# Gazi Baba Municipality

Gazi Baba (Macedonian: Гази Баба, Albanian: Gazi Babë) is one of the ten municipalities that make up the City of Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia. The municipality administration consists of a council and mayor.

## Name

Gazi in Macedonian means step over, and Baba means Granny - Grandma. There's another theory that the name comes from the nickname of the Ottoman poet Aşık Çelebi, although his real name was Pir Mahamet and he was actually a judge during the time of Duchy of Rumelia . In Turkish, Gazi means "war veteran" and baba means "father". His tomb was somewhere at the hills of Gazi Baba, according to the legend.

## Geography

The municipality borders Petrovec Municipality, Studeničani Municipality and Aerodrom Municipality to the south, Centar Municipality, Čair Municipality and Butel Municipality to the west, Lipkovo Municipality to the northeast, and Aračinovo Municipality and Ilinden Municipality to the east.

## Demographics

According to the 2021 North Macedonia census, Gazi Baba municipality has 69,626 inhabitants, making it the most populous municipality in Greater Skopje. Ethnic groups in the municipality include:
| | 2002 | 2002 | 2021 | 2021 |
| | Number | % | Number | % |
| TOTAL | 72,617 | 100 | 69,626 | 100 |
| Macedonians | 53,497 | 73.67 | 45,242 | 64.98 |
| Albanians | 12,502 | 17.2 | 14,146 | 20.32 |
| Roma | 2,082 | 2.87 | 1,922 | 2.76 |
| Serbs | 2,097 | 2.89 | 1,328 | 1.91 |
| Bosniaks | 710 | 0.98 | 753 | 1.08 |
| Turks | 606 | 0.83 | 468 | 0.67 |
| Vlachs | 236 | 0.32 | 185 | 0.27 |
| Other / Undeclared / Unknown | 887 | 1.22 | 580 | 0.83 |
| Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources | | | 5,002 | 7.18 |

### Religious affiliation

Religion according to the 2002 Macedonia census and 2021 North Macedonian census:
| | 2002 | 2002 | 2021 | 2021 |
| | Number | % | Number | % |
| TOTAL | 72,617 | 100 | 69,626 | 100 |
| Orthodox | 54,637 | 75.2 | 38,116 | 67.2 |
| Christians | 14 | 0.02 | 8,518 | 67.2 |
| Catholics | 248 | 0.34 | 148 | 67.2 |
| Islam | 15,968 | 22.0 | 17,476 | 25.1 |
| Others | 1,750 | 0.62 | 366 | 0.53 |
| Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources | n/a | n/a | 5,002 | 7.18 |

