Kočani ( mk, Кочани ) is a town in the eastern part of

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 ...

, situated around east from

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

. It has a population of 28,330 and is the seat of the

Kočani Municipality Kočani ( mk, Кочани ) is a municipality in the eastern part of North Macedonia. ''Kočani'' is also the name of the town where the municipal seat is found. The municipality is part of the Eastern Statistical Region. Geography The municip ...

Geography and population

The town spreads across the Northern side of the

Kočani valley Kočani ( mk, Кочани ) is a town in the eastern part of North Macedonia, situated around east from Skopje. It has a population of 28,330 and is the seat of the Kočani Municipality. Geography and population The town spreads across the Nort ...

, along the banks of the Kočani river, where it leaves the mountain slopes and flows through the valley. North of the town there is the

Osogovo Osogovo (Bulgarian/ Macedonian: ), or Osogovska Planina or Osogovski Planini (Осоговска Планина or Осоговски Планини), is a mountain range and ski resort between the south-western part of Bulgaria (Kyustendil Provi ...

mountain () and to the south the valley is closed by the mountain

Plačkovica Plačkovica () is a mountain located the eastern part of North Macedonia, it extends between the cities of Radoviš, and Vinica. The highest peak is Lisec () at 1,754 m, the length of main valley slopes of the peak Lisec is 34 km. The valley of ...

(). The town is

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. Kočani spreads over an area of and has population of 28,330 inhabitants which makes it the third regional center in the Eastern part of the country: * 1948 - 6,657 inhabitants * 1994 - 26,364 inhabitants * 2002 - 28,330 inhabitants

Demographics

Ethnic structure

According to the 1903 Austrian consular reports on ethnic composition of the kazas of the Sanjak of Skopje in 1903, the kaza of Kočani was populated by a total of 39,406 inhabitants, of whom 16,524 (41.93%) were

Bulgarian Exarchists Bulgarian Millet ( tr, Bulgar Milleti) was an ethno-religious and linguistic community within the Ottoman Empire from the mid-19th to early 20th century. The semi-official term ''Bulgarian millet'', was used by the Sultan for the first time in ...

, 11,600 (29.44%) Ottoman Muslim, 7,800 (19.79%)

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 ...

, 1,680 (4.26%)

Aromanians The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Alba ...

, 1,090 (2.77%) Patriarchists and 712 (1.8%)

Romanis The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic Itinerant groups in Europe, itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have Ro ...

. According to the 2002 census, the ethnic composition of the city is as follows: * Macedonian: 90.3% *

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

: 5.0% *

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 ...

: 3.0% *

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 ...

: 0.5% *

Serb 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 ...

s: 0.2% *Other: 1.0%

Religious denomination

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

: 96% *

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

: 3% *

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

: 0.3% *Other: 0.7%

Climate

The climate is

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Cfa''), influenced by altered Mediterranean climate which penetrates along the river

Bregalnica Bregalnica (, ) is the second largest river in North Macedonia. It starts as a spring near the mountain city of Berovo and it passes near the cities of Makedonska Kamenica, Kočani, Vinica and Štip, before joining the river Vardar on its way t ...

. The average temperature is with rainfall.

History

Due to its favourable geographic location, together with excellent natural climate characteristics, Kočani was inhabited as early as the ancient times first by the Paionians, Meds and

Thracians The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. ...

. Later on, in the 6th century the

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

inhabited parts of the region. More precisely, in the 7th century members of the Slavic tribe

Smolyani The Smolyani ( bg, смоляни; in Byzantine sources ''Smolenoi'' or ''Smoleanoi'') were a medieval Slavic tribe that settled in the Rhodope Mountains, the valley of the Mesta River and the region around Blagoevgrad Province, possibly in the 7 ...

colonized the

and built a fortification. The founders of the Slavic education, brothers Kiril and Metodij (

Cyril and Methodius Cyril (born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (815–885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs". They are credited wit ...

), stayed in the valley from the year 845 to 855 and in the

area ( Morodvis) started to preach

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

in Slavic language. Although the settlement existed long before that, Kočani was first mentioned in a charter from 1337 in which Despot Jovan Oliver donated the church of St. Dimitrija to Kočani. Archaeological finds in the town itself have revealed remains of a settlement here in the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

periods. Early in the 15th century it fell under

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 ...

rule. The travel

chronicler A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

Evliya Çelebi Derviş Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi ( ota, اوليا چلبى), was an Ottoman explorer who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years, recording ...

, who visited it in 1662, recorded that it had 600

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

s, a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

, a mezjid, an inn and 15

handicraft A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

stores. During the 18th and in the early 19th century, the town growth rate stagnated. It was only around 1878 that the

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

began to rise, at which time it had about 450 - 500

s. The town has two feudal residences in the shape of

towers A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifica ...

believed to date from the 16th - 17th century.

Monuments

Numerous cultural and historical monuments, from

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...

times to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, can be found in the vicinity of Kočani. One of them is an archeological site of Dolno Gradishte from the late antic period, and two medieval towers at the city center. Monastery complexes in the nearby villages Morodvis and Panteley are world-famous both for their architecture and unique frescoes.

Features

The town green, especially along the river bed and banks of the Kočani river, is the pride of the local people. The town is very clean and neat, for which it has proudly held the prestigious title of the cleanest town in

. Today Kočani is a modern town with planned infrastructure, avenues, many modern buildings and blocks of flats, a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

, a shopping centre, a park and a newly built industrial zone. All this is carefully planned and structured, according to modern standards of living and esthetics. New suburbs are mainly built to the east where the town almost reaches the first houses of Orizari and to the West spreading over the industrial zone.

