Skopje is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultural centre of the country. As of the 2021 census, the city had a population of 526,502. Skopje covers 571.46 km2 (220.64 mi2) and includes both urban and rural areas, bordered by several municipalities and close to the borders of Kosovo and Serbia.
The area of Skopje has been continuously inhabited since at least the Chalcolithic period. The city — known as Scupi at the time — was founded in the late 1st century during the rule of Domitian, and abandoned in 518 after an earthquake destroyed the city. It was rebuilt under Justinian I. It became a significant settlement under the First Bulgarian Empire, the Serbian Empire (when it served briefly as a capital), and later under the Ottoman Empire, which ruled the city for over five centuries. In 1912, following the Balkan Wars, Skopje was annexed by the Kingdom of Serbia. It became part of Yugoslavia after World War I and, following World War II, became the capital of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, one of its constituent republics. In 1963, a major earthquake devastated the city, after which it was largely rebuilt with international assistance. Skopje became the capital of independent North Macedonia in 1991.
The city has a diverse population, with ethnic Macedonians forming a majority and Albanians a significant minority, alongside Roma, Turks, Serbs, and others. It is also religiously diverse, with Orthodox Christianity and Islam being the most widely practised faiths. Skopje is the site of major educational and cultural institutions, including the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and the National Theatre.
Skopje is the country's centre of government and business and produces a significant share of the national GDP. Its economy is based on industry, trade, services, and finance. The city has undergone major transformations in recent decades, notably through the controversial Skopje 2014 project, which aimed to reshape the city centre with neoclassical buildings and monuments.
Name
The city is attested for the first name in Geography by Ptolemy c. AD 150 as one of the cities of Roman Dardania. Ptolemy describes the city in Latin as Scupi and ancient Greek as Σκοῦποι. The toponym likely belongs to a group of similar Illyrian toponyms which have been transmitted to Slavic languages in the same way as the modern Macedonian toponym Skopje: Skoplje and Uskoplje in Bosnia, Uskoplje in Dalmatia (Croatia).
Shkup, the name of the city in Albanian, developed directly from Roman-era Scupi in agreement with the Albanian phonological development, the basis of evidence of an earlier Albanian settlement in the area. Shkupi is the definite form of Shkup in Albanian. Skopje, the name of the city during the Middle Ages, is the local Slavic (Macedonian) rendition of Scupi. The Ottoman Turkish rendition of the city's name is Üsküb (Ottoman Turkish: اسكوب) and it was adapted in Western languages in "Uskub" or "Uskup", and these two appellations were used in the Western world until 1912. Some Western sources also cite "Scopia" and "Skopia". Scopia is the name of the city in Aromanian.
When Vardar Macedonia was annexed by the Kingdom of Serbia in 1912, the city officially became Skoplje (Serbian Cyrillic: Скопље) and many languages adopted this name. To reflect local pronunciation, the city's name was eventually spelled as Skopje (Macedonian: Скопје) after the Second World War, when standard Macedonian became the official language of the new Socialist Republic of Macedonia.
Geography
Topography
Skopje is in the north of the country, in the centre of the Balkan peninsula, and approximately halfway between Belgrade and Athens. The city was built in the Skopje Valley, oriented on a west–east axis, along the course of the Vardar river, which flows into the Aegean Sea in Greece. The valley is approximately 20 km (12 mi) wide and it is limited by several mountain ranges to the north and south. These ranges limit the urban expansion of Skopje, which spreads along the Vardar and the Serava, a small river which comes from the north. In its administrative boundaries, the City of Skopje stretches for more than 33 km (21 mi), but it is only 10 km (6.2 mi) wide.
Skopje is approximately 245 m above sea level and covers 571.46 km2. The urbanised area only covers 337 km2, with a density of 65 inhabitants per hectare. Skopje, in its administrative limits, encompasses many villages and other settlements, including Dračevo, Gorno Nerezi and Bardovci. According to the 2021 census, the City of Skopje had 526,502 inhabitants.
