Municipalities in Bregalnica Region
The Bregalnica Region consists of 14 municipalities with over 100 associated villages and settlements. The total population is 203,213 inhabitants. The largest urban centres in the area are the cities of Shtip (population of 47,796) and Kochani (population of 38,092). In general, the population figures for the rural areas show a negative population growth, having regard to the fact that the population of rural villages is aging with young people leaving the rural communities in search of a better life elsewhere.
Bregalnica River Basin District covers the following municipalities: Berovo, Vinica, Delchevo, Zrnovci, Karbinci, Kochani, Makedonska Kamenica, Pehchevo, Probishtip, Cheshinovo-Obleshevo, Shtip, Sveti Nikole, Kratovo and Lozovo. The division according to Bregalnica River Basin District does not match the administrative boundaries of all fourteen municipalities.
Officially, 22.9% of the population is employed, and the rest of the population is either self-employed or jobless. A total of 34% of the population is listed as self-employed subsistence farmers. The majority of the available work force and the majority of registered employees are located in the larger urban centres. The three key employment sectors are agriculture (11.71%), trade and retail (38%) and manufacturing (15.49%). The forestry sector and the wood processing industry play a vital economic and social role in the Bregalnica Region where almost 100% of all households depend on firewood as main energy source for heating and cooking.
More than 70% of the population in the Bregalnica Region lives in rural areas with approximately 32% of all households depending entirely on agriculture as their source of income and 65% depending partly on agriculture. Subsistence farming dominates the rural family life. The lower areas of the Bregalnica Region are known for rice cultivation in the irrigated rice paddies.
From the raw materials available in the Region, economically most significant is the lead-zinc ore from the mines in Zletovo, Dobrevo and Kamenica. The annual production of ore in these mines is 1.000.000 tones.