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Vrapčište (Municipality, Macedonia)

Врапчиште, Vrapçishti

Municipal flag of Vrapčište - Image by Image by by Mello Luchtenberg & António Martins, 19 November 2006

Presentation of Vrapčište
Municipal flag of Vrapčište
Former municipality of Negotino-Pološko

See also:

Presentation of Vrapčište

The municipality of Vrapčište (in Albanian, Vrapçishti; 25,399 inhabitants; 157.98 sq. km), located just north of Gostivar in northwestern Macedonia, is made of the 15 settlements of Vranovci, Vrapčište, Galate, Gradec, Gorjane, Dobro Dol, Đurđevište, Zubovje, Kalište, Lomnica, Negotino-Pološko, Novo Selo, Pož,arane, Senokos and Toplica.

Vrapčište is a matter of dispute between the ethnic Albanian and Turks. According to Dnevnik, 17 February 2005, the Democratic Party of Turks will boycott the local elections in Vrapčište, in objection to a perceived pattern of discrimination from the Albanian political parties and wariness over the new municipal boundaries that will dilute the Turkish presence and help consolidate Albanian control. The newspaper cites party leader Kenan Hasipi as saying that the new municipality's border is against the interest of Turks, as it reduces their presence from 34 percent to 12 percent and this in their biggest single stronghold in Macedonia. This result was achieved by consolidating and eliminating the municipality of Negotino-Pološko (mostly Albanian), immediately located to the north of Vrapčište.
Among the recommendations made by the European Union-funded "Lobby Group for Information, Mediation, Lobbying and Participation of the Turkish Community" is:
"To prepare and deliver a proposal to the communities of Gostivar and Vrapčište to use the Turkish flag as a third national flag [beside the Macedonian and Albanian flags] in this area."

Ivan Sache, 19 November 2006

Municipal flag of Vrapčište

The municipal flag of Vrapčište, as shown on the Macedonian Ministry of Local Self-Government website (page no longer online), is in proportion 3:5, blue with the municipal emblem in the middle.
The emblem shows a white flower (tobacco?) and a mountain landscape.

Ivan Sache, 26 February 2002

Former municipality of Negotino-Pološko

Flag of Negotino-Pološko - Image by by Mello Luchtenberg & António Martins, 17 November 2006

The town of Negotino-Pološko (14,992 inhabitants) is located some 20 km south of Tetovo in the Polog plain, therefore the attribute Pološko. This attribute is used to differentiate the city from Negotino, another city of the same name located in the Vardar valley in central Macedonia. The region is with Albanian majority, as it is clearly visible from the design of the flag.
Negotino-Pološko was incorporated into the municipality of Vrapčište in 2004.

The flag of Negotino-Pološko, as shown (but horizontal) on the Macedonian Ministry of Local Self-Government website (page no longer online), is in proportion 1:2, horizontally divided black-red, with the municipal emblem shifted to the hoist.
The emblem shows a mountain, a bridge over a river, and the helmet of Skanderbeg placed on a red field between two cypresses.

Ivan Sache & Željko Heimer, 10 June 2006