The City of Skopje reaches the Kosovo border to the north-east. Clockwise, it is also bordered by the municipalities of Čučer-Sandevo, Lipkovo, Aračinovo, Ilinden, Studeničani, Sopište, Želino and Jegunovce.
Hydrography
The Vardar river, which flows through Skopje, is at approximately 60 km (37 mi) from its source near Gostivar. In Skopje, its average discharge is 51 m3/s, with a wide amplitude depending on seasons, between 99.6 m3/s in May and 18.7 m3/s in July. The water temperature is between 4.6 °C in January and 18.1 °C in July.
Several rivers meet the Vardar within the city boundaries. The largest is the Treska, which is 130 km (81 mi) long. It crosses the Matka Canyon before reaching the Vardar on the western extremity of the City of Skopje. The Lepenac, coming from Kosovo, flows into the Vardar on the north-western end of the urban area. The Serava, also coming from the north, had flowed through the Old Bazaar until the 1960s when it was diverted towards the west because its waters were very polluted. Originally, it met the Vardar close to the seat of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Nowadays, it flows into the Vardar near the ruins of Scupi. Markova Reka, which originates in Mount Vodno, meets the Vardar at the eastern extremity of the city. These three rivers are less than 70 km (43 mi) long.
The City of Skopje incorporates two artificial lakes, on the Treska. Lake Matka is the result of the construction of a dam in Matka Canyon in the 1930s, and the Treska Lake was dug for leisure purposes in 1978. Three small natural lakes can be found near Smilkovci, on the north-eastern edge of the urban area.
The river Vardar historically caused many floods, such as in 1962, when its outflow reached 1110 m3/s−1. Several works have been carried out since Byzantine times to limit the risks, and since the construction of the Kozjak dam on the Treska in 1994, the flood risk is close to zero.
The subsoil contains a large water table which is alimented by the Vardar and functions as an underground river. Under the table lies an aquifer contained in marl. The water table is 4 to 12 m under the ground and 4 to 144 m deep. Several wells collect its waters but most of the drinking water used in Skopje comes from a karstic spring in Rašče, west of the city.
Geology
The Skopje valley is bordered on the west by the Šar Mountains, on the South by the Jakupica range, on the east by hills belonging to the Osogovo range, and on the north by the Skopska Crna Gora. Mount Vodno, the highest point inside the city limits, is 1066 m high and is part of the Jakupica range.
Although Skopje is built on the foot of Mount Vodno, the urban area is mostly flat. It comprises several minor hills, generally covered with woods and parks, such as Gazi Baba hill (325 m), Zajčev Rid (327 m), the foothills of Mount Vodno (the smallest are between 350 and 400 m high) and the promontory on which Skopje Fortress is built.
The Skopje valley is near a seismic fault between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates and experiences regular seismic activity. This activity in enhanced by the porous structure of the subsoil. Large earthquakes occurred in Skopje in 518, 1555 and 1963.
The Skopje valley belongs to the Vardar geotectonic region, the subsoil of which is formed of Neogene and Quaternary deposits. The substratum is made of Pliocene deposits including sandstone, marl, and various conglomerates. It is covered by a first layer of Quaternary sands and silt, which is between 70 and 90 m deep. The layer is topped by a much smaller layer of clay, sand, silt, and gravel, carried by the Vardar river. It is between 1.5 and 5.2 m deep.
In some areas, the subsoil is karstic. It led to the formation of canyons, such as the Matka Canyon, which is surrounded by ten caves. They are between 20 and 176 m deep.
Climate
Skopje has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa) with a mean annual temperature of 12.6 °C (55 °F). Precipitation is relatively low due to the pronounced rain shadow of the Accursed Mountains to the north-west, being significantly less than what is received on the Adriatic Sea coast at the same latitude. The summers are long, hot and relatively dry with low humidity.
