page_title: Gostivar
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Gostivar / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Clock tower in Gostivar, Macedonia Македонски: Саат кулата во Гостивар
context_page_description: Gostivar, is a city in North Macedonia, located in the upper Polog valley region. It is one of the largest municipalities in the country with a population of 81,042, and the town also covers 1.341 square kilometres. Gostivar has road and railway connections with the other cities in the region, such as Tetovo, Skopje, Kičevo, Ohrid, and Debar. A freeway was built in 1995, from Gostivar to Tetovo, 24 km long. Gostivar is the seat of Gostivar Municipality.
context_section_description: It is known that there was a town called Draudacum, Draudàkon (Δραυδάκον in Ancient Greek), built in 170BC, near or on the current place of Gostivar.
  Early mentions of the town was made by the Roman historian Livy. He records how during the Third Macedonian War the King of Macedon Perseus at the head of 10000 men, after taking Uskana (Kicevo), attacked Drau-Dak, today Gostivar.
  In the late 19th and early 20th century, Gostivar was part of the Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire.
  From 1929 to 1941, Gostivar was part of the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
caption: Gostivar's clock tower
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