Sasa () is a rural

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the

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

Makedonska Kamenica Makedonska Kamenica ( ; till 1950 Kamenica) is a town in the north-east of North Macedonia. It has 5,147 inhabitants, the majority of whom are ethnic Macedonians. The town is the seat of Makedonska Kamenica Municipality. Demographics According t ...

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 located on an average 1000 metres above sea level.

History

The village and surrounding mines were set up by

Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

, which settled north-eastern Macedonia in Middle Ages. The name Sasa originates from German Saxons, as Sasa is the traditional name for a Saxon in Bulgarian.

Economy

A major part of Sasa's economy is focused around the German-built lead and zinc mine, called Sasies. Constructed in the seventieth century, it has become a major lead and zinc extraction facility in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

. The surrounding village is populated by around 1000 civilians; most are lower class and since the reopening of the mine in the 1960s, much of the male population has become miners.

Demographics

According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 876 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. 137. * Macedonians 874 *

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 ...

References

Villages in Makedonska Kamenica Municipality {{MakedonskaKamenica-geo-stub