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Kumanovo (Municipality, Macedonia)

Куманово, Kumanova

Flag of Kumanovo
Left, horizontal version - Image by Mello Luchtenberg, 31 March 2007;
Right, vertical version - Image by Ivan Sache, 15 April 2010

Presentation of Kumanovo
Municipal flag of Kumanovo
Local community of Pçinja

See also:

Presentation of Kumanovo

The municipality of Kumanovo (in Albanian, Kumanova; 105,484 inhabitants; 509.48 sq. km), located in northern Macedonia, is made of the town of Kumanovo (the third largest in Macedonia) and of the 47 settlements of Agino Selo, Bedinje, Beljakovce, Biljanovce, Brzak, Vak'v, Bince, Gabreš, Gorno Konjare, Gradište, D'lga, Dobrošane, Dovezance, Dolno Konjare, Živinje, Zubovce, Jacice, Karabičane, Klečevce, Kokošinje, Kolicko, Kosmatac, Kutliveg, Kučkarevo, K'šanje, Lopate, Ljubodrag, Murgaš, Novo Selo, Novoseljane, Orašac, Pezovo, Proevce, Pčinja, Pežanovce, Pečica, Pomanovce, Skačkovce, Sopot, Studena Bara, Suševo, Tabanovce, Tromegja, Umin Dol, Čerkezi, Četirce and Šuplji Kamen.

The town of Kumanovo is located in the region of Zegligovo, in the central part of the Kumanovo Valley. The oldest document mentioning Kumanovo as a village with 52 families and some 300 inhabitants, dated 1519, is kept in the archives of Istanbul. In 1660, the Turkish traveller Evlija Celebija described the town as follows:

The colony of Kumanovo is situated on the territory of the Skopje sanjak and represents one county. The city is embellished with many rivers and 600 tile-roofed houses. The mosque in the downtown is beautiful, there are teke, medressa (Islam religion secondary school), hammam (Turkish bath), a number of shops and water mills; and the climate is pleasant and agreeable. There are many vineyards and gardens.

Throughout its history, Kumanovo was the place of several military events. In 1689, Petre Vojnički, aka Karpoš, from Kumanovo, organized the Karpoš Uprising against the Ottomans in the region of Kumanovo and Kriva Palanka. After the defeat of the Turks under the walls of Vienna, General Piccolomini repelled the Turks up to Skopje and Karpoš expected to liberate Macedonia; however, Piccolomini withdrew and the uprising was quickly suppressed by the Ottoman army. Many people from the region fled to Vojvodina to avoid retaliation. Karpoš was brought to Skopje where he was impaled, stabbed with spears and thrown off into the river Vardar from the Stone Bridge.
On 10-13 October 1912, the battle of Kumanovo opposed the Serb and Turkish armies during the First Balkan War; the Serbs, commanded by General Radomir Putnik, defeated the Ottomans commanded by General Zekki Pasha. This decisive victory allowed the Serbs to seize Kumanovo and Skopje.
During the Second World War, the uprising against the Bulgarian occupation of Macedonia started in Prilep and Kumanovo on 11 April 1941. The name of Karpoš was reused by Hristijan Todorovski, from Kumanovo, who commanded partisans in north-eastern Macedonia until his death on 7 February 1944 in the village of Biljaca.

On 9 June 1999, the British General Michael Jackson, representing NATO, signed with General Svetozar Marjanović and Lieutenant General Obrad Stevanović the agreement of Kumanovo, which ended the "Allied Force" operation of NATO in Yugoslavia and prescribed the occupation of Kosovo by the allied forces.
In 2001, a conflict broke out between the Macedonian army and the Albanian rebels. Kumanovo, a Macedonian and Serb stronghold, was threatened by the rebels staying in Lipkovo and in the neighbouring villages, which were shelled by the Macedonian army. The conflict ended with the agreement signed in Ohrid on 13 August 2001.

Source: Municipal website

Ivan Sache, 5 April 2007

Municipal flag of Kumanovo

The flag of Kumanovo, as shown on the Macedonian Ministry of Local Self-Government website (page no longer online), is red with the municipal coat of arms in the middle.
The coat of arms shows on a golden background a building, a statue, the year of foundation of the town (1519) and a tobacco leaf filling the point of the shield. A full-coloured version of these arms, which were designed by Zoran Jakimovski, Professor of Applied Arts, on 16 December 2002, as well as the former arms, are shown on the Heraldry in Macedonia website.

A similar flag is shown, displayed vertically with a white field and the upper part of the coat of arms in red, on a photo taken on 27 November 2009 during the ZELS Expo 2009, shown on the municipal website of Sveti Nikole (ZELS_2009 gallery, photo #8).

Ivan Sache, 15 April 2010

Local community of Pçinja

Flag of Pçinja - Image by Eugene Ipavec, 7 May 2011

The flag of Pçinja (793 inhabitants), as shown on Wikipedia, is red with the village's coat of arms in the canton.

Valentin Poposki, 7 May 2011