Gazi Baba Municipality

Not to be confused with Ghazi Baba.

Municipality of Gazi Baba Општина Гази Баба Komuna e Gazi Babës
City municipality (Urban)
Flag Coat of arms
Coordinates: 42°1′N 21°27′E
Country	North Macedonia
Region	Skopje
Municipal seat	Skopje
Government
• Mayor	Boban Stefkovski (VMRO)
Population
• Total	69,626
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)

Gazi Baba (Macedonian: Гази Баба^ⓘ, Albanian: Gazi Babë) is one of the ten municipalities that make up the City of Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia.^[1] The municipality administration consists of a council and mayor.^[1]

Name

Gazi in Macedonian means step over, and Baba means Granny - Grandma. There's another theory that the name comes from the nickname of the Ottoman poet Aşık Çelebi, although his real name was Pir Mahamet and he was actually a judge during the time of Duchy of Rumelia . In Turkish, Gazi means "war veteran" and baba means "father". His tomb was somewhere at the hills of Gazi Baba, according to the legend.

Geography

The municipality borders Petrovec Municipality, Studeničani Municipality and Aerodrom Municipality to the south, Centar Municipality, Čair Municipality and Butel Municipality to the west, Lipkovo Municipality to the northeast, and Aračinovo Municipality and Ilinden Municipality to the east.

Demographics

According to the 2021 North Macedonia census, Gazi Baba municipality has 69,626 inhabitants, making it the most populous municipality in Greater Skopje.^[2][3] Ethnic groups in the municipality include:

	2002		2021
	Number	%	Number	%
TOTAL	72,617	100	69,626	100
Macedonians	53,497	73.67	45,242	64.98
Albanians	12,502	17.2	14,146	20.32
Roma	2,082	2.87	1,922	2.76
Serbs	2,097	2.89	1,328	1.91
Bosniaks	710	0.98	753	1.08
Turks	606	0.83	468	0.67
Vlachs	236	0.32	185	0.27
Other / Undeclared / Unknown	887	1.22	580	0.83
Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources			5,002	7.18

Religious affiliation

Religion according to the 2002 Macedonia census and 2021 North Macedonian census:

	2002		2021
	Number	%	Number	%
TOTAL	72,617	100	69,626	100
Orthodox	54,637	75.2	38,116	67.2
Christians	14	0.02	8,518
Catholics	248	0.34	148
Islam	15,968	22.0	17,476	25.1
Others	1,750	0.62	366	0.53
Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources	n/a	n/a	5,002	7.18

Demographic Trends

• Live births by ethnic affiliation of mother, 2010-2022

	Macedonians		Albanians		Turks		Serbs		Roma		Bosniaks		Others		TOTAL
Year	Births	%	Births	%	Births	%	Births	%	Births	%	Births	%	Births	%	Births
2010	536	60.91	240	27.27	4	0.45	6	0.68	76	8.64	6	0.68	12	1.36	880
2011	498	58.18	247	28.86	7	0.82	9	1.05	67	7.83	9	1.05	19	2.22	856
2012	523	60.18	260	29.92	5	0.58	9	1.04	57	6.56	8	0.92	7	0.81	869
2013	499	56.13	287	32.28	8	0.90	4	0.45	69	7.76	8	0.90	14	1.57	889
2014	513	58.49	282	32.16	5	0.57	2	0.23	61	6.96	4	0.46	10	1.14	877
2015	494	61.75	231	28.88	8	1.00	2	0.25	46	5.75	7	0.88	12	1.50	800
2016	543	62.49	242	27.85	4	0.46	7	0.81	52	5.98	9	1.04	12	1.38	869
2017	428	56.39	252	33.20	4	0.53	5	0.66	42	5.53	6	0.79	22	2.90	759
2018	467	61.21	224	29.36	3	0.39	5	0.66	50	6.55	8	1.05	6	0.79	763
2019	424	60.49	217	30.96	4	0.57	2	0.29	43	6.13	5	0.71	6	0.86	701
2020	447	59.76	236	31.55	5	0.67	3	0.40	43	5.75	7	0.94	7	0.94	748
2021	419	59.60	219	31.15	2	0.28	3	0.43	46	6.54	10	1.42	4	0.57	703
2022	394	59.70	203	30.76	6	0.91	6	0.91	33	5.00	10	1.52	8	1.21	660
2023	355	54.03	232	35.31	7	1.07	3	0.46	50	7.61	4	0.61	6	0.91	657

Inhabited places

There are 15 inhabited places in this municipality.

Inhabited Places	Total	Macedonians	Albanians	Turks	Roma	Vlachs	Serbs	Bosnians	Others
Gazi Baba Municipality	69,626	45,242	14,146	468	1,922	185	1,328	753	5,582
Brnjarci	1.254	460	770	-	-	-	1	-	23
Bulačani	1.147	1.015	11	-	1	-	4	1	15
Čento	7.829	329	6.985	20	-	-	42	96	357
Creševo	982	911	-	-	-	-	8	-	63
Gazi Baba	38.426	28.887	2.775	413	1.099	145	1.026	607	3.494
Goce Delčev	1.402	1.205	71	2	15	-	10	4	95
Idrizovo	1.824	826	747	15	11	-	9	29	187
Indžikovo	4.324	2.983	527	3	413	32	49	13	305
Jurumleri	3.256	2.522	54	-	342	7	62	-	269
Raštak	457	430	-	-	-	-	2	-	25
Smilkovci	371	348	-	-	-	-	-	-	23
Stajkovci	4.394	2.877	1.117	6	38	1	26	1	328
Stračinci	1.136	341	775	1	-	-	-	-	19
Trubarevo	2.470	1.772	334	8	4	-	85	2	265
Viniče	354	336	-	-	-	-	4	-	14

Sports

Football clubs FK Skopje and FK Metalurg Skopje play their home games at the Železarnica Stadium in Gazi Baba.

References

1. Ragaru, Nadege (2008). "The Political Uses and Social Lives of "National Heroes": Controversies over Skanderbeg's Statue in Skopje". Südosteuropa. 56 (4): 542–543. "Skopje encompasses ten municipalities (Aerodrom, Butel, Čair, Centar, Gazi Baba, Gjorče Petrov, Karpoš, Kisela Voda, Saraj, Šuto Orizari), which all have a mayor, a municipal council and the same prerogatives as other municipalities in the country."
2. 2002 census results in English and Macedonian (PDF)
3. "Попис на населението, домаќинствата и становите во Република Северна Македонија, 2021 - прв сет на податоци" (PDF). stat.gov.mk. Retrieved 22 July 2022.

External links

• Official website