Veles (Macedonian:Велес[ˈvɛlɛs]ⓘ) is a city in the central part ofNorth Macedonia on theVardar river. The city of Veles is the seat ofVeles Municipality. Veles is the seventh largest Macedonian city with a total population of 40,664 (census 2021). The largest cities in the proximity of Veles are:Skopje - the capital and the largest city ofNorth Macedonia - 54 km in the northwest direction,Štip 43 km to the east,Sveti Nikole 34 km to the northeast,Prilep 79 km in the southwest direction, andKavadarci andNegotino 43 km and 40 km respectively to the southeast. Veles is on the crossroad of important international road and rail lines. For all these reasons, Veles is considered to have a good geolocation withinNorth Macedonia.
During theGreat Eastern Crisis, the local Bulgarian movement of the day was defeated when armed Bulgarian groups were repelled by theLeague of Prizren, an Albanian organisation opposing Bulgarian geopolitical aims in areas like Köprülü that contained anAlbanian population.[5] According to the statistics ofBulgarian ethnographerVasil Kanchov from 1900, 19,700 inhabitants lived in Veles, 12,000Bulgarian Exarchists, 6,600Turks, 600Romani and 500Aromanians.[6]
In 1905 Dimitar Mishev Brancoff gathered statistics about the Christian population of Macedonia, in which the Christian population of Veles appears as consisting of 13,816 BulgarianExarchists, 56 BulgarianPatriarchalSerbomans, 35Greeks, 402Vlachs, 12Albanians and 444Gypsies. In the city there were 2 lower secondary and 2 primary Bulgarian schools, one lower secondary and one primary Greek, Wallachian and Serbian schools.[7]
Veles made international news in 2016 when it was revealed that a group of teenagers in the city were controlling over 100websites producing fake news articles in support of U.S. presidential candidateDonald Trump, which were heavily publicized on the social media siteFacebook.[1][10][11][12] Although the websites were politically charged, the motive of these websites is thought to be to generate massive amounts of ad revenue, bringing into question problems with Facebooks newsfeed algorithm.[13]
Throughout North Macedonia Veles is known as an industrial center and recently, as a leader in the implementing of IT in the local administration in North Macedonia.
Veles is a municipality of 55,000 residents.[14]The geographic location of the city of Veles makes it suitable for hiking and camping, especially at the west side of the city. One such location is the tranquil village Bogomila. Nearby there is the man made lake Mladost, which is known as the city's recreational centre.
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