Čučer-Sandevo () is a village in

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 ...

. It is a seat of the

Čučer-Sandevo Municipality Čučer-Sandevo Municipality (), is a municipality in northern part of North Macedonia. ''Čučer-Sandevo'' is also the name of the village where the municipal seat is found. It is located in the Skopje Statistical Region. Geography The municipa ...

Geography

The village is located in the northern part of the Skopje Valley, in the central part of the territory of the Municipality of Čučer-Sandevo. The village is hilly, at an altitude of 540 meters. The area covers 11 km². In the area, the

pastures Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

cover 596 hectares, 238 hectares fall to the

arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...

, while the

forests A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...

have 114 hectares. The village is located on southwestern parts of

Skopska Crna Gora Skopska Crna Gora or Karadak Mountains ( Macedonian and , ; ), often called simply Crna Gora (Macedonian and ; ), is a mountain range and ethnographic region in North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia. The highest peak is Ramno in Macedonia. The la ...

. Čučer-Sandevo is 15 km away from

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 ...

History

According to Bulgarian ethnographer

Vasil Kanchov Vasil Kanchov (26 July 1862 – 6 February 1902) was a geographer, ethnographer and teacher who served as Minister of Education of Bulgaria. Early life and education Vasil Kanchov was born in Vratsa. Upon graduating from High school i ...

, in 1900 the village had 360 inhabitants who were Bulgarian

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

. While according to the Secretary of the

Bulgarian Exarchate The Bulgarian Exarchate (; ) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953. The Exarchate (a de facto autocephaly) ...

Dimitar Mišev Dimitar (, , ) is a South Slavic masculine given name. It is widely found in Bulgaria and North Macedonia. It's derived from one or more of the following: * Saint Demetrius (280–306) * Dimetor ''Διμήτωρ'' ("twice-born"), epithet of Dio ...

("La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne"), in 1905 there were 640

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

in the village, labelled by him as ''patriarchs'' ( Serbomans). According to Bulgarian sources, the village was settled by

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

in the period between 1689 and 1739. In his 1927 map of

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

explorer

Leonhard Schultze-Jena Leonhard Sigmund Friedrich Kuno Klaus Schultze-Jena (May 28, 1872, in Jena – March 28, 1955, in Marburg) was a German explorer, zoologist, and anthropologist known for his explorations of German Southwest Africa and New Guinea, as well as for ...

shows Čučer as a Serbian village. In 1929, in his map of Northwest Macedonia,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

scientist Afanasii Selishchev shows Čučer as a Bulgarian village instead. The original name of the village was Čučer; ''Sandevo'' ("Sande's") was added after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in honour of Aleksandar Urdarevski-Sande.

Demographics

The village had 518 inhabitants in 1961, of which 328 were

and 180 Macedonians. In 1994 the number decreased to 274 inhabitants, of which 234 were

and 35 Macedonians. According to the 2002 census, Čučer-Sandevo had a population of 299 inhabitants, of whom 180 were

(60%), 117 Macedonians (39%), and 1 other. As of the 2021 census, Čučer-Sandevo had 290 residents with the following ethnic composition:Total resident population of the Republic of North Macedonia by ethnic affiliation, by settlement, Census 2021
/ref> *Serbs 134 *Macedonians 107 *Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources 41 *Others 8

Anthropology

According to ''Skopska Crna Gora'' (1971), the following families (or "brotherhoods") lived in Čučer. *Čučer **Kačaniklići (Качаниклићи). Four families. The ancestor of the Kačaniklić brotherhood in Čučer fled from Đurđev Dol in the nearby Kačanik Gorge (hence their surname), due to violence in ca. 1810 (during Ottoman rule). They have the ''slava'' (patron saint) of St. John. They derived their family name from their previous location. **Livrinići **Kajevići

Notable people

* Aleksandar Urdarevski, partisan who participated in the resistance and National Hero of Yugoslavia

References

Sources

* Villages in Čučer-Sandevo Municipality Serb communities in North Macedonia {{ČučerSandevo-geo-stub