Štip


Štip is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of North Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities.
As of the 2021 census, Štip had a population of about 44,866, making it North Macedonia's sixth most populous city.
Štip is the largest textile production center in the country. It is the center of the fashion industry in North Macedonia, as well as the site of the sole public university in eastern North Macedonia, the Goce Delčev University of Štip.
The city is the eponymous seat of the Municipality of Štip.

Name

The name Astibos is first mentioned by the ancient historian Polyaenus in the 2nd century BC, who notes that Paeonian kings did ritualistic bathing in the Astibo/Brigantium river, as a coronation ritual. Astibo is also marked in the Tabula Peutingeriana, as one of the stations from Stobi to Serdica. The name evolved from the ancient Astibos, to Byzantine Stipeon, to modern Štip.
It is generally acknowledged that the Slavic 'Štip' follows Proto-Albanian phonetic rules and was acquired via the Albanian 'Shtip'. Shtip may indicate that Proto-Albanian was spoken in the region in pre-Slavic antiquity. The local Aromanian community also refer to the city as Shtip.

Geography and climate

The city is located at the intersection of the Lakavica, Ovče Pole, and Kočani valleys.
Two rivers pass through Štip,
  • the Bregalnica river, which is the second longest in North Macedonia, and
  • the Otinja river, which divides the city center.
The Isar hill, with its early medieval fortress on top, dominates the city and provides for the common reference as "The town under the Isar".
The area surrounding the city is suffering from deforestation which is contributing to the extreme temperatures, summers being hot and dry with mean temperatures around and days above being common. Winters are short and mild with normal temperatures around, but with occasional drops down to. Spring usually comes in February, when most of the foliage is regenerating, although freak snow storms could appear as late as May.
The soil is mostly sandy, and has large patches of red soil which indicates large percentage of Iron in the soil.
The geographical area of the city of Štip is bordered
  • by the Plačkovica mountain to the east,
  • by the Krivolak valley to the southeast,
  • by the estuary of the river Bregalnica in the southwest, and
  • by its alluvial plain in the north.

    History

Antiquity

It is probable that the capital of the Paeonian royal house was in the area of Astibus.
The Paeonians were situated in the region west of the fertile Axius river basin, around the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The two tribes that lived along the river Astibo, an estuary to the Axius, were the Derrones, named after their god of healing, Darron, and the Laeaeans, who minted their own heavy coins as a sign of their sovereignty following the example of the Greek city-states on Chalkidiki. Although these tribes were heavily weakened by the Persian invasion of 480 BC, led by King Xerxes I, they remained a formidable power and a well-organized people, renowned for the production of their exceptionally heavy coins with emblems including domesticated specimens of the wild aurochs for which Paeonia was also famous. They were absorbed into the Macedonian Empire by Alexander I before 360 BC.
The area itself is first mentioned in the writings of the historian Polien from the 3rd century BC, who talks of a river named "Astibo" which is presumed to be the river Bregalnica today. Polien also states that the Paeonian emperors were crowned in Astibo.
The first mention of a settlement dates to the reign of Roman emperor Tiberius, when Estipeon is mentioned as an important settlement in the Roman province of Paeonia and the second stop on the Roman road from Stobi to Pautalia.
In the 6th century, the Slavs raided the Balkans and destroyed the Byzantine settlement, and the Slavic tribe of Sagudates permanently settled the area.

Middle Ages

Many rulers controlled the area of Štip during the early Middle Ages.
Štip was part of the Bulgarian Empire, but after the Byzantine victory in the Battle of Kleidion in 1014 it fell again under Byzantine rule until the reestablishment of the Bulgarian Empire in 1185.
From the mid-13th century the town changed hands several times.
By 1284, Serbian King Stefan Milutin conquered the region; he mentioned Štip explicitly in 1308 and did not wish to give it up to the Byzantines.
In a document of Serbian Tsar Stefan Uroš that dates between 1293 and 1302, in which the citizens of Štip are named, there are several figures listed with Albanian names and anthroponomy. Furthermore, in a 1330 letter by Serbian Tsar Stefan Dušan, several figures with Albanian names and anthroponomy were recorded.
In 1334, the Church of the Holy Archangel in Štip, built by protosebastos Hrelja who held the region under the Serbian crown, was according to his wish granted to Hilandar, in a charter of King Stefan Dušan.
The region was annexed by the Ottoman Empire after a raid in 1385. It was known as İştip and was made the seat of a sanjak.
There is little information about the development of Štip during Ottoman rule which would continue for the next five centuries, interrupted only during 1689–1690 when the city was taken by the Austrians for two years. In the late 19th and early 20th century, Štip was part of the Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire.

