Struga

Struga [ˈstruɡa] (Macedonian Струга; Albanian also Strugë) is a small town with about 16,500 inhabitants in southwestern northern Macedonia, located on Lake Ohrid. It is the official seat of the Opština named after it and is divided by the Black Drin into a western and an eastern part of the city. The border with Albania at Qafë Thana is eight kilometres away.

Geography

Struga is located north of Lake Ohrid not far from the Albanian border and is crossed by the Black Drin River, which drains the lake. The town lies in a fertile agricultural plain named after it - Struga Plain (Macedonian Ниво на Струга Nivo na Struga; Albanian Fusha e Strugës). Such basin landscapes or plateaus are typical for Macedonia.

Near the urban area there are almost no forests, as is the case throughout the plain. The fields are used exclusively for agriculture, less for livestock. All along the lakeshore of the city grow reeds, only in the west there are larger free pebble beaches.

To the west of the town rises the mountain range of Jablanica.

The neighbouring villages of Struga are (turning clockwise from the southwest): Kališta/Kalisht, Radolišta/Ladorisht, Šum/Shum, Zagračani/Zagraçan, Dolna Belica/Belica e Poshtme, Vraništa, Moroišta and Misleševo.

Black Drin in the southern city centre with promenades on both sides


Aerial view of Struga, Lake Ohrid and Black Drin

Climate

The climate is Mediterranean-continental, so that in summer it is often very hot and hardly any precipitation falls and in winter it is often very cold and a lot of precipitation falls. Forest and bush fires occur frequently in summer due to drought.

 

Monthly average temperatures for Struga Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature (°C) 6 8 11 16 21 26 28 29 23 19 12 6 Ø 17,1 Min. temperature (°C) −2 −1 1 4 9 11 13 14 11 8 3 −1 Ø 5,9 Rainy days (d) 11 9 11 14 13 6 7 4 10 8 14 11 118 Humidity (%) 86 81 77 76 77 68 65 64 73 80 86 87 Ø 76,6 Temperature 6 −2 8 −1 11 1 16 4 21 9 26 11 28 13 29 14 23 11 19 8 12 3 6 −1 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec   Precipitation   Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Source: Zoover.com weather and climate data.