Po redaktohet Skopje (paragraf)

===Ethnic groups===

Ethnic groups in the Greater Skopje include:

{| class="wikitable"
| 
| colspan="2" |2002
| colspan="2" |2021
|-
|
|<small>Number</small>
|<small>%</small>
|Number
|%
|-
|'''TOTAL'''
|506,926
|100
|526,502
|100
|-
|[[Macedonians (ethnic group)|Macedonians]]
|338,358
|66.75
|309,107
|58.71
|-
|[[Albanians]]
|103,891
|20.49
|120,293
|22.85
|-
|[[Turkish people|Turks]]
|8,595
|1.70
|8,524
|1.62
|-
|[[Romani people|Roma]]
|23,475
|4.63
|18.498
|3.51
|-
|[[Vlachs]]
|2,557
|0.50
|2,778
|0.53
|-
|[[Serbs]]
|14,298
|2.82
|9,478
|1.80
|-
|[[Bosniaks]]
|7,585
|1.50
|7,365
|1.50
|-
|others
|8,167
|1.61
|6,284
|1.19
|-
|Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources
|n/a
|n/a
|44,175
|8.39
|}

Skopje, just like North Macedonia as a whole, is characterized by a large ethnic diversity. The city is in a region where Macedonians and Albanians meet, and it welcomed Romani, Turks, Jews and Serbs throughout its history. Skopje was mainly a Muslim city until the 19th century, when large numbers of Christians started to settle there. According to the 2021 census, Macedonians were the largest ethnic group in Skopje, with 309,107 inhabitants, or 58.71% of the population. Then came Albanians with 120,293 inhabitants (22.85%), Roma people with 18,498 (3.51%), Serbs (9,478 inhabitants), Turks (8,524), Bosniaks (7,365) and [[Aromanians]] (also known as "Vlachs", 2,778). 6,284 people did not belong to any of these groups.<ref name="stats1"/>

Macedonians form an overwhelming majority of the population in the municipalities of [[Aerodrom Municipality (Skopje)|Aerodrom]], [[Centar Municipality (Skopje)|Centar]], [[Ǵorče Petrov municipality|Ǵorče Petrov]], [[Karpoš municipality|Karpoš]] and [[Kisela Voda municipality|Kisela Voda]], which are all south of the [[Vardar]].<ref name="Ragaru536">{{harvnb|Ragaru|2008|p=536.}}</ref> They also form a majority in [[Butel municipality|Butel]]<ref name="Ragaru536537"/> and [[Gazi Baba municipality|Gazi Baba]] which are north of the river. Albanians form a majority in [[Čair municipality|Čair]] which roughly corresponds to the [[Old Bazaar, Skopje|Old Bazaar]], and in [[Saraj municipality|Saraj]].<ref name="Ragaru535537">{{cite journal |last=Ragaru |first=Nadege |title=The Political Uses and Social Lives of "National Heroes": Controversies over Skanderbeg's Statue in Skopje |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00682663/document |journal=Südosteuropa |volume=56 |issue=4 |year=2008 |pages=535–537 |access-date=22 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190222210307/https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00682663/document |archive-date=22 February 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> They form a large minority in Butel<ref name="Ragaru536537">{{harvnb|Ragaru|2008|pp=536–537.}}</ref> and Gazi Baba. [[Šuto Orizari municipality|Šuto Orizari]], on the northern edge of the city, is predominantly Roma.<ref name="stats1"/> When an ethnic minority forms at least 20% of the population in a municipality, its language can become official on the local level. Thus, in Čair and Saraj schools and administration use Albanian, and Romani in Šuto Orizari.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fes.org.mk/pdf/SVETOMIR%20SKARIC%20-%20OHRID%20AGREEMENT%20AND%20MINORITY%20COMMUNITIES.pdf |title=Ohrid Agreement and Minority Communities in Macedonia |publisher=Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Macedonia |author=Svetomir Skaric |access-date=29 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226145850/http://www.fes.org.mk/pdf/SVETOMIR%20SKARIC%20-%20OHRID%20AGREEMENT%20AND%20MINORITY%20COMMUNITIES.pdf |archive-date=26 December 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The latter is the only municipality in the world where Romani is an official language.<ref name="roma"/>

Relations between the two largest groups, Macedonians and Albanians, are sometimes difficult, as in the rest of the country. Each group tolerate the other but they tend to avoid each other and live in what can appear as two parallel worlds.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Regions-and-countries/Macedonia/Skopje-the-carsija-of-the-Albanians-85910 |title=Skopje, the čaršija of the Albanians |date=12 January 2011 |publisher=[[Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso]] |author=Marjola Rukaj |access-date=26 October 2012}}</ref> Both Macedonians and Albanians view themselves each as the original population of Skopje and the other as newcomers.<ref name="StefoskaStojanov363">{{cite journal |last1=Stefoska |first1=Irena |last2=Stojanov |first2=Darko |title=A tale in stone and bronze: old/new strategies for political mobilization in the Republic of Macedonia |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/29F560037E1931D083C10F7B56D96893/S0090599200032141a.pdf/tale_in_stone_and_bronze_oldnew_strategies_for_political_mobilization_in_the_republic_of_macedonia.pdf |journal=Nationalities Papers |volume=45 |issue=3 |year=2017 |pages=363 |doi=10.1080/00905992.2017.1308346 |s2cid=157988163 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Ragaru535">{{harvnb|Ragaru|2008|p=535.}}</ref><ref name="Neofotistos893">{{cite journal |last=Neofotistos |first=Vasiliki P. |title=Postsocialism, Social Value, and Identity Politics among Albanians in Macedonia |journal=Slavic Review |volume=69 |issue=4 |year=2010 |pages=893 |jstor=27896141 |doi=10.1017/S003767790000989X |s2cid=165104213}}</ref> The Roma minority is on its side very deprived. Its exact size is not known because many Macedonian Roma declare themselves as belonging to other ethnic groups or simply avoid censuses. However, even if official figures are underestimated, Skopje is the city in the world with the largest Roma population.<ref name="roma"/>