Velešta ( mk, Велешта, sq, Veleshtë) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Struga Struga ( mk, Струга , sq, Strugë) is a town and popular tourist destination situated in the south-western region of North Macedonia, lying on the shore of Lake Ohrid. The town of Struga is the seat of Struga Municipality. Name The nam ...

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 ...

Geography

The village is located in the Drimkol area, in the central part of the territory of the Municipality of Struga, on the left side of the river

Black Drin The Black Drin, or Black Drim ( sq, Drini i Zi, mk, , translit=Crn Drim) is a river in North Macedonia and Albania. It flows out of Lake Ohrid in Struga, North Macedonia. It is long and its drainage basin is . Its average discharge is . After ab ...

. The village is flat, at an altitude of 716 meters, but there are some houses which are located higher. Part of the village is located on the regional road

Debar Debar ( mk, Дебaр ; Albanian: ''Dibër''/''Dibra'' or ''Dibra e Madhe;'' ) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, near the border with Albania, off the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality. Debar has an ...

, and from the city of Struga itself is 8 km away. The village is located in the northwestern parts of Struga Field , at the foot of Mount Jablanica.

History

Local traditions among Velešta residents hold that the earliest people to settle in the village originated from

with the Istrefaj (Istrefllarë) and Vinca (Vojncallarë) families being the first to do so. "Pleqtë thonë se veleshtarët e kanë prejardhjen nga Dibra dhe se fiset e para janë: Istrefajt (Istrefllarët), Vinca (Vojncallarët etj. ". In 1900,

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, ...

gathered and compiled statistics on demographics in the area and reported that the village of Veleshta (Велеща) was inhabited by about 1100 Albanian Muslims.

Economy

The village covers an area of 9.3 km². It is dominated by arable land on an area of 829.3 hectares, pastures account for 19 hectares, and forests only 1.7 hectares. The village basically has an agricultural function.

Demographics

The

Gheg Gheg (also spelled Geg; Gheg Albanian: ''gegnishtja'', Standard sq, gegërishtja) is one of the two major varieties of Albanian, the other being Tosk. The geographic dividing line between the two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds it ...

dialect of the

Albanian language Albanian ( endonym: or ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is spoken by the Albanians in the Balkans and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europ ...

is spoken in Velešta. "Veleshtë (ku flitet gegërishtja)". As of the 2021 census, Velešta had 3,378 residents with the following ethnic composition:Total resident population of the Republic of North Macedonia by ethnic affiliation, by settlement, Census 2021
/ref> *Albanians 3,254 *Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources 115 *Macedonians 7 *Others 2 According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 5834 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. 81. *

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 ...

5758 * Macedonians 1 *

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 ...

1 *Others 74

Sports

Local football club KF Veleshta plays in the

Macedonian Third League The Macedonian Third League ( mk, Македонска Трета Лига - Makedonska Treta Liga) is the third highest football competition in North Macedonia. In 2019–20, the competition will be divided into five divisions named Third Leagu ...

(Southwest Division).

References

External links

Villages in Struga Municipality Albanian communities in North Macedonia {{Struga-geo-stub