Demir Hisar (town) explained

Demir Hisar
Settlement Type:Town
Pushpin Map:North Macedonia
Pushpin Label Position:top
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within North Macedonia
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Name1: Pelagonia
Subdivision Type2:Municipality
Subdivision Name2: Demir Hisar
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Name:Nikola Najdovski (VMRO-DPMNE)[1]
Population As Of:2021
Population Total:2,431
Timezone:CET
Utc Offset:+1
Timezone Dst:CEST
Utc Offset Dst:+2
Coordinates:41.2208°N 21.2031°W
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Area Code:(+389) 047
Blank Name:Car plates
Blank Info:DH
Blank1 Name:Climate
Blank1 Info:Cfb

Demir Hisar (Macedonian: Демир Хисар in Macedonian pronounced as /dɛˈmir‿xisar/) (formerly Murgaševo until 1946) is a small town in North Macedonia. It is the seat of Demir Hisar Municipality.

Etymology

The name of the town comes from Ottoman Turkish Demir Hisar (Iron Fortress) when the settlement was part of the Ottoman Empire.

Demographics

The Yugoslav census of 1953 recorded 902 people in Demir Hisar of whom 449 were Macedonians, 412 Turks, 27 Albanians and 14 others. The 1961 Yugoslav census recorded 1129 people of whom 1047 were Macedonians, 39 Albanians, 24 Turks, and 19 others. The 1971 Yugoslav census recorded 1828 people of whom 1731 were Macedonians, 34 Turks, 30 Albanians, 4 Romani, 1 Bosniak and 28 others. The 1981 Yugoslav census recorded 2283 people of whom were 2145 Macedonians, 75 Albanians, 19 Turks, 17 Romani and 27 others. The Macedonian census of 1994 recorded 2447 people of whom 2336 were Macedonians, 9 Albanians, 4 Turks and 98 others.[2] According to the 2002 census, the town had a total of 2593 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the village include:[3]

As of the 2021 census, Demir Hisar had 2,431 residents with the following ethnic composition:[4]

History

In the 1467/1468 Ottoman defter, Murgaševo had 115 households, 8 bachelors and 3 widows. The majority of household heads bore Slavic or general Christian personal names, however, when including kinship ties, the Albanian element constituted just under a quarter.[5]

In statistics gathered by Vasil Kanchov in 1900, the village of Murgaševo was inhabited by 240 Muslim Albanians.[6] In 1905 in statistics gathered by Dimitar Mishev Brancoff, Murgaševo was inhabited by 240 Muslim Albanians.[7] The population of Demir Hisar (Murgaševo) are Tosks, a subgroup of southern Albanians.[8] In the 2010s, only three Albanian families remain in Demir Hisar and nearby Albanian villagers from Obednik are assisting the community in efforts to repair the dilapidated old village mosque.[9]

Notes and References

  1. https://rezultati.sec.mk/mk/mayr/r/14 Local Elections 2021 – Mayor of Demir Hisar
  2. Book: Sherafedin Kaso. The settlements with Muslim population in Macedonia. 2005. Logos-A. 978-9989-58-155-7. 74. .
  3. Macedonian Census (2002), Book 5 - Total population according to the Ethnic Affiliation, Mother Tongue and Religion, The State Statistical Office, Skopje, 2002, p. 230.
  4. https://makstat.stat.gov.mk/PXWeb/pxweb/en/MakStat/MakStat__Popisi__Popis2021__NaselenieVkupno__PodatociNaselenie/T1503P21.px/table/tableViewLayout2/?rxid=cc8e0490-07b6-4002-adf4-9b4891b66655 Total resident population of the Republic of North Macedonia by ethnic affiliation, by settlement, Census 2021
  5. Book: . Димитров . Никола . ГЕОГРАФИЈА НА НАСЕЛБИ - Општина Демир Хисар - . 2017 . Национална и универзитетска библиотека "Св. Климент Охридски", Скопје . Битола . 27-28.
  6. Vasil Kanchov (1900). Macedonia: Ethnography and Statistics. Sofia. p. 238.
  7. D.M.Brancoff (1905). La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne. Paris. pp. 172-173.
  8. Book: Indogermanische Gesellschaft. Indogermanisches Jahrbuch, Vol. 13. 1929. Karl J. Trübner. 183. "Monastir (Bitol) auch für das Studium des Alb. geeignet: Ostrec (11 km von Monastir), Zlokućani haben geg., Dihovo, Bratindol, Magarevo, Ramna, Kažani, Dolenci, Lera, Crnovec, Drevenik, Murgašovo tosk. Bevölkerung. Die tosk."
  9. Hasani, Qenan (30 July 2011). "Obednikasit ndihmojnë xhaminë e Murgashovës, I shpëtoi 2001-shit, rrezikohet tani [Obednik villagers assist the mosque of Demir Hisar, it escaped the events of 2001, though now is endangered] ". Koha. p. 7.