Education

The City of Kočani is served by four primary schools: * Nikola Karev Primary School * Saints Cyril and Methodius Primary School * Rade Kratovče Primary School * Malina Popivanova Primary School There are also two secondary schools: * Ljupčo Santov Gymnasium (specializing in economics) * Gjošo Vikentev (specializing in electronics and machining) There is also a primary school specializing in music: * Risto Jurukov Primary School for Music The city also maintains a municipal library "Iskra" ("spark").

Sports

Local football club

FK Osogovo GFK Osogovo ( mk, ГФК Осогово) is a football club from Kočani, Republic of Macedonia. They are currently competing in the Macedonian Third League (East Division). History The club was founded in 1924, one of the oldest Macedonian fo ...

has played several seasons in the

Macedonian First Football League The Macedonian First Football League ( mk, Прва македонска фудбалска лига, ''Prva Мakedonska Fudbalska Liga''), also called Macedonian First League, 1. MFL, and Prva Liga, is the highest professional football competitio ...

Town partnerships

Kočani maintains partnership links with the following places: *

Kazanlak Kazanlak ( bg, Казанлък , Thracian and Greek Σευθόπολις (''Seuthopolis''), tr, Kazanlık) is a Bulgarian town in Stara Zagora Province, located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan mountain ...

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 Macedon ...

Szigetszentmiklós Szigetszentmiklós () is a city in Pest County, Hungary, with around 40,000 inhabitants. Name * Sziget – island: Szigetszentmiklós is a town on Csepel Island * Szent Miklós – Saint Nicholas, who is the patron saint of Szigetszentmiklós ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Yenifoça Yenifoça (meaning "New Foça" in Turkish, the words sometimes spelled separately as "''Yeni Foça''") is a suburb of the Foça district, in Turkey's İzmir Province. The town of Yenifoça is situated at about north by northwest of İzmir city ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Križevci Križevci (; la, Crisium; hu, Kőrös ; german: Kreutz ) is a city in central Croatia with a total population of 21,122 and with 11,231 in the city itself (2011), the oldest city in its county, the Koprivnica-Križevci County. History The f ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Pereyaslav Pereiaslav ( uk, Перея́слав, translit=Pereiaslav, yi, פּרעיאַסלעוו, Periyoslov) is a historical city in the Boryspil Raion, Kyiv Oblast (province) of central Ukraine, located near the confluence of Alta and Trubizh rivers ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Kranj Kranj (, german: Krainburg) is the third-largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 37,941 (2020). It is located approximately northwest of Ljubljana. The centre of the City Municipality of Kranj and of the traditional region of Upper Carniol ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

Novi Kneževac Novi Kneževac ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Кнежевац, ; hu, Törökkanizsa; german: Neu-Kanischa) is a town and municipality located in the North Banat District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 6,960, ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Notable people

Kočani Orkestar Kočani orkestar (in Macedonian: ''Кочани оркестар'') also credited under the names: ''Kocani orkestar'', ''Kocani Orchestra'', ''Kochani orkestar'' and ''Kochani Orchestra'' is a Macedonian Romani brass band from Kočani, North Ma ...

, musicians * Kiril F. Dzmbov, nuclear physicist, member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and of MANU * Rade Kratovče, revolutionary * Pavle Krošarev, pilot, (the first Macedonian civil-aviation pilot to achieve the rank of an airline captain) * Branko Pendovski, writer, president of the Writers' Association of Macedonia *

Malina Popivanova Malina Popivanova (April 7, 1902, Kočani, Ottoman Empire – July 19, 1954, Tyumen, USSR) was a prominent Macedonians (ethnic group), Macedonian communist. Personal life Popivanova joined the revolutionary movement when she was very young and st ...

, revolutionary *

Blagoja Popov Blagoja is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Blagoja Kitanovski (born 1962), former Macedonian football player, now assistant coach at FK Pelister * Blagoja Kuleski (born 1962), retired Macedonian football player and currently a ...

, politician, Chairman of the Executive Council (Prime Minister) of Macedonia 1974-1982 * Blagoj S. Popov, mathematician and first Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of the University of Skopje, member of MANU * Ljupčo Santov, revolutionary * Stevo Teodosievski, musician * Boyka Vaptsarova bg, public figure, wife of Bulgarian poet

Nikola Vaptsarov Nikola Yonkov Vaptsarov ( bg, Никола Йонков Вапцаров; 7 December 1909 – 23 July 1942) was a Bulgarian poet, communist and revolutionary. Working most of his life as a machinist, he only wrote in his spare time. Despite the ...

* Jordan Pop-Jordanov, engineer and physicist, member of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts * Dr. Blagica Jovanova, engineer and Ph.D in computer science, scientist, visiting Professor in Universities in Paris and Macedonia, member and contributor of MPEG standards * Simeon Kango Ivanov, musician * Gošo Vikentiev, commander in the XIV Macedonian Youth National Liberation Brigade in the attack to liberate Kočani from the Axis powers during World War II

References

External links

Local Government Of The City Of Kočani, North MacedoniaOld photographs of KočaniBlog about Kocani, Rural tourism
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kocani Towns in North Macedonia