20th century

In 1912, at the start of the Balkan Wars, Štip and the surrounding area was occupied by Bulgaria. But Bulgaria's defeat, after it, dissatisfied with the result of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies in 1913, which resulted in the annexation of all of Vardar Macedonia into the Kingdom of Serbia. Štip was occupied by Bulgaria and Germany during the First World War.
Events concerning the Kingdom of Serbia meant that Štip then became a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes together with the rest of Vardar Macedonia.
From 1929 to 1941, Štip was part of the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
On 6 April 1941, when Yugoslavia was attacked by Nazi Germany, the city was bombed by German planes which took off from Bulgaria. During the Second World War the Axis-allied Bulgarian forces occupied the city until early September, 1944, after which it was taken by German troops. Štip was retaken by the Macedonian National Liberation Army and the newly allied Bulgarian Army, now part of the anti-Axis coalition on 8 November 1944.
Thus, 8 November is celebrated as "Liberation Day" in the city of Štip and its broader municipality, and is a non-working holiday.

Demographics

According to the National Census of 2002 the populations of Štip Municipality breaks down as follows:
Štip municipalityTotalMacedoniansTurksRomaniVlachsSerbsAlbaniansBosniaksOthers
Total47796416701272219520742941211265
Women2387620935612103998115346146
Men 23920207356601156109314485119
R.M. 2.363.211.634.0721.390.8300.061.26

As of 2021, the city of Štip has 42.000 inhabitants and the ethnic composition was the following:
  • Macedonians – 32.658
  • Romani – 2.293
  • Aromanians – 1.389
  • Turks – 1.022
  • Serbs – 163
  • Albanians – 29
  • Bosniaks – 12
  • Others – 288
  • Persons without data – 4.146

    Economy

Today, Štip is the center of North Macedonia's textile and fashion industry.
Formerly the home of such industrial giants in the former Yugoslavia like the cotton industry company "Makedonka" - Štip, with its enormous suburban campus, and the fashion industry brand "Astibo", from their ashes many private mini-factories were created, mostly by former managers in the socialist giants, which employ most of the women in town today, with fashion and textile still being the core skills of the city population, as maintained by the educational system.
Some of the larger private textile and fashion houses in Štip are:
  • Albatros,
  • Beas-S,
  • Kit–Go Teks,
  • Gracija,
  • Modena,
  • Mavis,
  • Maksima,
  • LARS,
  • Linea,
  • Briteks,
  • Stipko,
  • Stip-teks,
  • Longurov,
  • Vivendi,
  • D&A,
  • Amareta,
  • Anateks,
  • Angroteks,
  • EAM,
  • Milano,
  • Vabo,
  • Zogori,
  • Metro Premier,
  • Tekstil Invest-Denim,
  • Tekstil Logistik and
  • Eskada.

    Government

The current mayor of Štip is Ivan Jordanov.
The city is ruled by the "City Council" which is elected every four years. The counselors are usually members of the strongest political parties. Every city council elects a president. The president of the city council leads the sessions and also signs the decisions together with city mayor.

Transportation

The public transport is organized in suburban services and inter-city.
The suburbs of
  • Babi,
  • Senjak,
  • Prebeg,
  • Makedonka,
  • Novo Selo and Kežovica, etc.
are served by a fleet of municipal buses running 7 days a week and connecting several locations in the city center with the suburbs.
The inter-city services are provided by the public transportation company "Balkan Ekspres" which has connections to all cities in North Macedonia as well as some neighboring countries.
The train station located in the northern suburb "Železnička" provides links to
  • Kočani in the east, and
  • Veles and Skopje to the west.
There is a large fleet of private taxi vehicles in the city, with very competitive prices.
Štip can be reached by car through the M-5 highway in North Macedonia, and the connection to the E-75 Štip-Veles highway.
Travel direction in the region goes via the R-601 and R-526 routes that go through the city and connect to the M-5 freeway.