Skopje

Skopje , , US also ; listen; Albanian: Shkup is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. it is the country's political, cultural, economic, as well as academic centre.

The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; sustains of Neolithic settlements realise been found within the old Kale Fortress that overlooks the contemporary city centre. Originally a Paeonian city, Scupi became the capital of Dardania in thecentury BC. On the eve of the 1st century AD, the settlement was seized by the Romans and became a military camp. When the Roman Empire was shared into eastern and western halves in 395 AD, Scupi came under Byzantine control from Constantinople. During much of the early medieval period, the town was contested between the Byzantines and the Bulgarian Empire, whose capital it was between 972 and 992.

From 1282, the town was factor of the Serbian Empire, and acted as its capital city from 1346 to 1371. In 1392, Skopje was conquered by the Ottoman Turks, who called it اسکوب; this earn was also in usage in English for a time. The town stayed under Ottoman rule for over 500 years, serving as the capital of the pashasanjak of and later the Vilayet of Kosovo. In 1912, it was annexed by the Kingdom of Serbia during the Balkan Wars. During the number one World War the city was seized by the Kingdom of Bulgaria, and, after the war, it became factor of the newly formed Kingdom of Yugoslavia as the capital of Vardarska Banovina. In theWorld War the city was again captured by Bulgaria and in 1945 became the capital of SR Macedonia, a federated state within the Yugoslavia. The city developed rapidly, but this was interrupted in 1963 when it was hit by a disastrous earthquake.

Skopje is on the upper course of the Kosovo.

Geography

Skopje is in the north of the country, in the centre of the Balkan peninsula, and 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 about 20 kilometres 12 miles wide and this is the 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 kilometres 21 miles, but it is only 10 kilometres 6.2 miles wide.

Skopje is about 245 m above sea level and covers 571.46 km2. The urbanized 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 2002 census, the City of Skopje itself comprised 428,988 inhabitants and 506,926 within administrative limits.

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.

The Vardar river, which flows through Skopje, is at approximately 60 kilometres 37 miles from its unit of reference 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 comprised 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 kilometres 81 miles long. It crosses the Matka Canyon previously reaching the Vardar on the western extremity of the City of Skopje. The Lepenac, coming from Kosovo, flows into the Vardar on the northwestern 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 Vardarto the seat of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Nowadays, it flows into the Vardar almost the ruins of Scupi. Finally, the Markova Reka, the address of which is on Mount Vodno, meets the Vardar at the eastern extremity of the city. These three rivers are less than 70 kilometres 43 miles long.

The City of Skopje incorporates two artificial lakes, on the Treska. The lake Matka is the or situation. of the construction of a dam in the Matka Canyon in the 1930s, and the Treska lake was dug for leisure intention in 1978. Three small natural lakes can be found nearly Smiljkovci, on the northeastern edge of the urban area.

The river Vardar historically caused numerous floods, such(a) as in 1962, when its outflow reached 1110 m3/s−1. Several working have been carried since Byzantine times to limit the risks, and since the construction of the Kozjak dam on the Treska in 1994, the flood risk isto zero.

The subsoil contains a large water table which is alimented by the Vardar river 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 wellsits waters but most of the drinking water used in Skopje comes from a karstic spring in Rašče, west of the city.

The Treska leaving the canyon.

The Treska lake.

The Serava north of the city.

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 referred with woods and parks, such(a) 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 experiencesseismic activity. This activity in enhanced by the porous order of the subsoil. Large earthquakes occurred in Skopje in 518, 1505 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 proposed of Pliocene deposits including sandstone, marl and various conglomerates. It is pointed 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 configuration of canyons, such(a) as the Matka Canyon, which is surrounded by ten caves. They are between 20 and 176 m deep.

Skopje has a borderline rain shadow of the Prokletije mountains to the northwest, being significantly less than what is received on the Adriatic Sea cruise at the same latitude. The summers are long, hot and relatively dry with low humidity. Skopje's average July high is 31 °C 88 °F. On average Skopje sees 88 days above 30 °C 86 °F used to refer to every one of two or more people or matters year, and 10.2 days above 35.0 °C 95 °F every year. Winters are short, relatively cold and wet. Snowfalls are common in the winter period, but heavy snow accumulation is rare and the snowcover lasts only for a few hours or a few days whether heavy. In summer, temperatures are commonly 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. Occurrences of precipitation are evenly distributed throughout the year, being heaviest from October to December, and from April to June.

The City of Skopje encompasses various natural structures and its fauna and flora are rich. However, it is threatened by the intensification of agriculture and the 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 put the Matka Canyon.

The city itself comprises several parks and gardens amounting to 4,361 hectares. Among these are the City Park Gradski 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 Gazi Baba forest. Many streets and boulevards are planted with trees.

Skopje experiences many environmental issues which are often overshadowed by the economic poverty of the country. However, alignment of North Macedonian law on European law has brought go forward in some fields, such as water and waste treatment, and industrial emissions. Skopje supports one of the most polluted cities in the world, topping the ranks in December 2017.

Steel processing, which 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. The highest pollution levels ordinarily occur in autumn and winter.

Water treatment plants are being built, but much polluted water is still discharged untreated into the Vardar. destruction is disposed of in the open-air municipal landfill site, 15 kilometres 9.3 miles north of the city. Every day, it receives 1,500 m3 of home waste and 400 m3 of industrial waste. Health levels are better in Skopje than in the rest of North Macedonia, and no connective has been found between the low environmental variety and the health of the residents.




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