Skopje

Skopje, is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. It was known in the Roman period under the name Scupi.
The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; remains of Neolithic settlements have been found within the old Kale Fortress that overlooks the modern city centre. 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 divided into eastern and western halves in 395 AD, Scupi came under Byzantine rule 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 part of the Serbian realm and its capital city since 1346. In 1392 the city was conquered by the Ottoman Turks who called the town Üsküp. The town stayed under Ottoman control over 500 years, serving as the capital of pashasanjak of Üsküb and later the Vilayet of Kosovo. At that time the city was famous for its oriental architecture. In 1912 the city was conquered by the Kingdom of Serbia during the Balkan Wars and after the First World War the city became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia). In the Second World War the city was conquered by the Bulgarian Army, which was part of Axis powers. In 1944 it became the capital city of Democratic Macedonia (later Socialist Republic of Macedonia), which was a federal state, part of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia (later Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). The city developed rapidly after World War II, but this trend was interrupted in 1963 when it was hit by a disastrous earthquake. In 1991 it became the capital city of independent Macedonia.
Skopje is located on the upper course of the Vardar River and is located on a major north-south Balkan route between Belgrade and Athens. It is a center for metal-processing, chemical, timber, textile, leather, and printing industries. Industrial development of the city has been accompanied by development of the trade, logistics, and banking sectors, as well as an emphasis on the fields of culture and sport. According to the last official count from 2002, Skopje has a population of 506,926 inhabitants; according to two unofficial estimates for more recent period, the city has a population of 668,518 or 491,000 inhabitants.


Budget
The total budget of Skopje for 2010 was 4,143,357,000 denars, or about €67 million. Of these 4 billion denars, about were 2 billion from direct taxes and $ 1 billion endowment from the state. The rest was from indirect taxes or transfers and various donations. Expenditures for the year amounted to about they 4,725,557,000 denars and it leaves a deficit of 582.2 million denars, or more than €9 million. This deficit, however, was filled with sales of securities (260 million denars) and repayments of loans granted by the city (322 million denars). In addition, 10 million denars from the budget of the year were reserved.[71] In 2009, the municipal budget figures were very similar. However, expenditures have exceeded for 5 billion denars.[71][72]


Population
Map of the municipalities of Skopje by ethnic majority,
Skopje is the most populous Macedonian city. According to the 2002 census, the population of Skopje was 506,926 people. According to a more recent unofficial estimate from 2006, it has 668,518 inhabitants.
Skopje has a density of 360.6 inhabitants per square kilometer.[citation needed] This figure is much lower than those of other European capitals, such as Belgrade (3,561 inhabitants per square kilometer), London (4,700) or Paris (20,433).


Transport
Since the 1990s, Skopje's standing as a major Southeast European transportation hub has increased. The city is situated at an intersection of two main European transport corridors – Corridor VIII (east-west) and Corridor X (north-south). This significance of the city is being enhanced by the construction of new highways on the two transversals, a new Skopje ring road, and the ongoing extension and modernization of Skopje Alexander the Great Airport.


Airports
Skopje's single international airport, Skopje Alexander the Great Airport, is located in Petrovec Municipality, roughly 22 kilometers east of the city centre. The airport has been given under concession to the Turkish company TAV, which is contracted to invest €200 million in the expansion and renovations of both the Skopje and Ohrid Airports, as well as the construction of a new cargo airport in Štip. Skopje is connected by air every year with Amsterdam, Belgrade, Berlin, Budapest, Bursa, Brussels, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Istanbul, Ljubljana, London, Podgorica, Prague, Rome, Sofia, Vienna, Zagreb and Zurich.


Highways
The E75 highway connecting Vardø in Norway and Crete in Greece runs just east of Skopje, thus linking most of Europe with the Macedonian capital. The E75 highway connects the Macedonian cities of Kumanovo, Veles, Negotino, and Gevgelija.
The E65 highway runs through the northern and western edges of the city and is part of the 26.5 km long Skopje Northern Bypass. The E65 in Macedonia also connects Tetovo, Gostivar, Kičevo, Ohrid and Bitola


Railways
The Skopje Central Railway Station is approximately 2 kilometers east of the city centre. It is part of the "Transportation Center" complex, built in the 1970s to replace the first railway station that was destroyed by the 1963 earthquake. The new station has 10 platforms and is suspended on a massive concrete bridge about 2 km long. In 2010, Makedonski Železnici joined Cargo 10, a joint venture with other railways in the region.


Buses
The main Skopje bus station is 2 kilometers east of the city center and is located in the Transportation Centre which also houses the central railway station. City buses run through the whole city connecting different neighborhoods as well as the smaller surrounding towns. In 2011, the old city buses were replaced with 84 new buses, built in Ukraine.[97] The station is also the hub for intercity and international bus routes. There are several departures daily for Ohrid, Bitola, Thessaloniki, Belgrade, Sofia, and other cities.


Economy


Although Skopje had hosted economic plans since the nineteenth century,[citation needed] the Yugoslav communist regime, allowed the transformation of the city, which trasformed it into a major industrial center. It has been the largest economic and industrial center of Macedonia, but the closure of the Greek border and the change of the economic regime after the independence of the country has severely affected the secondary and tertiary industries.Indeed, in the port of Thessaloniki, Greece, formerly exported a significant share of Macedonian products and abandoning the Communist system has precipitated the closings and bankruptcies of formerly national companies. The conflict between Macedonians and ethnic Albanians had a negative impact on the economy by making investors wary of putting their money in such a market.
The unemployment rate in the city was 14.07% in 2002 which is lower than the national unemployment rate of 19%. Also as of 2002, the city has roughly 64,000 companies. To solve its economic challenges, the city relies on integration in preferred economic areas. It is focused on the clean-up of factories, education and development of tourism programs, and the use of tax-free economic zones such as Bunardzik just outside of Skopje. In addition to services, Skopje has many factories. The most important activities are the processing of metals, chemicals, textiles, printing and others. Many notable companies based in Skopje include ArcelorMittal Skopje, Oil Rafinery, Alkaloid, Titan cement plant, and Skovin Winery among others.
The Macedonian Stock Exchange, which is the principal stock exchange in the Republic of Macedonia, is located in Skopje. It was established in 1995.