Kišava, (Macedonian: Кишава, Albanian: Këshavë) is a village in the municipality of Bitola, North Macedonia. It used to be part of the former municipality of Bistrica.

Kišava
Кишава
Këshavë
Village
Kišava
Kišava
Kišava is located in North Macedonia
Kišava
Kišava
Location within North Macedonia
Coordinates: 40°52′59″N 21°19′0″E / 40.88306°N 21.31667°E / 40.88306; 21.31667
Country North Macedonia
Region Pelagonia
Municipality Bitola
Elevation
881 m (2,890 ft)
Population
 (2021)
 • Total
185
Time zoneUTC 1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC 2 (CEST)
Postal code
7223
Area code 389 047
Car platesBT
Website.

Demographics and History

edit

Kišava is populated by Muslim Albanian Tosks.[1] From the 1950s onward, people from Kišava began migrating to nearby settlements like Medžitlija or going abroad to other countries for better opportunities.

As of the 2021 census, Kišava had 185 residents with the following ethnic composition:[2]

  • Albanians 169
  • Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources 16

According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 308 inhabitants.[3] Ethnic groups in the village include:[3]


Panorama of Kišava showing the Pelagonia valley in the far west and the Baba mountains to far east

From 1963 onward, Albanians from Kišava migrated to Dandenong, a south-eastern Melbourne suburb in Victoria, Australia.[4][5] Dandenong is home to a large diaspora from Kišava and various landmarks are named after the village like Dandenong's Albanian mosque, Keshava Reserve, a park honouring Albanian immigration to the area and Keshava Grove, a residential street.[6][5][4]

In 2020, some members of the Kišava diaspora from Dandenong organised an ongoing annual festival Takimet e Keshavës (Kišava gathering) in Kišava, and is attended by the diaspora during their summer holidays in the village.[4]

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Godišen zbornik (1969). Volumes 17-18. Univerzitet vo Skopje. Geografski institut. p. 171. "Чисто албански села сега се: Арматуш, Кишава, Острец, Злокуќани, Снегово, Старо Змирново, Саждево, Јакреново, Борино, Норово, Древеник. При ослободувањето од турското владеење во 1912 г. оваа област имала повеќе чисто албански села."
  2. ^ Total resident population of the Republic of North Macedonia by ethnic affiliation, by settlement, Census 2021
  3. ^ a b Macedonian Census (2002), Book 5 - Total population according to the Ethnic Affiliation, Mother Tongue and Religion, The State Statistical Office, Skopje, 2002, p. 69.
  4. ^ a b c Rexhepi, Nizami (31 August 2021). "Historia e vendosjes së 4 mijë shqiptarëve në qytetin Dandenong" [The history of the settlement of 4 thousand Albanians in the city of Dandenong] (in Albanian). Diaspora Shqiptare. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  5. ^ a b Ahmeti, Sharon (2017). Albanian Muslims in Secular, Multicultural Australia (Ph.D.). University of Aberdeen. pp. 55–56, 232. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  6. ^ "After World War II". Immigration Museum. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
edit