Kriva Palanka
Encyclopedia
Kriva Palanka is a town located in the northeastern part 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...

. It has 14.558 inhabitants. The town of Kriva Palanka is the seat of Kriva Palanka Municipality
Kriva Palanka municipality
Kriva Palanka is a municipality in eastern Republic of Macedonia. Kriva Palanka is also the name of the town where the municipal seat is found...

 which has almost 21.000 inhabitants.

The town lies near the Deve Bair national border crossing with Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, as such, there is constant heavy traffic passing through the main road which bisects the two sides of the town (Deve Bair is considered the main border crossing between Macedonia and Bulgaria because it links the capitals 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...

 with Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

).

Etymology

The name of the town derives from the curved riverbed of the river Kriva. The old name of Kriva Palanka was Egri Dere, in Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

 - "Curved River". The Turkish word dere was later substituted with Palanka.

History

The town is one of the youngest in the country of Macedonia. It was settled by the Turks, by Bayram Pasha respectively and it had a function as a fort to strengthen that region. The formation of the town is noticed in the Turkish documents from 1633. This includes a stone plate with Arabic encryption on the entrance of the fortress. The plate was later moved to the mosque which was situated in the center of the town and now is kept in the Museum of Macedonia in Skopje.

Its favorable position enabled this small settlement to become a bigger town. There was a significant Christian influence in the town which took in its hands the development and revival of the town in Christian and orthodox manner. A class of rich and influential traders and artisans was formed who were travelling outside the Ottoman empire and were bringing the new ideas and flows of the 19 century in the city.

During this period, in Kriva Palanka acts one of the first Macedonian revivalists Joachim Krchovski, who by the help of the local traders in 1814-1819, in Budim prints their famous five books in lively folk speech. Joachim not only developed the need for literacy, but had a crucial role in the establishment of the church - cell school in 1817 which was placed in Enger's house, in which vicinity later with great efforts by the city aristocrats and the donor David Jerej, in 1833 the church of St. Dimitrija will be built.

As a result of church-educational activity in Kriva Palanka, as early as 1833 functions the epitropic - church community, which in 1861 was transformed into a church - school community, and already the same year will be self-governed without renouncement of the Skopje Patriarchal mitropolitan.

After the First World War, in 1919-1920 when Kriva Palanka for the first time gets a status of municipality as part of the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes it gets its first native president (mayor) and the physical appearance which was mostly maintained till today. In that time Kriva Palanka becomes richer with few significant facilities: The Municipal Building, The Officer's House, primary school Partizan, the old Hospital and the first regulation of the riverbed of Kriva from Osichka Maala to Numulija, also started the construction of the first power plant in North-East Macedonia on the river Durachka, but the construction was stopped later.

Geography and climate

Kriva Palanka has a temperate continental climate with moderately cold winter, moderately warm summer, spring, fresh and relatively warm autumn, due to geographical and disposition of certain influences that enter the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...

 via Kriva Reka. The high parts of Osogovo
Osogovo
Osogovo or Osogovska Planina is a mountain and ski resort between southwestern Bulgaria and northeastern Republic of Macedonia,...

 are affected by the mountainous climate. The average annual temperature is 10.2 C. During the year the warmest month is July with an average value of 20.0 C. Coldest month is January with an average of -0.3 C. The average annual temperature hesitation is 20.30 C. Compared to the surrounding areas, Kriva Palanka area gets significant rainfalls. This is due to the higher altitude which represents a natural water vapor condenser, which is carried by the western and southern winds. The average date of first snow cover in this area is November 30. The areas over 1700 meters above sea level
Above mean sea level
The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...

 have quite low mean annual temperatures, therefore the peaks of Ruen and Carev Vrv are under snow cover from October until early June. Ruen remains under snow even in July.

Population

Ethnic group number
Macedonians
Macedonians (ethnic group)
The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...

 
13. 758, 97%
Albanians
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...

 
0
Turkish
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...

 
2
Romas  560
Vlahs  2
Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...

 
88
Bosniaks
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...

1
other 39


The city has a favorable demographic picture with a population growth. Notable is the high birthrate among the Macedonians, given that in the city and several surrounding villages, many families of Macedonian nationality live with 4 or more children.

Religion

The population of Kriva Palanka is mostly of the Orthodox faith. Orthodoxy is deeply entered into the life and traditions of the citizens of Kriva Palanka for which testify the large number of churches and monasteries that are located in the city and the immediate vicinity. Kriva Palanka is well known in Macedonia for one of the most beautiful monastery complexes, the monastery of Saint Joachim Osogovski.

Economy

Economically, trade is most developed in Kriva Palanka due to the proximity to the Bulgarian border, and the rest are engaged in agriculture (mostly cultivated potato, to a lesser extent corn, wheat, barley, rye, oats, etc..), then mining is also important with the nearby mines Toranica(lead and zinc) and Bentomak. In the center of Kriva Palanka there are several traditional craft stores that are still actively working. There are also grocery stores, and on the hills near the town there are many sawmills and cutmills for firewood and furniture.
In the city operate many kindergartens, three primary schools and a high school.
Due to its location on the European Corridor G-8, since a long time ago is planned an extension of the railroad to Kriva Palanka and the Bulgarian border, which is currently built to the village of Beljakovce.
In near future will begin the project for gasification of the town.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK