Radiovce


Radiovce is a village in Brvenica Municipality near the town of Tetovo in North Macedonia. The village of Radiovce is one of the newest in the municipality. The village is divided into several neighbourhoods including: Upper Radiovce; Middle Radiovce; Lower Radiovce; Zbiralo; Vakov; and Koriḱansko.

Geography and position

Radiovce is one of only a few villages in the Brvenica Municipality that is completely on flat land. The village lies near the Vardar and Bogovinjska rivers. These two rivers make for fertile soil and are good for agricultural and fishing purposes. Corn, beans, wheat, rye are some of the typical crops grown in Radiovce. The Suva Gora mountain, located near the village, is an important source of wood.

History

At the end of the 19th century, Radiovce was part of the Tetovo region of the Ottoman Empire. In 1900, roughly 140 people lived in the village, mostly Orthodox Slavs. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Radiovce fell under Serbian control. After the end of the World War I, Radiovce, along with the rest of the territory of that is now the Republic of Macedonia, became part of a new kingdom called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and later on after 1945 SR Macedonia became an equal state of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After the fall of SFRY, Radiovce became part of the newly independent Republic of Macedonia.

Etymology of the name ''Radiovce''

There is a local legend as to why the village was named Radovce. When the land where is the village today was not inhabited, there were big alps for sheep, where there were a lot of shepherds. One day came one man and he liked the place a lot. so he decided to build a small house just to stay there while the sheep were on the alps. This man and the small house were very strange for the people of the nearest villages. They always asked him why he lives there alone, and he answered: Radi ovce (on Tetovo dialect, which means Because of the sheep. Sooner the place was inhabited by other people and the village was called Radiovce.
Also, there is another version for the name that tell us that people from the mountains came to the present day village to live there for Rad and Ovce which mean that they came there for work and sheep.
The people from Radiovce are known as Rakari which means Crabs, because in the rivers near Radiovce there were a lot of crabs, but unfortunately today crabs cannot be found anymore.

Population and demographics

According to the census in 2002, 1,049 people live in Radiovce. There is a mix of different ethnicities; 346 are Macedonians, 691 are Albanians and the rest are of other ethnicities. Of historical point of view, the population of Radiovce has always been with different ethnic groups. Also, it must be mentioned that the people have come from different parts of the Polog valley and from different parts of Macedonia. A big part of the population has come from the nearest villages Žerovjane, Lisec, Gradec, Strimnica and from the Porečie valley. The Albanian people primary have come from the villages Gurgurnica, Korita and Čegrane. Other nationalities in Radiovce are few Roma people and few Serbs. According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 1049 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the village include:
Even though Radiovce is maybe nearer to Gostivar, people from Radiovce have always been oriented towards Tetovo. The institutional and the social problems of the people have always been solved in Tetovo. Also Tetovo is educational center for Radiovce's people and main center for trade, recreation and the main hospital is in Tetovo. Also, a big part of the population of Radiovce has very good relations with the other city- Gostivar. A large number of youngsters go in high- school in Gostivar, the trade relationship between Radiovce and Gostivar is very good and large number of the holidays such as New Year and Easter are celebrated in Gostivar. Radiovce, together with the surrounding is a perfect example of how one multicultural society works.

Sport and recreation

The village has always had a football club named Radiovce, and unfortunately today it has gone since 1990. In the following years there were some efforts to restore the club. but because of financial problems it didn't happen. The club has won in the regional football league in Tetovo.
The river Vardar that flows near Radiovce was an attractive recreational center, but because of the water became very dirty people stop coming to this place for picnics or for walks. Also very interesting place is the area where Bogovinjska river and Vardar river join. This was a very good place for picnics, but today because of the dirtiness of the local factories it is very unpleasant place.

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