Debarca or Drembica () is a historical region in western

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

, north of

Ohrid Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...

and south-west of

Kičevo Kičevo ( ; , sq-definite, Kërçova) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, located in a valley in the south-eastern slopes of Mount Bistra, between the cities of Ohrid and Gostivar. The capital Skopje is 112 km away. The city ...

. Its territory is now divided between

Debarca Municipality Debarca () is a municipality in the Southwestern Statistical Region of North Macedonia. The village of Belčišta is the municipal seat. It is the municipality in which Ohrid "St. Paul the Apostle" Airport is located, the second of two internat ...

and

Kičevo Municipality Kičevo Municipality (; ) is a municipality in the western part of North Macedonia. The municipal seat is the city of Kičevo. Kičevo Municipality is located in the Southwestern Statistical Region. Geography The municipality borders Mavrovo and ...

History

A region known as Drembica, Deb'rca, or Debritsa is attested as an early medieval

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

in the region of

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

. It is still debatable whether this is the

Sclaveni The ' (in Latin language, Latin) or ' (Sclaveni#Terminology, various forms in Greek language, Greek) were Early Slavs, early Slavic tribes that raided, invaded and settled in the Balkans in the Early Middle Ages and eventually became one of the p ...

of the Draguvites or whether the name does not refer to this South Slavic tribe around

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

. In historical sources Drembica is mentioned together with Velica.Honor and Compromise: Andros Odyssey
/ref>

Notable people

Trajko Veljanovski Trajko Veljanovski (born 2 November 1962) is a Macedonian politician who was the President of the Assembly of North Macedonia from 2008 to 2017. He was graduated from Ss. Cyril and Methodius University working as a lawyer until 1999. Politics ...

(born in Slivovo), former President of the Assembly of North Macedonia.

References

Geography of North Macedonia Debarca Municipality Kičevo Municipality {{Debarca-geo-stub