Kumanovo (Куманово) city, Macedonia

Kumanovo is а city in the northern part of the Republic of Macedonia with 78,602 inhabitants according to 2002 census. Located in the central part of Kumanovo Field, on both sides of Kumanovska River, at an altitude of about 330 m, it covers an area of 1886 ha.

Kumanovo city has a moderate continental climate with an average annual air temperature of 11.8 ° C (53,24 F) and an average annual rainfall of 543 mm.

Kumanovo is an important traffic node in the northern part of the Republic of Macedonia. Through it passes the international road E-75 and international railway line linking north to the valley of Morava and the south to the valley of the Vardar river.

Kumanovo museum

The regional road leading towards the east and connects with Kriva Palanka and Sofia, and such a road exists to the southeast towards Sveti Nikole, Shtip.

As a settlement, Kumanovo is referred to in the XIV century.

The name probably derives from the tribe Kumani, which had come from the Caucasus (River Kuma), in the late X-XI century. As an urban settlement, it began to develop in the XVIII century. According to the description of Evliya Çelebi in 1660, there were 600 houses, a mosque, shops, madrassa, An, hammam, and many stores.

In the Austro-Turkish War (1689) in Kumanovo Karpos was declared as “King of Kumanovo”. After the bloody suppression of the uprising by the Turks, the population decreased significantly.

By the end of the XVIII century. there was a predominantly agrarian physiognomy with around 300 houses. Ami Bue noted that there are about 3,000 inhabitants (1836), and was known as a rich livestock marketplace.

In the development of the city, a significant impact had the state road construction Skopje – Kumanovo – Vranje in the seventh decade of the XIX c. and special commissioning Moravsko – Vardar Railway (1888). Then Kumanovo became an important center migration, from Ioannina migrate Greeks and Vlachs from Krusevo, and one quarter is called Veles, because many of the families here have come from Veles.

In the town intensively began to develop crafts and trade, so that at the beginning of the XX c. population has doubled to 14,530 residents. Of these, 7,700 were Macedonians, 5,800 Turks, 600 Albanians, 350 Gypsies, 50 Vlachs, and 30 Jews.

In the period between the two world wars, Kumanovo had not progressed much, so in 1931, its population counted 16,984 residents. The city starts to grow rapidly in the years after liberation.

In the middle of the last century (1953) the population counted 23,339 inhabitants, and in early XXI c., it increased to 78,602. Of them, 49,198 were Macedonians, 18,825 Albanians, 5,394 Serbs, Roma 4212, 256 Turks, 108 Vlachs 609 declared as others.

Today city of Kumanovo is the administrative center of the Municipality of Kumanovo, which covers an area of 50,948 ha, has 48 populated places with 105,484 residents. The city is one of the leading commercial centers in the country.

Most developed business and industry: machinery, textile, leather, and tobacco. In the wider area of the city has significantly developed agriculture.

There are National Museum, Memorial Museum Christian Todorovski Karposh, Art Gallery, World War II Memorial, Matejce monastery above the village Matejce, Krapina monastery near the village Orah, church St. George in the village Staro Nagoricane, ASNOM monument in the village Pelince etc.

The city has a university, high school, and two vocational schools, a health center, home culture, a public library, and other institutions in the field of culture and sports.

Nearby Kumanovo the famous megalithic observatory Kokino is located.