Kumanovo
Kumanovo is a city in northern Macedonia.
Etymology
Kumanovo comes from the Cumans Turkic tribe who settled the area in the 12th-13th century.
Economy
The town's metal-processing, tobacco, agriculture, footwear and textile industries have made it an economic, trading and cultural center of approximately 135,529 people. The Church of St. George at the Monastery of Staro Nagoricane is the best known cultural and historical monument in Kumanovo. It was built in the 11th century and was reconstructed in the l4th. During its reconstruction, the fresco-painters Mihailo and Evtihij painted its walls with frescoes of exceptional skill. The anti-fascist insurrection of Slavic Macedonians and the struggle for national and social liberation began in Kumanovo and Prilep on October 11, 1941.
Violence
At 4:45 PM, on December 27, 2002, a bomb went off in front of Kumanovo's Goce Delcev High School while classes were still in session, killing one and injuring five bystanders. Goce Delcev is Kumanovo's biggest high school and is located near the central square. Shrapnel was found as far as 100 meters away from a trash can in front of the school where the bomb had been concealed. Shortly after the detonation, police arrived and blocked off adjacent streets. The identity of the perpetrators and their motivation is still unknown.
Narcotics
Illegal drugs are notably high spread in Kumanovo particularly because of its proximity to three border crossings. Dragi Karadzinski, doctor and specialist in neuro-psychiatry at the Hospital Centre in Kumanovo, believes that the two most common narcotics among Kumanovo's youth are marijuana and hashish. The drug trade in Kumanovo has lead to a criminal underworld directly tried to Albanian mob factions.