Čair is one of the ten municipalities that make up the city of Skopje

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...

, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia

Republic of Macedonia

Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

. Skopje's old town is located in Čair.

Geography

Čair is located along the northern (left) bank of the Vardar River, opposite the modern city center. It borders Centar Municipality to the southwest, Karpoš Municipality

Karpoš municipality

Karpoš is one of the ten municipalities that make up the city of Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia.-Geography:Karpoš borders Saraj Municipality and Gjorče Petrov Municipality to the west, Čučer-Sandevo Municipality to the north, Butel Municipality to the northeast, Čair...

 to the west, Butel Municipality

Butel municipality

Butel is one of the ten municipalities that make up the city of Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia.A cemetery in Butel is where the grave of George Zorbas, the character upon whom Nikos Kazantzakis based the fictional Alexis Zorbas of his novel Zorba the Greek, is...

 to the north, and Gazi Baba Municipality

Gazi Baba municipality

Gazi Baba is one of the ten municipalities that make up the city of Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia.-Name:The name of the municipality comes from the nickname of the Ottoman poet Aṣik Çelebi...

 to the east.

History

Skopje's old town, or Stara Čaršija

Old Bazaar

The Old Bazaar in Skopje is the largest bazaar in the Balkans outside Istanbul. Situated on the eastern bank of the Vardar River, the bazaar had been the city's centre for trade and commerce since at least the 12th century. It rapidly grew and reached its peak during Ottoman rule, evidenced by...

, had been the city's main center at least since the 12th century. Turkish influence is dominant in the Stara Čaršija. The old town has not changed much over time; it is still filled with narrow cobblestone walkways and most of the Ottoman monuments are still standing.

Demographics

According to the last national census from 2002, Čair has 64,773 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the municipality include:

• Albanians = 36,921 (57.0%)
• Macedonians = 15,628 (24.1%)
• Turks = 4,500 (6.9%)
• Roma = 3,083 (4.8%)
• Bosniaks = 2,950 (4.6%)
• others.