Winters are short, relatively cold and wet. Snowfall is common in the winter period, but heavy snow accumulation is rare and the snow cover lasts only for a few hours or a few days if heavy. In summer, temperatures are usually above 31 °C (88 °F) and sometimes above 40 °C (104 °F). In spring and autumn, the temperatures range from 15 to 24 °C (59 to 75 °F). In winter, the day temperatures are roughly in the range from 5–10 °C (41–50 °F), but at nights they often fall below 0 °C (32 °F) and sometimes below −10 °C (14 °F). Typically, temperatures throughout one year range from −13 °C to 39 °C.
Environment
The City of Skopje encompasses various natural environments, having diverse fauna and flora. However, it is threatened by the intensification of agriculture and urban extension. The largest protected area within the city limits is Mount Vodno, which is a popular leisure destination. A cable car connects its peak to the downtown, and many pedestrian paths run through its woods. Other large natural spots include the Matka Canyon.
The city itself comprises several parks and gardens amounting to 4,361 hectares. Amongst these are the City Park, built by the Ottoman Turks at the beginning of the 20th century; Žena Borec Park, in front of the Parliament; the university arboretum; and the Gazi Baba forest. Many streets and boulevards are planted with trees.
Steel processing—a crucial activity for the local economy—is responsible for soil pollution with heavy metals such as lead, zinc and cadmium, and air pollution with nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide. Vehicle traffic and district heating plants are also responsible for air pollution.
Water treatment plants are being built, but much of the polluted water is still being discharged untreated into the Vardar. Waste is disposed of in the open-air municipal landfill site, 15 km (9.3 mi) north of the city. Every day, it receives 1,500 m3 of domestic waste and 400 m3 of industrial waste. Health levels are better in Skopje than in the rest of North Macedonia, and no link has been found between the low environmental quality and the health of the residents.
Urbanism
Urban morphology
The urban morphology of Skopje was deeply impacted by the 1963 earthquake, which destroyed 80% of the city, and by its subsequent reconstruction. For instance, neighbourhoods were rebuilt in such a way that the demographic density remains low to limit the impact of potential future earthquakes.
Reconstruction following the 1963 earthquake was mainly conducted by the Polish architect Adolf Ciborowski, who had already planned the reconstruction of Warsaw after World War II. Ciborowski divided the city into blocks dedicated to specific activities. The banks of the Vardar river became natural areas and parks, areas between the main boulevards were built with high-rise housing and shopping centres, and the suburbs were left to individual housing and industry. Reconstruction had to be quick to relocate families and to relaunch the local economy. To stimulate economic development, the number of thoroughfares was increased, and future urban extension was anticipated.
The south bank of the Vardar River generally comprises high-rise tower blocks, including the vast Karpoš neighbourhood which was built in the 1970s west of the city centre. Towards the east, the new municipality of Aerodrom was planned in the 1980s to house 80,000 inhabitants on the site of the old airport. Between Karpoš and Aerodrom lies the city centre, rebuilt according to plans by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange. The centre is surrounded by a row of long buildings suggesting a wall (Gradski Zid).
On the north bank, where the most ancient parts of the city lie, the Old Bazaar was restored and its surroundings were rebuilt with low-rise buildings, so as not to spoil views of the Skopje Fortress. Several institutions, including the university and the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, were also relocated to the north bank to reduce borders between the ethnic communities. The north bank is mostly inhabited by Muslim Albanians, Turks, and Roma, whereas Christian ethnic Macedonians predominantly reside on the south bank.
The earthquake left the city with few historical monuments, apart from the Ottoman-era Old Bazaar, and the reconstruction, conducted between the 1960s and 1980s, turned Skopje into a modernist city. At the end of the 2000s, the city centre experienced profound changes. A highly controversial urban project, Skopje 2014, was adopted by the municipal authorities to give the city a more monumental and historical aspect, and thus to transform it into a proper national capital. Several neoclassical buildings destroyed in the 1963 earthquake were rebuilt, including the national theatre, and the streets and squares were refurbished. Many other elements were also built, including fountains, statues, hotels, government buildings and bridges. The project has been criticised because of its cost and its historicist aesthetics. The large Albanian minority felt it was not represented in the new monuments, and launched side projects, including a new square over the boulevard that separates the city centre from the Old Bazaar.