Veles, North Macedonia
Veles ( ) is a city in the central part of North Macedonia on the Vardar river. The city of Veles is the seat of Veles Municipality. Names. Vilazora was initially the Paeonian city Bylazora from the period of early Classical Antiquity. The city's name was Βελισσός "Velissos" in Ancient Greek. Under Turkish rule it became a township ("kaza") called Köprülü in the Üsküp "sanjak" (one of the administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire). From 1877 to 1912 the "sandjak" was part of the Kosovo vilayet. In Albanian it is known as "Qyprill", for the same reason as  the Turkish variant. In Aromanian, the city is known as . From 1929 to 1941, Veles was part of the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After World War II, the city was known as Titov Veles after Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito, but the 'Titov' was removed in 1996. Cars registered in Veles were identified by the code "TV" (Titov Veles), which was changed as late as 2000 to "VE". History. The area of present-day Veles has been inhabited for over a millennium. In antiquity, it was a Paionian city called Bylazora, and contained a substantial population of  Thracians and possibly Illyrians. It was then part of the Byzantine Empire, and at times the First and Second Bulgarian Empire. It became part of the Kingdom of Serbia at the end of the 13th century, while during the Serbian Empire (1345–71) it was an estate of Jovan Oliver and subsequently the Mrnjavčević family until Ottoman annexation after the Battle of Rovine (1395). Before the Balkan Wars, it was a township (kaza) with the name "Köprülü", part of the Sanjak of Üsküp. During the Great Eastern Crisis, the local Bulgarian movement of the day was defeated when armed Bulgarian groups  were repelled by the League of Prizren, an Albanian organisation opposing Bulgarian geopolitical aims in areas like Köprülü that contained an Albanian population. Some identify Veles with the Velitza of which Saint Clement of Ohrid was bishop. The "Annuario Pontificio" identifies Veles instead with the Diocese of Bela, a suffragan of the Metropolitan Latin Archdiocese of Achrida (Ohrid) in Bulgaria, and lists it, as no longer a residential diocese, among the Latin titular bishoprics. It is probably in Bosnia and Hercegovina (modern Velika?). Veles made international news in 2016 when it was revealed that a group of teenagers in the  city were controlling over 100 websites producing fake news articles in support of U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, which were heavily publicised on the social media site Facebook. Economy. 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. Geography. Veles is a municipality of 55,000 residents. 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. Media. Two TV stations operate in Veles -Channel 21 & Zdravkin- and many radio stations. Sports. Veles has many sports teams, the most popular of which are : International relations. Twin towns – sister cities. Veles (city) is twinned with three other Balkanic towns : Other forms of partnership :