Struga Municipality

Municipality of Struga (Macedonian: Струга, romanized: Struga, Albanian: Strugë) is a municipality in western North Macedonia. Struga is also the name of the town where the municipal seat is found. Struga Municipality is part of the Southwestern Statistical Region.

Municipality of Struga

Општина Струга
Komuna e Strugës
Municipality
Coat of arms
Country North Macedonia
Region Southwestern
Municipal seatStruga
Government
 • MayorRamiz Merko
Area
 • Total483 km2 (186 sq mi)
Population
 • Total63,376
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
WebsiteOfficial Website

Geography

The municipality borders

Inhabited places

The only town in the municipality is Struga.

Besides Struga, there are additional 50 villages:

Demographics

Municipality of Struga after 2004

According to the last national census from 2002 this municipality has 63,376 inhabitants.[1] Ethnic groups in the municipality include:

Language map of the Municipality of Struga. Mother tongue by population, 2002 census

The ethnic composition and numbers of most communities in the Struga region have remained static apart from the Macedonian Muslim (Torbeš) population who mostly self declare themselves as either Albanians or Turks.[3] Macedonian Muslims are located in religiously mixed villages of Boroec, Jablanica, Labuništa, Oktisi and Podgorci and live alongside Orthodox Macedonians.[4] Amidst the Albanian population of Zagračani are a few Macedonian Muslim families originating from Oktisi and Podgorci who now speak Albanian.[3]

The Struga area is home to various dialects of Macedonian spoken by Macedonians, such as the Vevčani-Radožda dialect.[5] The Macedonian language is a second language for most of the non-Slavic ethnic groups in the Struga region.[5] Apart from some communities being bilingual other ethnic groups are trilingual due to religious (Islamic) heritage.[5] Many Albanians have good working knowledge of the variety of Turkish spoken in the Struga area and it serves as a third language for them.[5] Local Macedonians rarely have knowledge of languages spoken by other ethnic groups living in the Struga area.[5] Aromanians traditionally used to live in two villages of the Struga region, the now abandoned settlement of Gorna Belica alongside Albanians that spoke the Tosk Albanian dialect and Dolna Belica which has become repopulated mainly with Albanians.[6][7][8] Aromanian speaking Muslims also existed in Dolna Belica, although they have assimilated into Albanian identity and language.[7][8] Some Aromanians from Gorna Belica have resettled in the nearby village of Vevčani.[5] The village of Mali Vlaj was also once inhabited by Aromanians, belonging to the Frashëriot subgroup that originated from Albania and became assimilated during the course of the 19th century.[9]

Both main dialects Gheg and Tosk of Albanian are spoken in the Struga region and are mostly separated along the course of the Black Drim river that runs through the middle of Struga town.[5][10] The Tosk Albanian dialect is spoken in Frangovo, Kališta, Radolišta, Šum and Zagračani, while all other Albanian inhabited villages of the Struga region speak the Gheg Albanian dialect.[11] Part of the village population in Labuništa is Albanian.[12] Until the last few decades of the 20th century Tosk Albanian, in particular the geographically central variety of the dialect dominated among speakers of Albanian in Struga.[13] The local Romani population of Struga speaks and sings in the southern Tosk Albanian dialect, as does the local Turkish population.[13] Aromanians in Struga and the wider area have practical knowledge of Tosk Albanian as a third language.[13][5] Local Macedonians who learn Albanian, speak the Tosk Albanian dialect.[13]

Municipality of Struga before 2004

After 2004 the municipalities of Delogoždi, Labuništa, Lukova and Velešta merged with Struga Municipality and the demographics changed. Before that, the demographics of the municipality was:

History

On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck Albania and Struga Municipality held 1 day of mourning for the earthquake victims and sent 1,000,000 denars for relief efforts.[14]

