Desovo (, ) is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Dolneni Dolneni () is a village in the Municipalities of North Macedonia, municipality of Dolneni Municipality, Dolneni, North Macedonia. It is located at the center of the plain of Prilepsko Pole (Prilep field), 10 km northwest of Prilep city and it ...

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 ...

History

The village of Desovo was a center of the Albanian Movement in the area. In September 1912, Serb majors M. Vasić and

Vasilije Trbić Vasilije Trbić ( sr-Cyrl, Василије Трбић; 1881 – 1962) was a Serbian Chetnik commander in Macedonia who became a politician in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, first representing the People's Radical Party (NRS) in ...

, a Chetnik commander operating from Porečje region, gathered 30

Chetniks The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...

and travelled to the village of Desovo where they shot 111 Albanian men and razed the village. Desovo was once again razed in 1929 by Serb Chetnik bands active in the region. The event led to the first wave of migrations of Desovo Albanians mainly to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, with some others going abroad to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. In 1948 Desovo numbered around 1,500 inhabitants mostly Albanians. Due to the sociopolitical pressures experienced within post war communist Yugoslavia under

Aleksandar Ranković Aleksandar Ranković (nom de guerre Marko, nicknamed Leka; sr-Cyrl, Александар Ранковић Лека; 28 November 1909 – 19 August 1983) was a Serbian and Yugoslav communist politician, considered to be the third most powerful ...

, between 1963 and 1968 most of the remaining Albanians in Desovo migrated to Turkey. In the 21st century, the village population is made up of Macedonians, Bosniaks and national Albanian sentiments among remaining Albanians have somewhat dissipated with assimilation being an issue. An Albanian school functions for the small Albanian community. p. 239. "Për Desovën dhe desovarët mund të shkruhet deri në vitin 1963, kur ndodhin shpërnguljet masive për në Turqi... Por nuk ia dolëm t’u kundërvihemi planeve të Rankoviqit, i cili me politikën e tij arriti të shpërngul shumë shqiptarë, e kështu e zbrazi edhe Desovën. Fshati me 1948 kishte 1500 banorë shqiptarë, e sot ka vetëm edhe 200, të tjerët jane maqedonas dhe boshnjak. Ndjenja kombëtare është zbehur dukshëm thonë ata. Me rrihapjen e shkollës shqipe, ndoshta do të jetë shpresa e fundit."; p. 241. "Herën e parë më 1912, serb Vasilije Tërbiq nga Poreçja, dogji fshatin dhe pushkatoi 111 shqiptarë nga ky fshat. Djegja e dytë ndodhi më 1929 poashtu nga serboçetniket, kur edhe fillon shpërngulja e parë kryesisht për në Turqi, e disa edhe për në SHBA, Australi etj, duke vazhduar kështu deri më 1968, kur fshati u zbraz krejtësisht nga shqiptarët. E vërteta, sado që e hidhur, është kjo: Desova e cila në të kaluarën ishte qendër e Lëvizjes shqiptare, sot gjendet buzë asimilimit dhe asgjëzimit të shqiptarëve nga ky fshat."

Demographics

In statistics gathered by

Vasil Kanchov Vasil Kanchov (26 July 1862 – 6 February 1902) was a geographer, ethnographer and teacher who served as Minister of Education of Bulgaria. Early life and education Vasil Kanchov was born in Vratsa. Upon graduating from High school i ...

in 1900, the village of Desovo was inhabited by 40 Bulgarian Christians, 75 Romani and 625 Muslim Albanians. On the Ethnographic Map of the Bitola Vilayet of the Cartographic Institute in Sofia from 1901, Desovo appears as a mixed Bulgarian-Albanian-Turkish village in the Prilep kaza, having 128 houses.Михајловски, Роберт, уред. (2017). Етнографска карта на Битолскиот вилает (PDF). Каламус. стр. 24. According to the 2021 census, the village had a total of 1.108 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the village include:Macedonian Census (2021)
''Book 5 - Total population according to the Ethnic Affiliation, Mother Tongue and Religion''
The State Statistical Office, Skopje, 2021 *

Bosniaks The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

603 *

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

347 * Macedonians 76 *

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

8 *Others 74

References

External links

{{Inhabited places in Municipality of Dolneni Villages in Dolneni Municipality Albanian communities in North Macedonia