others. The 1981 Yugoslav census recorded 2283 people of whom were 2145 Macedonians, 75 Albanians, 19 Turks, 17 Romani and 27 others. The Macedonian census of 1994 recorded 2447 people of whom 2336 were Macedonians, 9 Albanians, 4 Turks and 98 others.. According to the 2002 census, the town had a total of 2593 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the village include:Macedonian Census (2002)
''Book 5 - Total population according to the Ethnic Affiliation, Mother Tongue and Religion''
The State Statistical Office, Skopje, 2002, p. 230. * Macedonians 2,473 (95.37%) *

Albanians The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...

62 (2.39%) *

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

22 (0.85%) *

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

11 (0.42%) *

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

7 (0.27%) *

Vlachs "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easter ...

6 (0.23%) *

Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry ...

2 (0.08%) * Others 10 (0.39%) As of the 2021 census, Demir Hisar had 2,431 residents with the following ethnic composition: *Macedonians 2,281 (93.8%) *Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources 69 (2.8%) *Albanians 39 (1.6%) *Roma 16 (0.7%) *Vlachs 9 (0.4%) *Serbs 5 (0.2%) *Others 12 (0.5%)

History

In statistics gathered by

Vasil Kanchov Vasil Kanchov ( bg, Васил Кънчов, Vasil Kanchov) (26 July 1862 – 6 February 1902) was a Bulgarian geographer, ethnographer and politician. Biography Vasil Kanchov was born in Vratsa. Upon graduating from High school in Lom, ...

in 1900, the village of Murgaševo was inhabited by 240 Muslim Albanians. In 1905 in statistics gathered by Dimitar Mishev Brancoff, Murgaševo was inhabited by 240 Muslim Albanians. The population of Demir Hisar (Murgaševo) are

Tosks Tosks ( sq, Toskët) are one of two major dialectal subgroups of Albanians (the other being the Ghegs) differentiated by their cultural, linguistic, social and religious characteristics. Territory ''Tosk'' may refer to the Tosk-speaking Albania ...

, a subgroup of southern

. "Monastir (Bitol) auch für das Studium des Alb. geeignet: Ostrec (11 km von Monastir), Zlokućani haben geg., Dihovo, Bratindol, Magarevo, Ramna, Kažani, Dolenci, Lera, Crnovec, Drevenik, Murgašovo tosk. Bevölkerung. Die tosk." In the 2010s, only three Albanian families remain in Demir Hisar and nearby Albanian villagers from Obednik are assisting the community in efforts to repair the dilapidated old village mosque.Hasani, Qenan (30 July 2011).
Obednikasit ndihmojnë xhaminë e Murgashovës, I shpëtoi 2001-shit, rrezikohet tani [Obednik villagers assist the mosque of Demir Hisar, it escaped the events of 2001, though now is endangered]
". ''Koha''. p. 7.

Gallery

ЏамијаМургашево.JPG, Old mosque of Murgaševo (Demir Hisar) Demir-hisarska nosija.jpg, Couple of Demir Hisar, dressed in folklore costume, photographed in the studio of the brothers Manaki in Bitola, 1916 DemirHisar (1).jpg, Council Seats House of Demir Hisar Niz Demir Hisar (2).JPG, Main road to Demir Hisar, 2010 Niz Demir Hisar (3).JPG, Streets in Demir Hisar, 2010

References

External links

{{Authority control Villages in Demir Hisar Municipality Cities in North Macedonia Albanian communities in North Macedonia