References
  1. 2002 census results in English and Macedonian (PDF)
  2. Macedonian census 2002: ethnicity, religion and mother tongue
  3. Włodzimierz, Pianka (1970). Toponomastikata na Ohridsko-Prespanskiot bazen. Institut za makedonski jazik "Krste Misirkov". p. 63. "Етничкиот состав останува скоро неизменет, само муслиманските Македонци се декларираат најчесто како Албанци или Турци."; p. 67. "Меѓу Албанците имаат неколку фамилии мусл. Македонци дојдени од. с. Октиси и Подгорци кои сега зборуваат албански."
  4. Vidoeski, Božidar (1998). Dijalektite na makedonskiot jazik. Vol. 1. Makedonska akademija na naukite i umetnostite. ISBN 9789989649509. p. 333. "Исламизираните Македонци во струшките села Јабланица, Боро(в)ец, Октиси, Подгорци и Лабуништа живеат заедно со православното население.".
  5. Hendriks, P. (1976). The Radožda-Vevčani Dialect of Macedonian: Structure, Texts, Lexicon. John Benjamins Publishing. pp. 2–5. ISBN 9789031600892.
  6. Trajanovski, Todor; Domazetovski, Petko (2002). "Традиционалните Влашко-Албански односи согледани преку една Албанска народна песна, испеана за Власите од Горна Белица – Штрушко". In Kiselinovski, Stojan (ed.). Зборник на трудови од Меѓународниот научен симпозиум "Власите на Балканот", одржан на 09-10 ноември 2001 во Скопје. Institut za nacionalna kultura. p. 169. ISBN 9789989895432. "Во струшкиот Дримкол имало две впашки населби - Горна и Долна Белица.... Долна Белица, пак, го измени својот етнички состав на населението."
  7. Friedman, Victor (2001). "The Vlah Minority in Macedonia: Language, Identity, Dialectology, and Standardization". In Nuorluoto, Juhani; Leiwo, Martii; Halla-aho, Jussi (eds.). Selected Papers in Slavic, Baltic, and Balkan Studies (PDF). University of Helsinki. p. 29. ISBN 9789521002465.
  8. Friedman, Victor (2003). "Language in Macedonia as an Identity Construction Site". In Joseph, Brian D. (ed.). When languages collide: Perspectives on language conflict, language competition, and language coexistence. Ohio State University Press. p. 287. ISBN 9780814209134.
  9. Kahl, Thede (1999). Ethnizität und räumliche Verbreitung der Aromunen in Südosteuropa. Universität Münster: Institut für Geographie der Westfälischen Wilhelms. ISBN 3-9803935-7-7. p. 133. R. Rrămăn (Aromunen mit der Eigenbezeichnung Rrămăn = Farscheroten, Arvanitovlachen)"; p. 147. "Mali Vlaj.... R aus Albanien, bereits im 19. Jh. assimiliert."
  10. Friedman, Victor (2003). "Language in Macedonia as an Identity Construction Site". In Joseph, Brian D. (ed.). When languages collide: Perspectives on language conflict, language competition, and language coexistence. Ohio State University Press. p. 283. ISBN 9780814209134.
  11. Tuda, Shpresa (1977). "Të dhëna për zakonet e vdekjes dhe vajtimet në Strugë dhe rrethinë". Gjurmime Albanologjike: Folklor Dhe Etnologji. 5–7: 159. "Fshatrat e rrethinës së Strugës siç janë: Kalishti, Frengova, Ladorishti, Zagraçani dhe Shumi flasin në dialektin toskë, kurse në të gjithë fshatrat e tjerë flitet gegënishtja.".
  12. Telbizova-Sack, Jordanka (2005). "Eine Identität mit vielen Gesichtern? Die slawischen Muslime Makedoniens". In Keul, István (ed.). Religion, Ethnie, Nation und die Aushandlung von Identität(en): regionale Religionsgeschichte in Ostmittel- und Südosteuropa. Frank & Timme GmbH. pp. 57–58. ISBN 9783865960092. "In den südwestlichen Dörfern Labunište und Bačište, in denen sich die Bewohner zum Teil als Albaner bezeichen, gab es Versuche, die albanische Sprache als Unterichtssprache einzuführen."
  13. Murtishi, Kaim (2001). Ladorishti: Histori dhe Tradita. Asdreni. p. 21. "ndërsa për ruajtjen e identitetit të Strugës, flet fakti se në atë qytet, para disa dekadave, flitej vetëm dialekti toskë, sidomos toskërishtja qendrore, ndërmjet Jugut dhe Veriut të Shqiperisë... Këto fakte gjuhësore i vërteton edhe popullata rome, jevgjit e Strugës, flasin dhe këndojnë toskërisht, gjithashtu edhe popullata turke e këtij qyteti, flet dialektin toskë. Këtë dialekt e flasin vllehët e Strugës dhe të Belicës. Këtë dialekt e flet edhe popullata sllave që ka mësuar të flasë shqip."; p. 47. "kurse Belica e Sipërme ka qenë e banuar nga shqiptarë dhe vllehë... Në atë kohë Belica ka pasur mbi 600 shtëpi, kurse sot në atë fshat nuk banon asnjë familje, të gjithë janë shpërngulur."
  14. "Komunat shqiptare në Maqedoni anulojnë kremtimet për festat e nëntorit" (in Albanian). Gazeta Express. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.

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