Gostivar is located in the upper Polog valley region. It is one of the largest municipalities in the country with a population of 81,000, and the town also covers 1.341 square kilometres (331 acres). Gostivar has good road and railway connections with the other cities in the region, such as Tetovo, Skopje, Kičevo, Ohrid, and Debar. A modern freeway was built in 1995, from Gostivar to Tetovo, 24 km (15 mi) long. Gostivar is the seat of Gostivar Municipality. Gostivar is a merchant city. From the second half of the 19th century, many merchants started moving in and opening stores. There is also a market day, Tuesday. Merchants from Kruševo, Kičevo, Tetovo and Veles were the founders of the Gostivar merchant centre at that time. But today they have become electricians, mechanics workers. Today Gostivar is a modern city. An important fact is that the 20,000 Expatriate citizens who are a key source of income in the municipality economy. It is calculated that each year between June and August, approximately 500,000 euros are brought into the city when they return. read more…
Tetovo (Albanian: Tetova) is a city in the northwestern part of Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena River. The municipality of Tetovo covers an area of 1,080 km2 (417 sq mi) at 468 meters (1,535 ft) above sea level, with a population of 53,000. The city of Tetovo is the seat of Tetovo Municipality. The home of multiple ethnic Albanian political parties and a population in which Albanians form a majority, Tetovo has become the unofficial capital and centre of a predominantly Albanian region which extends in an arc from Tetovo to Struga. The city also has a multi-ethnic background which consists of Albanian, Macedonian, and Turkish elements. Just outside of Tetovo is the South East European University, Macedonia’s third largest university after Skopje and Bitola. Tetovo is also home to the State University of Tetovo. read more…