### Demographic Trends

* Live births by ethnic affiliation of mother, 2010-2022
| | Macedonians | Macedonians | Albanians | Albanians | Turks | Turks | Serbs | Serbs | Roma | Roma | Bosniaks | Bosniaks | Others | Others | TOTAL |
| Year | Births | % | Births | % | Births | % | Births | % | Births | % | Births | % | Births | % | Births |
| 2010 | 536 | 60.91 | 240 | 27.27 | 4 | 0.45 | 6 | 0.68 | 76 | 8.64 | 6 | 0.68 | 12 | 1.36 | 880 |
| 2011 | 498 | 58.18 | 247 | 28.86 | 7 | 0.82 | 9 | 1.05 | 67 | 7.83 | 9 | 1.05 | 19 | 2.22 | 856 |
| 2012 | 523 | 60.18 | 260 | 29.92 | 5 | 0.58 | 9 | 1.04 | 57 | 6.56 | 8 | 0.92 | 7 | 0.81 | 869 |
| 2013 | 499 | 56.13 | 287 | 32.28 | 8 | 0.90 | 4 | 0.45 | 69 | 7.76 | 8 | 0.90 | 14 | 1.57 | 889 |
| 2014 | 513 | 58.49 | 282 | 32.16 | 5 | 0.57 | 2 | 0.23 | 61 | 6.96 | 4 | 0.46 | 10 | 1.14 | 877 |
| 2015 | 494 | 61.75 | 231 | 28.88 | 8 | 1.00 | 2 | 0.25 | 46 | 5.75 | 7 | 0.88 | 12 | 1.50 | 800 |
| 2016 | 543 | 62.49 | 242 | 27.85 | 4 | 0.46 | 7 | 0.81 | 52 | 5.98 | 9 | 1.04 | 12 | 1.38 | 869 |
| 2017 | 428 | 56.39 | 252 | 33.20 | 4 | 0.53 | 5 | 0.66 | 42 | 5.53 | 6 | 0.79 | 22 | 2.90 | 759 |
| 2018 | 467 | 61.21 | 224 | 29.36 | 3 | 0.39 | 5 | 0.66 | 50 | 6.55 | 8 | 1.05 | 6 | 0.79 | 763 |
| 2019 | 424 | 60.49 | 217 | 30.96 | 4 | 0.57 | 2 | 0.29 | 43 | 6.13 | 5 | 0.71 | 6 | 0.86 | 701 |
| 2020 | 447 | 59.76 | 236 | 31.55 | 5 | 0.67 | 3 | 0.40 | 43 | 5.75 | 7 | 0.94 | 7 | 0.94 | 748 |
| 2021 | 419 | 59.60 | 219 | 31.15 | 2 | 0.28 | 3 | 0.43 | 46 | 6.54 | 10 | 1.42 | 4 | 0.57 | 703 |
| 2022 | 394 | 59.70 | 203 | 30.76 | 6 | 0.91 | 6 | 0.91 | 33 | 5.00 | 10 | 1.52 | 8 | 1.21 | 660 |
| 2023 | 355 | 54.03 | 232 | 35.31 | 7 | 1.07 | 3 | 0.46 | 50 | 7.61 | 4 | 0.61 | 6 | 0.91 | 657 |

## Inhabited places

There are 15 inhabited places in this municipality.
| Inhabited Places | Total | Macedonians | Albanians | Turks | Roma | Vlachs | Serbs | Bosnians | Others |
| Gazi Baba Municipality | 69,626 | 45,242 | 14,146 | 468 | 1,922 | 185 | 1,328 | 753 | 5,582 |
| Brnjarci | 1.254 | 460 | 770 | - | - | - | 1 | - | 23 |
| Bulačani | 1.147 | 1.015 | 11 | - | 1 | - | 4 | 1 | 15 |
| Čento | 7.829 | 329 | 6.985 | 20 | - | - | 42 | 96 | 357 |
| Creševo | 982 | 911 | - | - | - | - | 8 | - | 63 |
| Gazi Baba | 38.426 | 28.887 | 2.775 | 413 | 1.099 | 145 | 1.026 | 607 | 3.494 |
| Goce Delčev | 1.402 | 1.205 | 71 | 2 | 15 | - | 10 | 4 | 95 |
| Idrizovo | 1.824 | 826 | 747 | 15 | 11 | - | 9 | 29 | 187 |
| Indžikovo | 4.324 | 2.983 | 527 | 3 | 413 | 32 | 49 | 13 | 305 |
| Jurumleri | 3.256 | 2.522 | 54 | - | 342 | 7 | 62 | - | 269 |
| Raštak | 457 | 430 | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | 25 |
| Smilkovci | 371 | 348 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 23 |
| Stajkovci | 4.394 | 2.877 | 1.117 | 6 | 38 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 328 |
| Stračinci | 1.136 | 341 | 775 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 19 |
| Trubarevo | 2.470 | 1.772 | 334 | 8 | 4 | - | 85 | 2 | 265 |
| Viniče | 354 | 336 | - | - | - | - | 4 | - | 14 |

## Sports

Football clubs FK Skopje and FK Metalurg Skopje play their home games at the Železarnica Stadium in Gazi Baba.