Municipality of Northern Macedonia
Rural municipality in Skopje, North Macedonia
Saraj (Macedonian: Сарајⓘ, Albanian: Saraj) is one of the ten municipalities that make up the city of Skopje, the capital of the Republic of North Macedonia.
- Saraj, which means "palace" in Turkish, is also the name of the village where the municipal seat is found.
- It is a rural municipality and it is not part of the urban core of Skopje proper.
History
In the early 2000s municipal boundaries within Macedonia in some areas were redrawn.[1] During difficult negotiations the governing Macedonian Social Democrats (SDSM) gave in to the request of its Albanian coalition partner that wanted Albanians within Skopje to surpass the 20% population mark by attaching two rural Albanian inhabited municipalities, Saraj and Kondovo.[1] The municipalities attachment to the capital city raised the Albanian population from 15.30% to 20.49%.[1] The change was seen as an important win among Albanians, while Macedonians were concerned with a more visible Albanian presence in Skopje and the increasing fragmentation of the urban population based on ethnicity.[1]
Demographics
According to the last national census from 2021, Saraj has 38,399 inhabitants.[2]
Ethnic groups in the municipality include:
- Albanians = 34,586 (90.1%)
- Macedonians = 1,005 (2.6%)
- Bosniaks = 1,043 (2.6%)
- others.
|
|
2002
|
2021
|
|
|
Number
|
%
|
Number
|
%
|
| TOTAL
|
35,408
|
100
|
38,399
|
100
|
| Albanians
|
32,408
|
91.53
|
34,586
|
90.07
|
| Macedonians
|
1,377
|
3.89
|
1,005
|
2.62
|
| Turks
|
...
|
...
|
28
|
0.07
|
| Roma
|
...
|
...
|
255
|
0.66
|
| Bosniaks
|
1,120
|
3.16
|
1,043
|
2.72
|
| others
|
...
|
...
|
16
|
0.04
|
| Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
1,450
|
3.78
|
Inhabited places
There are 23 inhabited places in this municipality.
North Macedonia
Skopje
