Kočani

Kočani (Кочани ˈkɔtʃani) is a town in the eastern part of North Macedonia, situated around east from Skopje. It has a population of 28,330 and is the seat of the Kočani Municipality. The town spreads across the Northern side of the Kočani valley, along the banks of the Kočani river, where it leaves the mountain slopes and flows through the valley. North of the town there is the Osogovo mountain () and to the south the valley is closed by the mountain Plačkovica (). The town is above sea level. Kočani spreads over an area of and has population of 28,330 inhabitants which makes it the third regional center in the Eastern part of the country: 1948 - 6,657 inhabitants 1994 - 26,364 inhabitants 2002 - 28,330 inhabitants According to the 1903 Austrian consular reports on ethnic composition of the kazas of the Sanjak of Skopje in 1903, the kaza of Kočani was populated by a total of 39,406 inhabitants, of whom 16,524 (41.93%) were Bulgarian Exarchists, 11,600 (29.44%) Ottoman Muslim, 7,800 (19.79%) Albanians, 1,680 (4.26%) Aromanians, 1,090 (2.77%) Patriarchists and 712 (1.8%) Romanis. According to the 2002 census, the ethnic composition of the city is as follows: Macedonian: 90.3% Roma: 5.0% Turks: 3.0% Vlachs: 0.5% Serbs: 0.2% Other: 1.0% Orthodox: 96% Muslims: 3% Catholic: 0.3% Other: 0.7% As of 2021, the city of Kochani has 24.632 inhabitants and the ethnic composition was the following: Macedonians – 20.229 Romani - 1.892 Aromanians - 169 Turks - 138 Serbs - 36 Albanians – 12 Bosniaks – 11 others – 118 Person without Data - 2.027 The climate is humid subtropical (Köppen: Cfa), influenced by altered Mediterranean climate which penetrates along the river Bregalnica. The average temperature is with rainfall. Due to its favourable geographic location, together with excellent natural climate characteristics, Kočani was inhabited as early as the ancient times first by the Paionians, Meds and Thracians. Later on, in the 6th century the Slavs inhabited parts of the region.