Skopje Basin () or Skopje Plain () is one of the largest basins in

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 ...

. It represents the second largest valley along the course of the

Vardar The Vardar (; , , ) or Axios (, ) is the longest river in North Macedonia and a major river in Greece, where it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . The maximum depth of ...

river. The Skopje Valley is formed by the mountains of Žeden, Ivanje (Matka) and Suva Gora in the west,

Skopska Crna Gora Skopska Crna Gora or Karadak Mountains ( Macedonian and , ; ), often called simply Crna Gora (Macedonian and ; ), is a mountain range and ethnographic region in North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia. The highest peak is Ramno in Macedonia. The la ...

in the north, Gradiščanska Planina (Gjurište) in the east and northeast, Golešnica in the southeast and Kitka, Karadžica and Vodno, i.e. the massif of Mokra Planina in the south. The administrative and population centre of the Skopje Basin is

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

, the capital of North Macedonia.

Geographical features

Skopje Basin is a spacious basin located in the northern part of Macedonia. The Basin represents a deep and sunken depression along the

fault line In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

s and is fully integrated into the composition of the Vardar Tectonic Zone. It is surrounded by high mountains from all sides. It is part of the composite valley of the Vardar River, which enters the basin through the Derven Gorge in the northwest and exits through the Taor Gorge in the south. The basin covers an area of and extends in a northwest–southeast direction. The central part of the basin is occupied by the spacious

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a plain (an essentially flat landform) created by the deposition of sediment over a long period by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A ''floodplain'' is part of the process, bei ...

of the Vardar River, known as Skopje Plain. It ranges in elevation from as the lowest point to as the highest point. The average elevation is , with the city of Skopje located at . The surface area of the Skopje Plain is . The entire river and water network within the basin belongs to the catchmen area of the Vardar River, i.e. of the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

Population and ethnographic characteristics

The Skopje Basin represents the most populous and densely populated part of Macedonia. It is inhabited by 571,040 residents, the majority of whom are Macedonians (64.39%), with smaller numbers of

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, ...

(23.11%),

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

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 ...

, and Turks. The largest portion of the basin is occupied by the city of Skopje. Ethnographic regions and areas within the Skopje Basin include Skopska Blatija, Karšijak, Torbešija, Crna Gora, Žeden, and Skopski Derven. Due to the city of Skopje, the Skopje Basin has always been an area with a high number of migrations, immigration, and emigration of the population. After World War I, migrations to the Skopje Basin from various parts of Macedonia, as well as from territories of the former Yugoslavia, reached their peak, and they continue to this day.

Agriculture and economy

The geographical position, terrain, climate, and soil in the Skopje Basin are highly favourable for agriculture and livestock farming. Crop cultivation is particularly developed in the bordering area of the alluvial plain along the course of the Vardar River. The most common cereal crops include

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

, and

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seed ...

. Large areas are dedicated to the cultivation of vegetables, industrial crops (animal feed), horticulture, and early vegetable production (under greenhouses and plastic tunnels), as well as fruit growing and viticulture. The most cultivated vegetables and horticultural crops include

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

es (the famous variety "Skopski jabučar"),

pepper Pepper(s) may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plants ** Black pepper ** Long pepper ** Kampot pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanacea ...

s ( green peppers),

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

s, young onions, and

leek A leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of Leaf sheath, leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a "s ...

s (in the village of Dračevo),

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...

(in the villages of Bardovci, Zlokukjani, and Dračevo), lettuce, carrots, potatoes, beans, and peas. The onions from Dračevo are particularly renowned in the markets and are humorously referred to as "Dračevska ligna" due to their size. Industrial crops such as

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

clover Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversit ...

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, ...

, and fodder oats are also cultivated. Fruit cultivation is mainly found in the hilly areas at the foot of the surrounding mountains in the southern, eastern, and northern parts of the basin. The cultivated fruits include

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The name ...

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit is appreciated f ...

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century. Plums are ...

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

s, and

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...

es.

Transport

The Skopje Basin is the most important and developed transportation area in North Macedonia. The two pan-European

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

and

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

corridors, VIII and X, intersect and connect in the basin. The largest Macedonian airport, Alexander the Great Airport, is also located in this area. The entire Skopje Basin in the west-southwest and northeast direction is connected by highways and also by a

line. Such excellent transportation connectivity and accessibility can be attributed to two main factors: the presence of the capital city,

, and the strategic geographical position and terrain configuration, which naturally connects the

Valley to the north Morava region.

References

{{reflist Valleys of North Macedonia Geography of Skopje Skopje Statistical Region