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Gostivar (Municipality, Macedonia)

Гостивар

Flag of Gostivar, two renditions by Jens Pattke, 8 October 2005 (left) and by Mello Luchtenberg & António Martins, 9 April 2007 (right)

Presentation of Gostivar
Flag of Gostivar
Former municipality of Srbinovo
Former municipality of Čegrane

See also:

Presentation of Gostivar

The municipality of Gostivar (81,042 inhabitants; 513.39 sq. km) is made of the town of Gostivar and the 34 settlements of Balni Dol, Belovište, Brodec, Brutok, Gorna Banjica, Gorno Jelovce, Gorna Đonovica, Debreše, Dolna Banjica, Dolno Jelovce, Dolna Đonovica, Železna Reka, Zdunje, Korito, Kunovo, Lakavica,Lešnica, Malo Turčane, Merdita, Mitroj Krsti, Padalište, Pečkovo, Simnica, Srbinovo, Sušika, Strajane, Raven, Rečane, Trnovo, Tumčevište, Kjafa, Forino, Čajle and Čegrane.

Gostivar is located in northwestern Macedonia, in the lower Polog valley, 530 m a.s.l. The city developed in the second half of the XIXth century as a famous trade place, where merchants from Kruševo, Kičevo, Tetovo and Veles met on the Tuesday's market.
The ski resort Zare Lazarevksi is located 25 km from Gostivar in the Mavrovo National Park.

Ivan Sache, 11 June 2006

Flag of Gostivar

Article 8 of the municipal statutes prescribes the flag as follows:

The flag of the municipality is rectangular in shape, in dark-gray colour, with the municipal coat of arms in the upper left corner.

The colour of the flag used in the streets and elsewhere is mostly grayish-blue. I have never seen a gray flag there.

Valentin Poposki, 11 June 2006

Vertical flag of Gostivar - Image by Ivan Sache & Jens Pattke, 11 June 2006

The municipal website of Gostivar shows a picture with four vertical flags, from viewer's left to right Macedonia, Albania, Gostivar and an unidentified blue flag.
The unofficial vertical flag of Gostivar shown there is vertical with the coat of arms properly rotated and apparently located at mid flag.

Ivan Sache & Valentin Poposki, 11 June 2006

I have seen on 5 August 2007 one more variant of the flag of Gostivar. The flag is vertical, white with the municipal coat of arms in the middle. The flag was hoisted in front of some property of the local municipal enterprise.

Valentin Poposki, 6 August 2007

Former municipality of Srbinovo

Flag of Srbinovo - Image by by Mello Luchtenberg & António Martins, 18 November 2006

The municipality of Srbinovo (3,709 inhabitants in 2002; 112 sq. km) is located somewhere half way between Kičevo and Gostivar, surrounded by high mountains with several high peaks. Railway passes by it over high bridges and through number of tunnels in the valley of river Lakavička.
In spite of what the name would suggest, there is no Serbian minority of any importance here.
Srbinovo was incorporated into the municipality of Gostivar in 2004.

The flag of Srbinovo, as shown on the Macedonian Ministry of Local Self-Government website (page no longer online), is vertical, in proportion 2:1, vertically divided red-green with a blue triangle in the upper part and the municipal emblem skewed to the upper part.
The emblem shows the local landscape.

Željko Heimer & Ivan Sache, 10 June 2006

Former municipality of Čegrane

Flag of Čegrane - Image by Mello Luchtenberg & António Martins, 1 October 2006

The town of Čegrane (11,746 inhabitants in 1994), located 20 km south of Tetovo was incorporated into the municipality of Gostivar in 2004.
During the Kosovo crisis, the UNHCR Čegrane camp at one point received and sheltered 45,000 refugees. It was the biggest of the seven refugee camps set up in Macedonia. The camp was opened in late April 1999 and closed in November 1999, three months later than anticipated.

The flag of Čegrane, as shown on the Macedonian Ministry of Local Self-Government website (page no longer online), is in proportion 1:2, horizontally divided red-black. A disc horizontally divided white-green is placed in the left half of the flag.

Željko Heimer & Ivan Sache, 1 September 2006