Gorna Banjica (, , ) is a village in the municipality of Gostivar, North Macedonia.
History Gorna Banjica is attested in the 1467/68 Ottoman tax registry (defter) for the Nahiyah of Kalkandelen. The village had a total of 37 Christian households, 7 widows and 2 bachelors.Турски документи за историјата на македонскиот народ кн.4, Методија Соколоски, д-р Александар Стојановски, Скопје 1971 The names are: Nikolla Arbanas (t.Arnaut); Progon, son of Tanush; Jovan, son of Prenk; Todori, son of Tono; Pron-ko, son of Rale; Marin, son of Stojko; Nik-o Dibrani; Kol-in, son of Bojk-a; Gjon, son of Nikolla; Jovan, son of Nikolla; Vasil, son of Nikolla; Stepan, son of Nikolla; Todori, son of Nikola; Niko, son of Kola; Cvetko, son of Kola; Koljo Domazet; Dimitri, his son.
A policy of Turkification of the Albanian population was employed by the Yugoslav authorities in cooperation with the Turkish government, stretching the period of 1948-1959. Starting in 1948, Turkish schools were opened in areas with large Albanian majorities, such as Gorna Banjica.
Demographics
According to the 1942 Albanian census, Gorna Banjica was inhabited by 854 Muslim Albanians, 35 Serbs and 11 Bulgarians.
The Yugoslav census of 1953 recorded 1,072 people of whom 754 were Albanians, 240 Turks, 73 Macedonians and 5 others. The 1961 Yugoslav census recorded 1,108 people of whom 212 were Albanians, 827 Turks, 68 Macedonians and 1 others. The 1971 census recorded 1,267 people of whom 239 were Albanians, 1,003 Turks and 25 Macedonians. The 1981 Yugoslav census recorded 1,611 people of whom 474 were Albanians, 7 Macedonians, 1,118 Turks, 1 Bosniak and 11 others. The Macedonian census of 1994 recorded 1,622 people of whom 422 were Albanians, 1,239 Turks and 1 other.
According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 4,423 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the village include:Macedonian Census (2002), Book 5 - Total population according to the Ethnic Affiliation, Mother Tongue and Religion, The State Statistical Office, Skopje, 2002, p. 96.
Albanians 1,636 Turks 1,243 Macedonians 1,196 Romani 315 Serbs 4 Others 29
As of the 2021 census, Gorna Banjica had 3,436 residents with the following ethnic composition:Total resident population of the Republic of North Macedonia by ethnic affiliation, by settlement, Census 2021 Turks 1,503 Macedonians 839 Albanians 811 Roma 610 Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources 107 Others 16
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