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.Macedonian Census (2021), Book 5 - Total population according to the Ethnic Affiliation, Mother Tongue and Religion, The State Statistical Office, Skopje, 2002, p. 196.
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 (today: Bregalnica) river, as a coronation ritual. Astibo is also marked in the Tabula Peutingeriana, as one of the stations from Stobi (near modern Gradsko) to Serdica (today: Sofia). 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.Origins: Serbs, Albanians and Vlachs Chapter 2 in Noel Malcolm's Kosovo, a short history (Macmillan, London, 1998, pp. 22-40) - 'The evidence is in fact very mixed; some of the Albanian forms (of both urban and rural names) suggest transmission via Slav, but others -including the towns of Shkodra, Drisht, Lezha, Shkup (Skopje) and perhaps Shtip (Stip, southeast of Skopje) - follow the pattern of continuous Albanian development from the Latin.' The local Aromanian community also refer to the city as .
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 (usually less than 2 months) and mild (though considered cold for the area) 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 (, crvenica) 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 (Astivos, Άστιβος in Ancient Greek).A History of Macedonia: Historical geography and prehistory p. 202
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 kings were crowned in Astibo.
The first mention of a settlement dates to the reign of Roman emperor Tiberius (14-37 AD), when Estipeon is mentioned as an important settlement in the Roman province of Macedonia 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 (including the last name Arbanasin, which literally means Albanian) 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 (metochion) to Hilandar, in a charter of King Stefan Dušan.
The region was annexed by the Ottoman Empire in a raid in 1385, after having been ruled by the Ottoman vassal Konstantin Dejanović.John V. A. Fine, The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest, University of Michigan Press, 1994, p. 407 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.Dnevnik newspaper 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 municipality Total Macedonians Turks Romani Vlachs Serbs Albanians Bosniaks OthersTotal 47796 41670 1272 2195 2074 294 12 11 265Women 23876 20935 612 1039 981 153 4 6 146Men 23920 20735 660 1156 1093 144 8 5 119R.M. (%) 2.36 3.21 1.63 4.07 21.39 0.83 0 0.06 1.26
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 "Stipion 2011" 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 (Štip-Kočani-Delčevo) in North Macedonia, and the connection to the E-75 Štip-Veles highway.
Travel direction in the region goes via the R-601 (Štip-Plačkovica) and R-526 routes that go through the city and connect to the M-5 freeway.
Education There are numerous pre-school, elementary/primary and middle school institutions in Štip and its municipal area.
There are five high/secondary schools, each somewhat specialized in a particular field, according to the educational policy of North Macedonia. The five high schools are as follows: Medical Secondary School "Jane Sandanski" () - web site Music High School () - facebook page Textile Secondary School "Dimitar Mirasčiev" () - web site Secondary School for Children with Special Needs — Iskra - web site Electro-Technical Secondary School "Kole Nehtenin" () - web site Lyceum "Slavčo Stojmenski" () - web site
The city is also the home of one of North Macedonia's four public universities, the Goce Delčev University of Štip.
The private music high school "Oksia" completes the list of educational institutions in the city.
Architecture and sights
Štip has a ruins of an old castle which keeps a watchful eye on the town from the Isar Hill.
In the town and its vicinity there are three 14th century-era churches, built in the time when the town was a part of medieval Serbia.