Kozjak ( mk, ) is a mountain situated on the border between

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 Yugoslavia. It ...

and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

. It is situated north-east from

Kumanovo Kumanovo ( mk, Куманово ; also known by other alternative names) is a city in North Macedonia and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality, the largest municipality in the country. Kumanovo lies above sea level and is surrounded by the K ...

. The tallest peak of Kozjak is ''Virovi'' at 1284 meters. The region is also known as Kozjačija (Козјачија). The river Pčinja flows along the western edge of the mountain. During the struggle for Macedonia, the Balkan Wars and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Serbian volunteer detachments fought to liberate the region from Turkish, Albanian and Bulgarian tyranny. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Kozjak was occupied by Draža Mihajlović's Chetniks and was a ground of severe battles between them and the

Macedonian National Liberation Army The Macedonian Partisans, officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Macedonia, sh, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odredi Makedonije was a communist and anti-fascist resistance movement formed in occupied Y ...

at the time supported by the

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and its Axis collaborators,

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

and the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in p ...

. Kozjak is famous for the

Prohor Pčinjski monastery The Monastery of Venerable Prohor of Pčinja ( sr, Манастир Преподобног Прохора Пчињског, Manastir Prepodobnog Prohora Pčinjskog), commonly known as Prohor Pčinjski ( sr, Прохор Пчињски, Prohor Pči ...

in which the first session of the ASNOM was held on 2 August 1944.

References

Mountains of North Macedonia Mountains of Serbia North Macedonia–Serbia border International mountains of Europe Kumanovo Municipality Rhodope mountain range {{Serbia-geo-stub